A conversation with a school counselor in honor of National School Counseling Week
Sara Beckett has a huge whiteboard covering one wall of her office at Lexington High School. It’s filled with post-graduation planning, continuing education sessions, administrative tasks, positive affirmations, and more. But it’s written in a dry erase marker for a reason.
“Sometimes the whole schedule goes out the door,” says Beckett, who was named the school’s counseling director in 2021. “Whether the needs that arise are challenging or uplifting, the students’ needs come first, so, as school counselors, we really don’t know how each day is going to unfold.” This variability is one of the reasons Beckett was drawn to the profession. It was her own high school experience that first attracted her to helping others. A psychology class sparked her interest in mental health, and she majored in the field, with a focus on schools, as a student at Appalachian State University.
While school psychologists play a critical role in every school – developing Individualized Education Program plans, working closely with special education teachers, conducting interventions, and more – Beckett decided to pivot to school counseling. She attended Kent State University for a master’s degree – a requirement for the profession. “I wanted to use a holistic approach in working with students to help them achieve success,” Beckett says. “I loved every minute of my program and knew that was exactly where I needed to be.”
When it was time to complete her one-year internship, the Fort Mill native worked with her school to find a placement in South Carolina. Out-of-state internships were not the norm, but Beckett was determined to make a difference where she grew up. After a year at Fort Mill High School, Beckett was hired to open a brand-new middle school in the district. The next year, she repeated the process by opening a high school, but this time she stayed for five years.
“Opening two schools in two years was a hectic experience for someone early in their career, but I learned a lot and I was glad to be back in a high school setting,” Beckett says. In 2012, she made the move to Columbia after meeting her husband, who owned a local business. She spent three years at Pelion High School before settling in at Lexington High School, where she now oversees seven other counselors, with the team of eight serving close to 2,500 students.
These may include mental health counselors, social service workers, tutors, legal advisors, and others who can connect students and families with resources to meet both basic (e.g., food, housing) and complex (e.g., guardianship) needs. Referrals might take place during a scheduled meeting, like a check-in with a struggling student or the state-mandated annual Individual Graduation Planning meeting that helps students map out their career plans and how to achieve them. They could also be a result of an interaction that was not on the day’s schedule.
“School counselors are the heart of a school, and, in some ways, we serve as a hub for the community,” Beckett says. “We are a touchpoint for every student in this school and work closely with many of the parents as well.” Her office is often the first point of contact for families with needs not traditionally associated with schools – whether for resources or information. In addition to helping students register for classes and advise them on their career plans, school counselors assist with an array of issues and use their connections and breadth of knowledge to refer to specialists within their network.
“Students often wander into our offices with something they want to talk about, or they might have an urgent need and we are the first people they can think of who can help. Sometimes a teacher walks them over from class,” Beckett says. “This is why each day is never the same. I have plenty of things on my calendar to do, but the day decides how it will go. There are days where nothing goes as expected.”
Sometimes that day goes well into the evening, with Beckett hosting parent nights in the auditorium to provide information about academic scheduling or available resources. Sometimes that day leads her off school grounds to complete a myriad of continuing education requirements and/or receive legal/ethical updates. “The pace is fast, and the needs are high,” Beckett summarizes of the profession. “It is a very demanding job because the students and families need a lot from the school.”
Historically known as guidance counselors, the title transitioned to school counselor to more accurately reflect the proactive academic/achievement planning, collaborative nature, and leadership responsibilities associated with the role. While the American School Counselor Association states that 250 students to 1 counselor is the ideal caseload, this ratio is 464:1 according to the latest available data. Further, eight million U.S. children do not have access to a school counselor.
It’s a major issue due to the key role that school counselors play in the development and well-being of American youth. Whether through structured meetings, such as Individualized Graduation Planning, or spontaneous encounters, school counselors help students form healthy mindsets, goals, and behaviors. They facilitate the development of perseverance, time management, self-motivation, strategic habits, and collaboration skills. Sometimes it is simply their presence, sitting next to a student while s/he accomplishes something that seems daunting if faced alone.
“I had a student ask me if she could come to my office to set up her Midlands Tech account, so she could enroll in classes,” Beckett says. “I know that she is extremely capable and doesn’t technically need me for that, but the answer is always yes. That five minutes of my day – of my support – means everything to her both now and to her confidence moving forward.” For Beckett, the student successes – big or small – are the best part of the job. One day, a win might be that five minutes of a reassuring presence while a teenager engages in the grown-up activity of registering at a community college. Another day might be the culmination of four years of meeting and planning to chart a path to success after high school – what-ever that might look like for each individual student.
“If we as counselors can remember why we came into this profession and breathe, then we can more fully appreciate these moments,” Beckett says. “Yes, the demands are high and there is a lot on us, but it’s all so rewarding. It’s just about finding the right balance.”