HOPE – The school guidance counselor corps of the Hope Public Schools has brought more than two centuries of public education experience to aid the students of the HPS which will be recognized during National School Counseling Week, Feb. 1-5.
\r\nHope Mayor Don Still declared the week of Feb. 1-5 as Arkansas Public Schools Counselor Week in Hope to salute HPS counselors Varonica Kennedy, Kayla Jones (career coach), Hope High School; Joyce Smith, Yerger Middle School; Marilyn Marks, Hope Academy of Public Service; Christi Sullivan, Beryl Henry Elementary School; and Shauntelle Jarvis and Paige Bobo, Clinton Primary School.\r\n
\r\nThe proclamation notes the active commitment of school counselors to help students explore their potential and consider their future while working with teachers and other educators to help students set realistic goals for that journey.\r\n
\r\n“Comprehensive developmental school counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school,” the proclamation states.\r\n
\r\nAmong the seven counselor positions on the five main campuses of the HPS there is a total of 230 years of educational service experience. Of that total, there are 84 years of experience in counseling services specifically. The difference marks the importance of a background in public school classrooms for the HPS counselors.\r\n
\r\nHope High School Counselor Varonica Kennedy taught for six years in the El Dorado Public Schools in first and third grade classes, as well as serving as an activity teacher, technology specialist and reading specialist before becoming a school counselor.\r\n
\r\nA graduate of Liberty-Eylau High School, and South Arkansas Community College, in El Dorado, where she earned an Associate of Arts degree in education, Kennedy completed her BSE degree at the University of Arkansas – Monticello and her MSE at Southern Arkansas University, in Magnolia, before moving to the Texarkana Independent School District in 2017, where she became a counselor in the Theron Jones Early Literacy Center.\r\n
\r\nAs HHS career coach, Kayla Jones is based in the HHS counseling office where she helps students focus on life after graduation. With a BS degree in Human Services from Henderson State University, Jones taught for a year at Yerger Middle School before moving to the HHS counseling office last year.\r\n
\r\n“School counselors work with all students to remove barriers to learning by addressing students’ academic concerns, postsecondary options and social/emotional skills,” American School Counselor Association Executive Director Jill Cook said. “School counseling programs help to increase student achievement and provide a much-needed resource for students, parents, teachers and administrators. School counselors are integral to student success.”\r\n
