Amanda Rosemergy
I am a College & Career Counselor at Wallenpaupack Area High School. As one member of what I like to call the Career Team, myself, my fellow College & Career Counselors and our district's Transition Coordinator work together to bring meaningful career and post-secondary education experiences to our students. This year we've arranged college/university "Instant Decision Days", one-on-one job shadows, educational field trips, college and technical school visits, on-campus speakers, college/post-secondary fairs, and job fairs. As a College & Career Counselor, my goal is to ensure that every student has at least one meaningful career-related experience before they graduate from our high school. The College & Career Counselor is a brand new position this year, and we have been working as a team with our fellow school counselors, the transition coordinator, and our administration to develop a vibrant career and post-secondary program for our students. We are currently searching for ways to engage with our students virtually, and to continue to bring them information that will benefit them as they continue to plan for life after high school. My hope is that next year we will be able to run our full calendar of events without any major disruptions! One of my favorite aspects of the School Counseling program at Â鶹ÊÓƵ is that my school counseling professors allowed me to play to my strengths while also challenging me to get outside of my comfort zone. While getting my Master's degree, I worked as an Admissions Counselor at Â鶹ÊÓƵ and found that my favorite part of school counseling was discussing post-secondary planning and careers with high school students. In my school counseling classes, my professors allowed me the opportunity to create lessons and activities centered around careers and post-secondary planning, but also encouraged me to move away from my narrow focus on careers when creating lessons and activities. This broadening of my horizons was very helpful when, shortly after graduation, I was hired to work as a counselor in a K-8 charter school, a job which I held for 2.5 years before starting my current position!