Blog Entry 3

As I read Chapter Four and the Walsh, Barrett & Depaul (2007) article I was very enticed. I say this because it made me think of my weekend two weeks ago. Despite not living in the community, on Friday I went to a Hempfield High School football game. Then on Saturday I watched the Hempfield Midget Football Team play their games and the Midget Cheerleaders cheer. As I sat at the High School game I thought to myself “Look at this turnout. Look at the sheer number of children, teenagers and adolescents that are hear, hanging out, and supporting their community instead of engaging in ‘popular’ but negative actions. When I went to the Midget games the next day much of that community was out and about again being supporting of not only the football players ranging in age from 8 to 14, but also supporting the cheerleaders and encouraging them too. And then it hit me when I returned home…

 As a TSS I spent a year at Mountville Elementary. I spent two years at Landisville Primary Center. I also spent two years at the Hempfield Recreation Commission and I’ve also spent some time in the High School too… And what I noticed/learned at all of these sites is that there genuinely is a feeling of community and caring at all of those places. In the school setting the counselors genuinely are important. They corroborate with their principals as Mr. Jahnke, Mr. Swantner, and Mr. Axe work strongly and effectively with their counselors. The counselors themselves work together strongly with monthly meetings involving counselors from the 9 different schools with new techniques and plans to use. A lot of the administration lives within the district and therefore their children are also subject to growing up in this atmosphere. All of the elementary schools teach monthly character traits and foster community through “contests” in the November character trait month for Generosity/Charity. But it’s not just the schools themselves that are so awesome! The Hempfield Recreation Commission are the ones that run those midget teams and help the kids make that transition from midget to freshman football and cheer teams in High School. The HRC has after school programs at all of the elementary schools to give the children something to do after school that is appropriate. They communicate very well with the school and convey excellent life lessons concurrent with what the counselors are teaching.

So what does this all have to do with our readings? Well this situation is the exact opposite of the situation with Ty in Chapter 4. While I’m sure Mountville, East Pete, and Landisville do have their own problems they also have proactive programs in place that promote positive self-concept, positive community, and strong academics. That is incredibly comprehensive in that it covers family, individual, school and community. It is very systematic in that it is preventative but the counselors themselves are trained to deal with students that need intervention.  Additionally, Hempfield has a tremendous system for handling behavioral deficits (treatment) in the way that they have alternative education courses such as ES at L.P.C. or have R.E.C. Overall I just think it is an excellent example so kids don’t have to end up like  Ty. They don't have to feel overburdened. That when the family needs help the community is certainly willing to provide resources. That the teachers care that their students personal/at home life isn't ideal(not for the parent, but for the child)

Now maybe Hempfield doesn’t stack up to Boston since Hempfield is an affluent suburb of a small city and Boston is one of the country’s largest urban areas. But the results of the Walsh et. al article make me believe that gradually communities like this can be established in Boston starting with school counselors implementing programs that deliver student support in and out of the school such as the Boston Connects program. Because I always grew up in rural and suburban areas I wanted to work in that sort of school system. But this article definitely makes me think I could work in a city. Maybe not Boston size but definitely much bigger than a Lancaster. Whether this is through implementing sporting programs that connect to the schools, aligning with recreation commissions or community associations, or some other methods to keep the youth out of negative aspects and keep families from trouble remains to be seen. But I’ve seen it done in a small suburb and hear about something related in Boston thanks to the article and so it seems promising.

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd

Ed.). New York:   Pearson, Inc.

Walsh, M. E., Barrett, J. G., & DePaul, J. (2007). Day-to-day activities of school counselors:

Alignment with new directions in the field and the ASCA national model®. Professional

School Counseling, 10(4), 370-378.