Counseling & Guidance

Welcome to the LGMS Counseling Center

OUR MISSION...

To provide a comprehensive, developmental program to all students. Through this program, students will acquire the skills, abilities, and attitude needed to achieve their career goals and success as responsible, respectful citizens and life-long learners.

Mrs. Kidwell

Last Names M-Z

Mr. Ocker          

Last Names A-L                

ABOUT US...

Did you know we are School Counselors instead of Guidance Counselors?


What's the difference?

A Guidance Counselor is a term from the dark ages of school counseling. A Guidance Counselor is a person who had little training in the role of a counselor. Their job duties included "guiding" students in their college applications and high school course selection. A lot has changed in the field of counseling and the modern School Counselor has a Master's Degree specific to School Counseling.

School counselors must be able to handle a wide variety of counseling issues, from suicide and ideation, grief, LGBT, cutting, absenteeism, social skills, relational aggression, technology, academic, career, gifted, special education, group dynamics, and family relationships. School Counselors also develop a comprehensive school counseling program that focuses on 3 domains set forth by the American School Counselor Association.

Those domains include Academic Development, Career Development, and Social/Emotional Development. Professional School Counselors develop lesson plans and present on a wide range of topics. Issues regarding bullying, interpersonal skills, and academic success are the predominant areas of support, coupled with promoting a culture where all students are career and college ready.


Why Middle School Counselors?

Today's young people are living in an exciting time, with an increasingly diverse society, new technologies, and expanding opportunities. To help ensure that they are prepared to become the next generation of parents, workers, leaders, and citizens, every student needs support, direction, and opportunities during adolescence, a time of rapid growth and change. Early adolescents face unique and diverse challenges, both personally and developmentally, that have an impact on academic achievement.

Middle School Students' Developmental Needs

Middle school is an exciting, yet challenging time for students, their parents and teachers. During this passage from childhood to adolescence, middle school students are characterized by a need to explore a variety of interests, connecting their learning in the classroom to its practical application in life and work; high levels of activity coupled with frequent fatigue due to rapid growth; a search for their own unique identity as they begin turning more frequently to peers rather than parents for ideas and affirmation; extreme sensitivity to the comments from others; and heavy reliance on friends to provide comfort, understanding and approval.

Meeting the Challenge

Middle school counselors are professional educators with a mental health perspective who understand and respond to the challenges presented by today's diverse student population. Middle school counselors do not work in isolation; rather they are integral to the total educational program. They provide proactive leadership that engages all stakeholders in the delivery of programs and services to help students achieve success in school. School counselors align with the school's mission to support the academic achievement of all students as they prepare for the ever-changing world of the 21st century. This mission is accomplished through the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive, developmental and systematic school counseling program. The ASCA National Model: A Framework For School Counseling Programs, with its data-driven and results-based focus, serves as a guide for today's school counselor, who is uniquely trained to implement this program.

American School Counseling Association Model

Our program components:

Middle School Counselors Collaborate With:

Students

  • Peer education
  • Peer support
  • Academic support
  • School climate
  • Leadership development

Parents

  • Parent information night
  • Communication
  • Academic planning programs
  • Parent and family education
  • One-on-one parent conferencing
  • Assessment results interpretation
  • Resource referrals
  • College/career exploration

Teachers

  • Career portfolio
  • development
  • Assistance with
  • students' academic plans
  • Classroom guidance
  • activities on study skills,
  • career development,etc.
  • Academic support,
  • learning style assessment
  • and education to help
  • students succeed academically
  • Classroom career
  • speakers
  • At-risk student
  • identification and implementation of
  • interventions to enhance success

Administrators

  • School climate
  • Behavioral management plans
  • School-wide needs assessment
  • Student data and results
  • Student assistance team building
  • Leadership

Community

  • Job shadowing, service learning
  • Crisis interventions
  • Referrals
  • Parenting classes
  • Support groups
  • Career education

LGMS COUNSELING CENTER CONTACTS

Julie Milligan, Counselor
262-348-3000, ext. #3004
[email protected]

Rob Ocker, Counselor
262-348-3000, ext. #3006
[email protected]

Trudy Hansen, Secretary
262-348-3000, ext. 3906
[email protected]

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