Respond to this post and share an insight about an age group from your colleague's post and describe how you think your colleague's identified school counselor role would make a positive impact in a school setting. Response should be substantive in nature and should be approximately 100 words in length at a minimum.

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Respond to this post:

The grades I am interested in working with, within the secondary group, are 9th-12th graders. I currently work at a cyber school in Pennsylvania with grades K-12. I have worked for the school for about five years now and have found that I really enjoy working with the older students! High school students are typically more career-focused and are starting to think about the next steps after graduation. Working with students and learning about their interests and passions helps me to build a good rapport. Building a good rapport with students is an essential key to supporting them as a school counselor, and I feel I would be able to provide adequate support to the 9th-12th grade students. School counselors play an essential role in delivering effective counseling services. School counselors are individuals who aim to improve student success for all students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program (American School Counselor Association, 2023). Roles provided by school counselors involve defining, managing, delivering, and assessing (American School Counselor Association, 2023). School counselors deliver developmentally appropriate activities and services directly to students or indirectly for students as a result of the school counselor's interaction with others (American School Counselor Association, 2023). Leading, collaborating, and advocating are the various roles that school counselors must utilize when working with students. Collaborating and advocating are the two roles I am most interested in performing when working with the secondary age group. Working with various staff and specialists, while also promoting student needs is of the utmost importance. Being able to build rapport with students, being a student advocate, and getting to know them one-on-one is something I do now with my current job and I look forward to being able to continue to do that in the future. As a school counselor, I will be able to ensure equitable academic, career, and social/emotional development opportunities for all students via school counselor roles.