FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Board Hears Counselors’ ‘Day in the Life’

By ABIGAIL BLISS
Sentinel Staff Writer
    In their ongoing efforts to know the community they serve, Sitka School Board members recently asked district counselors to paint them a picture about their work on a day-to-day basis to give a clearer view of the services provided.

Maggie Gallin sits in her office at Pacific High as a student grabs a snack from her desk this morning. Gallin spoke at Monday’s Sitka School Board meeting to talk about the diverse duties of counselors in Sitka’s schools. (Sentinel Photo)


    The board viewed the results Monday night at a regular meeting, when “A Day in the Life” was presented by six school counselors. The presenters were Maggie Gallin, Ramon Quevedo, Jael McCarty, Jeanine Brooks, Ben Cordero and Cori Schumejda.
    They described the needs they observe in the students they counsel, the tools used to address them, and the way they fit their many responsibilities into a single school day.
     Gallin, a social worker at Pacific High School, began by emphasizing the role of counseling as it relates to the board’s goal “to close the achievement gap for each demographic.”
    She cited the adverse effect on student achievement caused by physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; a parent’s divorce; substance abuse in their household; or incarceration of a family member. While counselors work to mitigate these obstacles to learning, the schools must “nurture, and not overlook or discount” students experiencing factors at home that affect their performance in school, Gallin said. She praised such students for their resilience.
    Gallin also drew a connection between counseling in Sitka schools and the state’s priorities. She explained how Alaska’s Education Challenge – a reform initiative detailed in Governor Walker’s 2017 State of the State address – operates at the local level. In Sitka, the Challenge’s goal to “promote safety and wellbeing” is supported by efforts to transform school climate, build trauma-engaged schools, and enable student health.
    “This is our bread and butter,” she said. “This is what we work on every day.”
    Brooks, who counsels kids at Baranof Elementary School and Wooch.een Preschool, said the pressures Gallin had listed are prevalent even among the district’s youngest students. Among last year’s Wooch.een students, she said, six had lost parents to substance abuse. There are currently 40 students enrolled in the preschool.
    She described sitting with students at breakfast, making sure they were present, eating, and properly clothed. She calls the families of students who are absent, and circles back with some parents at the end of the day. Like the rest of the counselors who spoke, she said she sees some students routinely and others on the spur of the moment when needed. In addition, she collaborates with teachers to create strategies for meeting students’ needs, instill kindness and empathy, and “figure out ways to build that internal resiliency.”
    “Most days are not 13 hours long,” Brooks said. “But today was.”
    Quevedo similarly reported checking in with the families of students who didn’t show up to Keet Gooshi Heen; he even works with the principal to pick up kids who need rides to school. To help students “access their education,” he deals with such problems as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, self-harm, friendship issues, and suicidal thoughts. In addition to meeting with 35 students regularly, he sees students in need at a moment’s notice, and works with kids at recess to implement social skills discussed in earlier sessions.
    Quevedo said he works in partnership with teachers to create intervention plans, with administrators to address problematic trends in the student body, with parents and families to ensure they feel welcome and connected to their child’s school, and with health professionals to whom he refers students when necessary.
    “It sounds like it’s so scheduled,” he said of his daily work. “It doesn’t really happen that way.”
    McCarty, a P.E. teacher who stepped into a counseling role at Blatchley this year, said her services are in high demand, but represent only a part of her daily responsibilities. On top of addressing social adjustments, suicide, homelessness, and cyberbullying among students, McCarty is tasked with arranging students’ academic schedules and teaching two periods each day.
    “The middle school wasted no time in breaking me in,” she said of her new counseling duties. “I hit the ground running.”
    Cordero, who works with high school students, emphasized his role in college and career counseling. He said his role includes in-depth college planning with students, advising applicants on essays and scholarships, overseeing the SATs and Advanced Placement tests, keeping parents in the loop about their students’ future plans, and producing a college and career fair each fall.
    His colleague, Schumejda, added that the Sitka High counseling team enacts academic interventions when a student’s grades appear to be slipping.
    “We watch students’ grades,” she said. “When we see a student whose grades are failing or maybe have not been so good for several weeks, that’s when we pull them in, talk to them, see what’s going on.”
    She listed “ten areas of trauma” affecting student performance: psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, loss of parent, mother treated violently, substance abuse, mental illness, and criminal behavior in the household. The greater the number of traumas, the greater the difficulty a student has in school work, and the more likely they are to suffer health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and mental illness.
    After her co-workers spoke, Gallin took back the microphone to issue “a respectful but not so subtle request” that the board consider fully funding the counseling position at Pacific High, which is currently covered by a grant expiring next year.
    To illustrate the importance of a counselor at Pacific High, she drew on statistics about the issues facing her students: 63 percent have parents who are divorce or separated, 19 percent are in out-of-home placements or foster homes, 22 percent have deceased parents, 33 percent meet criteria for housing instability, more than 62 percent have a family member who has struggled with substance abuse.
    Gallin said that since school started this year, 37 percent of the students have spoken with her about suicidal thoughts.
    “It’s not all bleak,” she quickly added. “In fact, it’s the most rewarding job I could imagine. ... Our school is above and beyond in almost every single area from the district-wide average.”
    For example, she explained, Pacific High School scored higher than the district on average in student perception of “high expectations,” “caring adults,” “peer climate,” “school safety,” and “student involvement.” Pacific High earned a score of 91 for “respectful climate,” whereas the district average was 57.
    Gallin said she sees 85 percent of the student body on a regular basis. It would be “a dead end” for the district to expect its academic performance and dropout rates to improve without meeting students’ basic needs, she contended.
    At the end of her presentation, she invited each board member to visit Pacific High School, encouraging them to learn more about her role and community in person.
    Quinlyn Holder, the student representative on the School Board, extolled the impact of counselors on individual students and school communities, which she had witnessed while working her way up through Sitka schools.
    “Thank you all for what you do because it is incredibly important,” she said.
    Board member Cass Pook echoed her gratitude.
    “I think a lot of people do not realize the wealth of excellence that we have in counseling,” she said. “There are many districts that do not have counseling.”
    She expressed appreciation, in particular, for the counselors’ intent to understand issues that might be affecting a student at home, rather than punishing them for the way those stresses manifest themselves in the classroom.
    “When a child comes into the classroom, instead of saying, ‘Where were you? Why are you late?’, saying ‘Thanks for showing up.’”

Other Business
    Prior to Monday night’s meeting the board met with representatives from the Sitka High School Student Government. The students asked about the possibility of implementing Office 365 training for students and teachers; whether the school’s wireless internet connection could be improved; and about progress on installation of a special water fountain. Finally, they solicited suggestions for how the SHS Student Government might promote the School Board’s goals among the student body.
    During the regular meeting the board recognized the Sitka High swim team, volleyball team, and music students for their achievements this year. Superintendent Mary Wegner issued awards to board members Eric Van Cise and Jennifer McNichol for their service to the school district. “Thank you for your efforts to be the best board members you can be,” she said.
    Board members described impressions from the Association of Alaska School Boards annual conference they attended earlier this month.
    “I had a very good conversation with the Petersburg superintendent,” Van Cise said. “They’re piloting some information about how to use vocational ed and technical-type classes to help students achieve their math requirements.”
    Elias Erickson added that the time spent learning from his fellow board members made the trip worthwhile, as well, emphasizing the importance of a common understanding for productivity moving forward.
    Pook thanked her colleagues for their support in her re-election to the AASB board of directors for a two-year term.
    Wegner reported that the current district enrollment is very close to predictions. At 1,256, it is three more than the figure used as the basis of the budget, she said.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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