HPS says ‘thank you’ to school counselors and adjustment counselors
February 6-10 is National School Counseling Week—a time to celebrate and recognize the important contributions that counselors make every day in the lives of their students.
Holyoke’s school counselors and adjustment counselors help students “dream big,” said Superintendent Anthony Soto. “Together, we celebrate and acknowledge the invaluable contributions that each of our counselors makes in helping students reflect on and strengthen their individual abilities, interests, and talents, working in partnership with their families.”
HPS joins with school districts across the country this week in celebration of National School Counseling Week 2023, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association. “I personally want to say thank you to our counselors for consistently focusing on the positives to enhance our students’ academic, career, and social-emotional development,” Superintendent Soto said. “Working in collaboration with other school staff, our counselors help students set healthy, realistic, and optimistic aspirations for themselves, and provide a variety of ways for students to dream big and take important steps each day to achieve their visions for tomorrow.”
Grant funds will support school counselor training in Holyoke and Springfield
Springfield College’s Department of Counseling chair Allison Cumming-McCann was recently awarded a $3.29 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will be used to enhance training and help increase the number of racially and linguistically diverse school counselors in both Springfield and Holyoke Public Schools. The Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration grant is intended to help address the growing mental health needs among K-12 students across the country.
Using these grant funds, Springfield College’s Department of Counseling will work with school counselor trainees in accelerated and traditional graduate education programs as well as through a mentorship program designed to support high school students who would like to pursue a counseling degree in the future.
The college’s Department of Counseling already has an established partnership with both school districts. The grant funds will allow the college to improve its recruitment and training of counselors that reflect both communities' diversity. Grant funds will provide tuition assistance, stipends for fieldwork placements in Holyoke and Springfield, and for mentors in both school districts to supervise and support future school counselors, along with trauma-informed training, bilingual support for Spanish-speaking trainees, culturally relevant service provisions, and more.