A Crisis Reminder

My last few posts have all been career related and I didn't want to switch gears away from talking about careers without mentioning how thankful I am to have a rewarding job working with students and families that I love.  You cannot even begin to imagine how grateful I am that you give me the opportunity to be a part of your lives and walk along with you during your journey through high school.

Sometimes that journey includes some really difficult days.  You have had to deal with many up's and down's and, for some of you, those have even included dealing with the critical illness or even death of friends or a parent.  It breaks my heart that so many of you have had to face tragedies at such a young age.

I was selected to present at a statewide counselor conference that is coming up next week and I am talking about what to say and do if someone from the school community dies.  And so, as you can imagine, while putting together the presentation, my mind has been very crisis focused. 

I thought this might be a good time to review the importance of communication when crisis situations occur. It is important, as a school counselor, to be aware of any major incidents that impact students from the school as soon as possible so that we can help prepare an appropriate response. For the record, I tend to check my e-mails over weekends, holidays, and the summer for any critical incidents, but I do not check my school voicemail, so the best way to pass along important timely news is e-mail. Obviously, my sincere hope is that this information is never needed and that we will not face any crisis situations in the future, but I also know that it is better safe than sorry.