High School
Helping Freshmen Cope, Seniors Prepare for Life
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Counselor Marrius Pettiford used to work at a school where he was responsible for 600 students, even though it was, he said, "impossible" to get to them all.
Instead, he said, he had to "triage situations," leaving self-sufficient students alone, giving a little help to the partially self-sufficient and spending the bulk of his time with the most troubled.
He was also expected to do tasks that the American School Counselor Association says are inappropriate for counselors, such as coordinating standardized test-taking.
That experience helped him change things at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School in Raleigh, N.C., where today he is dean of counseling and student services.
Southeast Raleigh Magnet now has its own standardized test coordinator, and a crisis counselor is available to handle intense situations. That allows the other five counselors to work with the 2,200 students in a more systematic way.
Pettiford started counseling 15 years ago, choosing the field after his high school counselor in rural Mebane, N.C., helped broaden his horizons. He never thought he could attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- until his counselor drove him there and helped guide him through the process.
Today, high school counselors have to juggle their time because students in different grades need different kinds of help. Freshmen, for example, often have transition problems, while seniors need help planning for life after graduation.
When he began his career, Pettiford said, he spent much of his time on academic and guidance issues. Now the issues brought to counselors are far more personal, with the frequency of visits and severity of problems increasing.
Suicidal students have been his most serious problem, he said.
*Tasks for high school counselors include:
Academic Help students plan for further education or jobs; make schedule changes to achieve goals; and evaluate test results.
Career Development Help students understand how their skills and interests influence their career choices; align students' educational plans with their career goals; and teach students how to handle potential workplace problems.
Personal/Social Development Help students handle pressure and self-esteem issues, overcome stereotypes and biases and deal with parents, friends and teachers.
