It’s difficult to think about having to pick, let alone collect data, and when we are so focused on student success it can feel selfish to highlight our programming. That's where I was 5 years ago: changing schools because I was so overwhelmed, questioning my decision to be a counselor, and lost in the myth that I was failing because I couldn't, "fix students." Something had to give, and if I didn’t change my program soon, that something was going to be me. 

The School Counselor's role can easily be reactive, and unsustainable, if we do not use data to make decisions and focus on building systems that build capacity in staff while serving students. We forget that while we are striving for perfection through best practice, real life is still happening. We allow the emergency to take over as we strive to be everything for everyone. 

My passion is to help fellow counselors develop programs that enable both students and counselors to thrive by creating sustainable, manageable systems that reconnect us with our core passions and continue to benefit students long-term.

Data can feel like such a dirty word.