South Putnam earns state counseling honor

Monday, June 26, 2017

The Indiana Department of Education has named South Putnam High School as a recipient of the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Award in 2017.

Gold Star schools undergo a rigorous process to raise student achievement by creating local community advisory groups that review student data, set specific student goals and commit to maximizing the time and skills of the school counselor.

The official award presentation to South Putnam officials will be at the Indiana School Counselor Association (ISCA) fall conference in Indianapolis in November.

“Indiana’s Gold Star Schools collaborate with community partners to assist the school counselor(s) in making data-based decisions to ensure that all students are successful,” IDOE School Counselor Consultant Amanda Culhan said. “We recognize South Putnam High School for understanding the tremendous impact that school counselors can have in helping students succeed in school and also to plan for postsecondary success.”

South Putnam joins a little more than 200 Indiana elementary, middle and high schools that have received the Gold Star Award since its inception in 2004.

Six years later, IDOE, in collaboration with the Indiana Student Achievement Institute, began offering professional development opportunities for schools interested in aligning their counseling program with the Gold Star model. Schools participate in a one-day workshop, followed by a series of monthly webcasts, to help them make the transformation to the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling model.

All Indiana Gold Star schools are eligible to receive the nation’s highest recognition -- the American School Counselor Association’s Recognized ASCA Model Program or RAMP Award. The award demonstrates that a school is “committed to delivering a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program.” Indiana is the state with the highest number of RAMP Award recipients in the country.

To qualify for both awards, South Putnam High School submitted an online portfolio with documentation that it meets the nine program standards found in Indiana’s Program Standards for School Counseling.

Additionally, Kristin Hendrich, Brian Gardner, Heath Pruitt, Zack Love, SPHS Principal Mike Schimpf and Matt Griswold participated in training sessions during the school year and learned how to implement the Gold Star School Counseling model.

Students, teachers, parents and community members who serve on the local School Counseling Advisory Council also took part in the initiative. This group provided valuable input and feedback as the Gold Star School Counseling initiative was being developed.

“The school counselors and others at South Putnam High School have worked hard to ensure that students have an accountable school counseling program that meets their academic, career, and social/emotional development needs,” Sue Reynolds, president of the American Student Achievement Institute, said. “These educators and community members are truly dedicated to the community’s young people and are going the extra mile to help students succeed.”

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  • Way to go South Putnam for making sure you have counselors who are well trained and care about kids!

    -- Posted by talkymom3 on Tue, Jun 27, 2017, at 7:48 AM
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