S

Have a Heart? The School Counselor’s Role in

Building Strong Relationships to Help Support Students

Kyle Campisi, kyle_campisi@princetonk12.orgNipurna Shah, nipurna_shah@princetonk12.orgPaulo Velasco, paulo_velasco@princetonk12.org

www.princetonk12.org

Why building positive counselor-student

relationships is important?“Schools are defined by relationship between staff and

students.”Yvette Jackson as sighted in the Washington Post

Strong relationships influence success in high school Strong relationships make schools “intellectually safe” for

students to learn and thrive Strong relationships allow students to communicate without

feeling judged, guilty or condemned Strong relationship allow open communication of thoughts to feel

respected and understood Strong relationships recognize that others have differing view

points

(Jackson, 2011) ; (School-Counselor.org)

Ice Breaker Activity

Have a Heart? On your heart, write down 1 thing you have done

to build rapport with one of your students

Let’s share!

The Role of School Counselors

Student Perspectives…

The Role of School Counselors

Student Perspective Questions

When did you first meet your school counselor?

How well do you know your school counselor?

What role did you play in getting to know your school counselor?

How has your school counselor helped you throughout high school?

What are the necessary traits of the school counselor?

What do you believe the role of the school counselor is?

Why is the School Counselor’s Role Vital in Building Relationships?

We’ve talked about research based reasons why it’s vital for a school

counselor to build rapport with students, but we’d love to know what

you think?

Who Does the School Counselor Reach?

Community Agencies

School Counselor

Teachers

Administrators

Students

Parents/Guardians

Princeton High School Who Are We?

More than 1,400 students are enrolled in the 9th to 12th grades at Princeton High School.

Student

Assistant

Principal

Meetings Individual

/Group Counselin

g

Parent Meetin

gs

Departmental/Faculty Meetings

Child Study Team,

Referral, IEP

Inter-department

al work

Communication: Email, Phone,

TechnologyCollege

Counselor Meetings

Work with Service Learning

Director

SAC/Counselor, Dean of Students

Community Agencies

Building Rapport With Students…

Trust

Listening

Empathy

Laughter

“Building Rapport with Students”

http://www.school-counselor.org

Building Trust Between Counselor and School

Personnel

“In schools that are improving, where trust and cooperative adult efforts are strong, students report that they feel safe, sense that teachers care about them, and experience greater academic challenge.” (Sebring & Bryk, 2000).

Five Components of Trust: Benevolence Reliability Competence Honesty Openness

Building Trust Between Counselor and School

Personnelcontinued…

Suggestions to Building Trust Engage the faculty in activities and discussions related to the

school’s mission, vision, and core values. Make new teachers feel welcome Create and support meaningful opportunities for teachers to

work collaboratively Identify ways to increase and/or improve faculty

communication Make relationship-building a priority Choose a professional development model that promotes

relationship-building

(Brewster & Railsback, 2003)

Case Study #1

Case Study: Henry

On most days when you see Henry, he is a free spirited, social and confident young man. What you don’t know by

looking at him is that he severely struggles with his language-based classes and with completing homework assignments and projects. His test grades are relatively

strong, but his overall grades are mediocre, sometimes even near failing. He is naturally smart, with a true capacity for learning, but his grades don’t reflect his intelligence. He lives in a home with a single mom and younger brother.

Case Study #2

Case Study: John

John is a 14-year-old freshman in high school that comes from an affluent family whose parents both have advanced degrees. His older sister is a high achiever who graduated high school with very strong grades. John’s parents expect that he also earn good grades and get into a good college. John is academically disengaged and has absolutely no desire to be in school. His general attitude towards life is concerning, as he tends to see the negative in everything that he does. John seems to be frustrated with his parents and refuses to communicate with them, particularly, his father.

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Thank You!

We are so glad you were able to join us today!

Works Cited

Brewster, C., & Railsback, J. (2003). Building trusting relationships for school improvement: Implications for principals and teachers. Informally published manuscript, Northwest Regional Educational Library, Northwest University, Kirkland, WA, Retrieved from http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/463Jackson, Y. (2011, 05 28). Why relationship-building is vital in schools. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-relationship-building-is-vital-in-schools/2011/05/26/AG7KVODH_blog.htmlSchool-Counselor.org. (n.d.). Building rapport with students. Retrieved from http://www.school-counselor.org/topics/rapport-with-students.html