Confrontation in the Star Tours queue

[shilohmm]

This might just be a difference here in the States again. I know in my school the only time I saw the counselor was when they were making sure we were on track to graduate which was only just before signing up for classes.

It was a guidance counselor who stepped up and made sure I didn't have to take the same class over again when I switched school systems. She also listened to me gripe about the school and tried to change things so that new students got more useful info coming in. :thumbup:

The other counselor I remember was more of a "by the book" type, but when I demanded more than the standard he was willing to do it. I did all my college submissions myself, however; always viewed the counselors as more of an information resource than anything else so don't really know if they did submissions and whatnot.

A friend of mine who was dealing with a sexually abusive dad has a much less rosy picture to paint, however I think in that case the counselors just passed her off to an incompetent social worker -- never really occurred to me that guidance counselors were useful for problems outside of school issues, except maybe to connect you to someone more knowledgeable. Maybe that was just how my school system worked.

[Lasolimu]

A friend of mine who was dealing with a sexually abusive dad has a much less rosy picture to paint, however I think in that case the counselors just passed her off to an incompetent social worker -- never really occurred to me that guidance counselors were useful for problems outside of school issues, except maybe to connect you to someone more knowledgeable. Maybe that was just how my school system worked.

In my school we were told that we were meant to go to them with those kinds of issues, but I bet they would have just passed it off to someone else if anyone did. I don't think anyone ever really talked to them and we had like 5 that were constantly there, but never actually doing anything...because no one went to talk to them.

[bookbabe]

In my school we were told that we were meant to go to them with those kinds of issues, but I bet they would have just passed it off to someone else if anyone did.

In Ontario, it's the law that we have to "pass off" abuse/neglect issues to the relevant children's aid branch...we can actually go to jail if we don't make the report, and once the report is made we're supposed to stay out of it until the investigation is complete, no matter how much we would like to do otherwise. We can and do help students with the aftermath of historical events of that nature, however, both by working with them directly and by helping to connect them with appropriate support groups and outside professionals.

As for the "no one ever goes to them" aspect of the job... :D: I wish. Well, no, not really, but it's not like the guidance departments of 20 years ago, or the way it unfortunately sounds like some US ones are today. Our department is always packed, seeing students for personal issues, academic concerns, career planning, resume and job hunt assistance, immigration issues, post-secondary planning and a ton of other stuff. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding...

[DisneyMom]

Nope. I tell a story at the beginning of classes. There was a guy who owned a summer home on a lake in the upper Midwest. He went to the home to open it up for the summer one year and decided to take his boat out for a sail.

At the lee end of the lake he encountered another sail boat that was stuck head to wind with the sail flopping back and forth. He came along side and asked the sole occupant if he needed help. The occupant replied, "I'm trying to get back to my house." and indicated that it was at the windward end of the lake.

Our sailor replied, "You can't go straight into the wind. You must sail at a forty-five degree angle to the wind and tack (turn through the wind) back and forth to get to your house."

Our sailor stayed with him all the way back to his house offering advice as they sailed back.

Over the summer our sailor saw the poor guy trying to sail and getting stuck at the lee end of the lake. He never was able to get back to his house by himself.

It turned out the poor guy was Albert Einstein. So, I tell my sailing students, kids and adults, that they will all be able to out sail Albert Einstein by the end of the class.

I believe you! (they say Einstein was Autistic, and would get lost walking around the block:o :)

[hobie16]

I believe you! (they say Einstein was Autistic, and would get lost walking around the block:o :)

The last company I worked for was stocked to the gunnels with genius level engineers. I'd sit in meetings and wonder how they found their way to work.

Many of them dyed their hair different colors depending on what their mood was that day. Problem was they didn't share the color code with the rest of us.

I ran the corporate demo room for a while. The sales guys would bring in different corporate staff depending on the client's needs. We had a group in one day and there was a guy sitting in the back with chrome orange hair. Half way through the presentation he started asking questions that most of our employees would know. It turned out he was with the customer. I apologized and explained I thought he was one our engineers and he got a deer in the headlights look on his face. Turned out he thought the color would be good for shock value. He apparently had never been to Silicon Valley.

[Zazu]

There were about 240 students at grad this year. About a third of those are in a special program, and thus aren't ones I have any interaction with. Out of the other 160 or so, only about a quarter of them fall into my alpha group (4 counselors, I have surnames M to T).

Check my math here: You had only about 40 students? Wow!

My high school guidance counselors had over 300 students each, including those who "rode the short bus", and they were all from the same class, so all graduated the same year. Obviously, the same level of attention would be impossible.

I can easily imagine that even the drudge I had assigned might have accomplished something worthy of praise with such a tiny group to work with. No wonder you were able to have such an impact. Yours is clearly a district who understands how important guidance councilors can be.

[accioetoile]

This might just be a difference here in the States again. I know in my school the only time I saw the counselor was when they were making sure we were on track to graduate which was only just before signing up for classes.

It was the same way at my high school, and yet, I still managed to slip through the cracks. They somehow caught the one semester of History that I failed, but missed the 3 years of English. (I passed one semester freshman year, and one semester senior year...what sucked was that every single paper I wrote got an A...I just never bothered writing enough papers to get above an F average.)

[bookbabe]

The 40 or so is just the number of kids in my alpha that were physically at grad (i.e. the graduates in attendance that night). Our school has about 1500 students, but about 600 are in the international baccalaureate program, so we don't handle any of the academic advising or routine stuff for any of them (they have a separate person for that). The four counsellors split the rest of the kids, roughly evenly (2 have smaller alphas but also handle all of the special ed. and international students) by surname rather than by year. Since there's no requirement to graduate in only 4 years, that system works best for us...a kid is yours until they graduate, no matter how long that takes.

So, I probably have 250 or so kids in my alpha, and I know them all by name at least. There's some I don't see that often, maybe once or twice a year,the kids with no problems, that are passing all their courses, etc. But the kids that are struggling see me at least once a month, and there's a handful that are in weekly (or even daily). You just find the time...what else can you do?

It sounds like the system in the States is really different. I mean, how can guidance miss that a kid's failed a class? Our computers spit out a list and we meet with each and every one of those kids to figure out a plan. And what happens to the kids that don't graduate in four years? Where do they go? My mind is just boggled...

[shilohmm]

And what happens to the kids that don't graduate in four years? Where do they go? My mind is just boggled...

There's some support up until they're 21 -- my sister teaches classes of kids high school has failed, but even there the "success" rate is something like one in four. There are other options, nightschool sort of things to get you a GED, but the "legal adult" (person over 21) usually has to pay their own way. It's very much a "sink or swim" situation.

[delsdad]

The 40 or so is just the number of kids in my alpha that were physically at grad (i.e. the graduates in attendance that night). Our school has about 1500 students, but about 600 are in the international baccalaureate program, so we don't handle any of the academic advising or routine stuff for any of them (they have a separate person for that).

I'm guessing that your schools initials are M.P. ? Thats where we expect my daughter will be going for the IB program. A coworkers daughter just finished her first year in the program, and they are very please with the school.
I wasn't aware that they didn't use the regular guidance office for the IB students.