The Indiana Department of Education has Crown Point High School as one of the Indiana schools to receive the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Award in 2014. 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 will be at the Indiana School Counselor Association (ISCA) fall conference in Indianapolis in November 2014.
“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,” said IDOE School Counselor Consultant Amanda Culhan. “We recognize Crown Point 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.”
Crown Point High School joins over 200 Indiana elementary, middle and high schools that have received the Gold Star Award since its inception in 1997. 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, Crown Point 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, members participated in training sessions 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. Members of the Advisory Council include; Jessica Barclay, Sean Begley, Macayla Borys, Chrisanne Christ, Vonda Daniels, Dave Eineman, Miller Elwood, Alisa Goodman, Brenda Harvey, Johanna Hess, Jordan Jones, Ami Marcinek, Fiona McCarroll, Robert McDermott, Susan Mender and Kim Swan. “The school counselors and others at Crown Point High School have worked hard to ensure that students have an accountable school counseling program that meets their academic, career and citizenship development needs,” Sue Reynolds, executive director of the Indiana 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.”
For more information about the local initiative, please contact Robert McDermott, CPHS Assistant Principal rmcdermott@cps.k12.in.us at 219-663-4885 ext. 11014.