BLOG & PODCAST · SUPPORTING STUDENTS
Supporting Students
Ideas for the students on your caseload, from freshmen to seniors.
75 posts and episodes, newest first. Each one opens on counselorclique.com.
Podcast · Episode 169 3 Tasks You’re Going to Do Before You Check Out for the Year As the school year winds down and summer break is calling your name, it’s tempting to just check out and mentally shut the door on this year. But before you do, there…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 167 Life Skills Your Students Should Master – Part 3: Healthy Communication From awkward group projects to job interviews, communication is the life skill students will use daily, but rarely get taught. In the final episode of my “Life Skills…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 166 Life Skills Your Students Should Master – Part 2: Time Management How many skills have you had to figure out as an adult and thought, “Wow, I wish I had learned this sooner”? Probably too many to count! That’s exactly why I’m on a…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 165 Life Skills Your Students Should Master – Part 1: Budgeting Basics Imagine if your students graduated not just with academic knowledge, but real-world skills they’ll use every day. Today we’re starting that conversation. I’m kicking off…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 164 5 Low-Budget Ways to Address Mental Health Needs When it comes to student mental health, the need is huge, but the budget? Not so much. If you’ve ever looked around your school and thought, “How am I supposed to…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 163 Empowering Teens: Navigating Substance Use Prevention with Kriya Lendzion Substance use in schools isn’t just a “some kids” issue. It’s happening across all kinds of student groups, and honestly, some of what I learned in this episode really…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 162 6 Ideas for Transitioning Your Seniors to Avoid Summer Melt After graduation, students are eager to jump into the next chapter of their lives, but sometimes things fall through the cracks. Summer melt is real, and it can make the…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog The Ultimate College Search Hack: Why Students (and High School Counselors) Need Loper The college search brings excitement but it can also bring our students apprehension as they can feel stuck with how to even get started. I want to introduce you to…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 154 How to Set up a Peer Leader Program in Your School What if you could create a program that not only helps your students grow as leaders but also strengthens your entire school community? That’s exactly what we’re diving…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 153 Noticing: A Spoken Word by Leah Grant Have you ever stopped to truly notice the world around you – the small moments and subtle ways people carry the weight of their day? In this unique episode, I’m sharing…Supporting Students, Programs & Systems, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 150 Shining a Light on Child Sex Trafficking with Krystal Nierman of Switch We talk about a lot of sensitive topics as school counselors, and today is no exception. We’re taking a deep dive into child sex trafficking. Heavy, I know. But with sex…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 149 Pregnant and Parenting Teens: How to Support This Unique Population as a High School Counselor What do you do if a student tells you they’re pregnant? There’s a good chance you were asked this question during a job interview because it’s a situation that you will…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 148 Developing Cultural Competency to Better Support Your Students with Jocelynn Hubbard You may not realize this, but you have a unique superpower in your role as a high school counselor! You have the ability to nurture your students and walk them through…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 147 Exploring Gap Year Opportunities for Your Students (or You!) with Julia Rogers Have your students ever expressed interest in taking a gap year? A gap year is more than just time off! It’s a deliberate period to explore personal, practical, and…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 146 The School Counselor’s Role in School Safety and Crisis Management with Brandy Samuell When you work in a school, there are a million and one things to think about every single day. School safety is at the top of that list, and might even be one of the…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 144 How to Host a College Application Day As school counselors, we know that not all of our students are going to go to college after graduating. However, for the students who do have college in their future…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 140 Highs and Lows of Working with Seniors with Brittany Slagle You’ve waited four episodes to listen to the last episode in our grade-level counselor series. A student’s senior year is full of ups and downs, celebratory moments, and…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 139 How Do You Handle Working with Juniors? An Interview with Leigh Pottle Being a school counselor allows you to form close relationships with your students and help guide them through their high school years. It’s honestly one of the best and…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 138 What It’s Really Like to Work with Sophomores with Hannah Fain We’re continuing our series on talking with different high school counselors who work with specific grade levels, and today is all about sophomores! Sophomores hold a…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 137 How to Seamlessly Transition 400 Ninth Graders into High School with Felicia Carter When you’re a counselor who works solely with ninth graders, your role and challenges can sometimes look different from those of other counselors working with older high…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 136 What We Need to Know About Our Rising Ninth Grade Students with Lauren Tenholder Before the new school year officially begins, I’m starting a new series where I’m talking with counselors from different grade levels to gather insight into their roles…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 127 High School Transition: Creative Ways to Help Your Students Make the Leap from Eighth Grade to Ninth Grade Think back to the time you transitioned from middle school to high school. You went from being the oldest in the school to now being the youngest in a new building with…Supporting Students
Blog Appealing Financial Aid? Use This Tool! *This post is sponsored by Going Merry. Financial aid is one of the top stressors on our students’ minds when we ask them to start thinking about their post-secondary…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 122 School Counselor Strategies to Bring to Your Next IEP or 504 Meeting with Catherine Whitcher I’m shocked to say it, but today’s topic is a first for the podcast! It’s not something that we’re immersed in our day-to-day routine, but it’s so important in…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 120 Accepting the Reality That Some Seniors Might Not Graduate As graduation approaches, you’re probably doing all the last-minute details of finalizing the details of the event, ordering cap and gowns, designing the program, and…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 119 From Off-Track to Graduation: Counselor Tips for Supporting At-Risk Students We’ve officially entered the last quarter of the school year, which means graduation for seniors is just around the corner. However, we all know some students who are at…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 112 Solution-Focused School Counseling with Dr. Russell A. Sabella When was the last time you reviewed different counseling theories you could bring into your role? It’s probably something you have not considered since graduate school…Supporting Students, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 102 Support Strategies for Meeting Your High School Students’ Mental Health Needs As high school counselors with large caseloads, it can feel like a lot of pressure when it comes to trying to handle the mental health needs of students on top of…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 99 How This High School Counselor Planned an Unforgettable Student Wellness Day with Tylee Resetich Our high school students are so busy and surrounded with pressures of classes, college applications, sports, friendships, and more. With everything they have going on…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 93 School Counselor Advocacy and Empowering Students for Post-Secondary Success with Priscilla Grijalva After witnessing a student feel defeated about plans to attend community college rather than a University, Priscilla Grijalva knew that she needed to change the…College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 92 How to Advocate for Undocumented Students in Your High School Each student on your caseload has unique needs. Your DACA and undocumented students face a particular set of challenges, and you have the opportunity to be a beacon of…College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 91 Simplify the College Search: 5 Free Tools for High School Counselors and Students As we gear up for the school year, I know you’ve probably already started fielding questions from your seniors about their college search. It’s important to remember…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 90 3 Assumptions to Avoid If You Want to Increase College Access on Your School’s Campus We all want our students to find success after high school and do everything in our power to get them to where they need to be by graduation. This idea of “success” is…College & Career, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Podcast · Episode 89 What to Know About Implementing an Effective Student Support Team We all have students on our caseload who are falling through the cracks in one way or another. While part of your job is to advocate for these students and find…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Podcast · Episode 81 Protecting and Prioritizing Student Confidentiality as a School Counselor One of our greatest responsibilities and privileges as school counselors is student confidentiality. I know how difficult it can be when others in the school don’t…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 77 What it Looks Like to Implement MTSS In a High School Setting with Dr. Jake Olsen and Dr. Peg Donohue Are you familiar with MTSS? In case you aren’t, MTSS stands for Multi-Tiered System of Supports. Essentially, it is a framework that helps schools be effective and…College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 74 What to Expect if You’re Moving to High School Counseling Are you a new high school counselor, or thinking about moving to high school counseling from elementary or middle school counseling? If so, today’s episode is for you…Supporting Students, Programs & Systems, Counselor Growth
Blog 4 Counselor-Approved Academic Interventions that Actually Set Students Up for Success Academic interventions that aim to reach all students in a single grade level simultaneously are something counselors should be gearing up for each year, no matter their…Supporting Students
Blog Do This 1 Super Simple Activity to Celebrate Senior Students and Make a Major Impact As we prepare to launch our senior students into the next chapter, we have the privilege of making them feel ultra-celebrated and supported. One way we can celebrate…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 70 What High School Counselors Can Learn from Oatly’s Newest Marketing Campaign Have you ever offered an idea during a team meeting only to have it shut down? Are you nervous to try something new in your counseling program out of fear that it won’t…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 69 Senior Decision Day: Creating Lasting Memories for Your Graduates The end of another school year is quickly approaching and I know that the deadline for diplomas can be so stressful as a high school counselor. However, there are some…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Podcast · Episode 68 4 Ways to Repurpose Student Pictures to Celebrate Your Seniors As a high school counselor, you know that graduation is a major milestone for your seniors, and you’re feeling the pressure to help them successfully cross that finish…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Blog When 10% of Your Students Require 90% of Your Time: 4 Ways to Better Manage Frequent Flyer Students A topic that is overwhelmingly popular among our counselor friends is the challenge of managing our frequent flyer students. “Frequent flyers” are a handful of students…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 67 How to Utilize Free Financial Literacy Resources in Your High School Counseling Program with Alyssa Lyons Think back to your family dinner table conversations while you were growing up. Did the topic of finances come up, or was that kept private? For many of us, there was a…College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 66 Maximizing Your Reach with Classroom Lessons (and How to Get Teachers on Board!) There are so many things we do as school counselors to support and impact as many students as possible. One of the best ways that you can ensure you’re maximizing your…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 65 Innovative Career Activities for High School Students When I think back to when I was in high school, there are so many real-world skills that I wish we were taught. Being exposed to more conversations about career options…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 63 Strategies to Employ When You Have Frequent Flyer Students Do you have frequent flyer students? You know the ones. They’re the students that are always popping into your office or tracking you down in the hallway. I’m sure you…Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 62 Achieve Small Group Student Buy-In With These 4 Ideas Did you catch last week’s episode? We talked all about the benefits of running high school counseling small groups. This week we’re continuing on the small group trend…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 61 The Power of Small Groups: Unlocking the Benefits at the High School Level Between the endless paperwork, phone calls, emails, and some more paperwork, there may be days when you feel like you don’t actually get to ‘do counseling’. But there’s…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Strategies for Helping First Gen Students Find Success When we use the term “first gen students,” we are referring to high school students who are (or will be) the first in their families to attend college, excluding older…Supporting Students
Blog Remember These 3 Fundamentals When Engaging Failing Students With huge caseloads of students, outsiders may be surprised by the amount of time high school counselors spend with our failing students. Whether we’re calling their…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 47 3 Ways to Help Your Failing Students Find Success Let’s talk about a really common challenge that we face as high school counselors. It’s a challenge that often leaves us feeling defeated and put under a whole lot of…Supporting Students
Blog 4 Ways Going Merry is Providing Effective FAFSA Help for Your High School Students *This post is sponsored by Going Merry. As a high school counselor, you’ve probably been sending transcripts and running senior meetings since school started. We’re now…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 41 Supporting and Empowering First Generation Students In its most simple terms, first generation students are the first in their families to attend college. According to the Center for First-Generation Student Success…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 40 How to Advocate for All Post Secondary Plans As high school counselors, we hope to prepare students for whatever their post secondary plans are… from work, military, or college. Elementary and middle school…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 39 Running Senior Meetings Like a Boss Running senior meetings helps to inform your students and parents while also building their confidence about what’s to come! Senior year can be a LOT! Planning…College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 15 Why Building Relationships is the Hidden Key to Unlocking Classroom Lessons- an Interview with Rebecca Joyner of It’s Not Rocket Science® Join me and my bestie, Rebecca Joyner of It’s Not Rocket Science®, as we cover SO many things pertaining to high school counseling classroom lessons and the importance…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 12 Why Knowing Student Names Can Make a Relational Impact On Your Counseling Classroom Lessons Every student wants to be seen and known. Knowing student names is a huge part of making that happen. When you remember a student’s name, you’re developing relational…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog School Counseling Services: 3 Ways a High School Counselor Can Provide Meaningful Services As a high school counselor, I sat around more IEP tables than I could count as a part of the school counseling services that are offered by high school counselors…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Blog 4 Fun Career Activities to Engage Your High School Students How many times do we skip over the “career development” aspect of our roles as high school counselors because it seems too tedious, or we feel like we don’t have the…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Genuine Career Readiness Conversation Starters for High School Students When my high school students walked across the stage to get their diplomas, I always wanted them to have an idea of what was coming next in terms of their career…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Ways to Make a More Profound Impact on Students by Changing Your Mindset As high school counselors, we are always looking to make a bigger and more profound impact on students while still balancing all of the tasks throughout our day-to-day…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students, Counselor Growth
Blog 3 Fun and Engaging Ways to Celebrate Students’ Post-Secondary Plans By this point, seniors have spent so many years of their life in school, done lots of soul searching, and decided what is next for their post-secondary plans. Whether a…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Important Things High School Counselors Can Talk About in Senior Meetings There is some uniqueness between what I talk about as a high school counselor with seniors compared to all other grades. When we get into talking about these three…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 5 Niche Groups of High School Students to Look Out For as a Supportive High School Counselor During my years as a high school counselor, I discovered a few groups of high school students that I especially needed to make note of, pay attention to, and reach out…Supporting Students
Blog 3 Reasons Why It’s Okay to Ask for Help During the College Application Process As your student gets closer and closer to graduation, you want them to have a post-secondary plan for their life after high school. You may be in a season of…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Ways to Use College Application Day to Increase Student Confidence Around College Applications I am completely aware that college is not the post-secondary path for every high school student. However, hosting an event like a “College Application Day” is shown to…College & Career, Supporting Students
Blog 4 Ideas for Getting Impressive Student Buy-In for High School Counseling Small Groups One of the biggest roadblocks to running high school counseling small groups with students (besides lack of time) is getting these students bought in. How do you find…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Tips for Starting Small Groups Out on the Right Foot in Your High School Counseling Program Do you ever dream of starting small groups but then get halted in your tracks? You want to make sure you move in the right direction AND be sure you’re running something…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog 2 Ideas for Impactful Tier 1 Academic Interventions with High School Students I am convinced a big part of my school’s student success is because of the effort put towards tier 1 academic interventions with our students. We have always had a…Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Blog 4 Quick Tips for Remembering Students’ Names Once you start getting to know students, school counseling referrals will flow, connections will be made, and trust will be built. Relational capital is one of your most…Supporting Students
Blog 4 Practical Ways to Incorporate Digital Activities and Check-Ins into Your School Counseling Setting School counselors often ask me how to best utilize check-ins or digital activities with their students. Digital resources are a helpful way to connect with students and…Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Blog 3 Effective Ways to Check In With Students Even When It’s Tough Students are inundated with emails right now and have information overload. We’re living in some weird times. What can we do to check in with students and make sure…Supporting Students
- Blog How to Stay Organized and Motivated with a Scholarship Spreadsheet High school parents are living in tension. Their student is almost ready to launch into the “real world,” but they’re still under their roof. How do they push them to do…
Supporting Students
Blog How I Hold Productive Senior Meetings as High School Counselor I want to tell you about my first week of “Senior Meetings” as we start out the school year. My senior meetings are timed at 30 minutes each, and I try to do about six…Supporting Students, Programs & Systems