Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) support 94 counselors and behavior support specialists. During National School Counseling Week, Patch is taking a look at the job our school counselors do.

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association, is being celebrated this week, Feb. 6-10. This year’s theme is School Counselors: Helping Students Be Brilliant!

School counselors help students examine their abilities, strengths, interests, and talents, a CCPS news release reports. They work in partnership with parents as they encounter the challenges of raising children in today’s world and focus on positive ways to enhance students’ academic, career, and personal/social development.

School counselors also work with teachers and other educators to provide an educational system where students can realize their potential and set healthy, realistic, and optimistic goals for themselves.

Judy Klinger is the supervisor of school counseling for Carroll County Public Schools. She said that school counseling is a wonderful profession.

"The most wonderful thing that comes to mind about being a school counselor is working with students, challenging them to reach beyond their potential, and then seeing them get there," Klinger said. 

"Ironcially, the most challenging thing about being a school counselor is again working with students and encouraging them to reach for their potential," Klinger said. "It is a challenge at times to get students to believe in themselves."

Check Patch tomorrow to hear from some of the counselors working in Westminster area schools.