FSCA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 High School Student Scholarships and Graduate Student Scholarship. The committee of volunteers reviewed more than 400 scholarship applications this year. These winning submissions highlighted what their ideal school counseling program would look like and the importance of advocating for legislation mandating 80% direct and 20% indirect services by school counselors.  A special thank you to all the high school counselors, counselor preparation programs, and the FSCA Scholarship & Grants committee that helped make this scholarship opportunity a big success!

Graduate Student Winner:  Courtney Sanchez, University of North Florida

Prompt: Why should FSCA and its members advocate for legislation requiring or mandating 80% direct & 20% indirect services for school counselors?

Even though school counselors take on many roles their main objective is to amplify student achievement. School counselors are there to meet the needs of the students, it is imperative that we build relationships within our school and community to understand these needs. This is where mandating direct contact hours is crucial to our profession. If we are locked behind doors or taking on other responsibilities that are not geared towards developing student achievement and preparing them for success, we are missing our mark. With the high student-counselor ratios we face, it takes time for us to build relationships within the school community. Direct contact allows us to get out behind the door and desk which is traditionally associated with the counselor role. It gets us in direct contact with the student body, it lets them see our faces and help them to understand our role. This means pushing into classes delivering appropriate grade level lessons that will start the foundation for the student in building their post-secondary educational goals. It also means developing small groups that could help those students who would benefit from working with a group of their peers towards a goal common goal, such as decreasing absentees. It also means helping students and parents in overcoming barriers for those students who are more likely to be affected by obstacles. Lastly, it allows us to work with our colleagues in resolving issued that impact the school community.

Being able to directly work with students will have the greatest impact on the students and school community.  There needs to be a mandated policy that outlines how School Counselors need to best utilize their time to meet the demands of the student and school. This comes through legislation. Why is legislation so important? There has been a dramatic shift in duties and responsibilities of the school counselor and even though we have professional standards that clearly state how we can impact students, it is difficult to achieve those standards if we are giving alternative duties that are not geared towards that objective. The legislation will provide a parameter for administers and other school leaders to follow when making decisions about the duties of the school counselor. The legislation empowers the school counselor to advocate for scheduling direct hours with students because it is mandated. This legislation would also permit unions to include these into contracts that would protect the school counselor when they are advocating for their time to be used in the way that would have the most impact in the school. When policies are written, it clearly outlines procedures and expectations that can be referred to when making decisions about the roles and duties of the counselor. It is the hope of the profession that this legislation would reduce the need for counselors to plead with administration and juggling additional duties that take them away from the very population that needs them the most, students.  This well-defined break down of how hours should be spent is what is in the best interest of the school community.