PAFE, LPOSD partner on SHS counselor

SANDPOINT - About 30 percent of Sandpoint High School graduates go on to attend a four-year college or university, with others attending a two-year college or technical program or beginning a new job.

But despite the best efforts of the three guidance counselors at the school, many students still graduate without any next step planned.

Now, however, a strategic partnership between the Panhandle Alliance for Education and the Lake Pend Oreille School District is providing for the hiring of a fourth professional guidance counselor for SHS. His or her mandate: to reach out to parents and students - including at the elementary and middle-school levels - and help them plan for the future.

PAFE has committed $120,000 to the partnership over three years. The first year includes the salary for a full-time certified counselor, start-up costs for program development and materials, and a freshening of the center with new carpet, paint, furniture, and a college- and career-exploration library. The district will share the salary costs with PAFE the second and third years and fully take over all costs the fourth year.

“Funding the career guidance counselor means our kids will get the tools they need to plan an exciting future,” said Marcia Wilson, PAFE executive director. “Students will leave high school with the knowledge of their talents, how to translate their talents into a profession, and where to obtain the skills necessary to build their career — what could be more important?”

The three current SHS counselors — Jim Wandler, Linda Sprinkle and Cindy Albertson — all work with seniors while also being assigned to a particular grade: Albertson to freshman, Sprinkle to sophomores and Wandler to juniors.

“A school counselor is in charge of three areas of student development: academic planning, career development, and social and personal development. It's a pretty big umbrella,” said Albertson, who started as an elementary teacher in 1992 and is in her fifth year as an SHS counselor.

“We counselors have done our best dealing with those areas in a school of 1,200 kids, but obviously we can't meet everybody's individual needs,” she said.

While SHS will continue to work in all three areas, this additional counselor will focus on the career development domain, and together we'll put together programs and systems to help kids and families access information and make choices, Albertson said.

Students who are not bound for a four-year college or university may be the biggest beneficiaries of the additional counseling position.

“About 80 percent of our kids say they're going to a four-year college, but in truth most are not. Those who are going start early, preparing themselves by doing their homework, getting good grades, taking advanced math in middle school, and being on a college track in high school,” Albertson said.

“But many kids who didn't take school seriously need help making a solid plan. Our focus is on helping those students find a two-year degree program or technical certificate program they can enroll in once they graduate, and the bottom line is making sure that students who don't pursue more education are employable.”

Ensuring employability includes teaching “soft skills” such as creating a resume and interviewing for a job, she added.

Albertson says the counseling team is clear about the role of the new counselor.

“This position is not a private college counselor — someone to find the right college or the perfect scholarship for students going on to a four-year school,” she said. “We'll offer evening workshops to teach college-bound students to write essays, access scholarship information, and choose the best college, but we're a public school with a variety of student needs and will utilize this additional counselor accordingly.”

SHS principal Dr. Becky Kiebert was a guidance counselor at SHS starting in 1994 then became principal of Lake Pend Oreille High School before becoming principal at SHS two years ago.

“Since back when I was a counselor, parents have been requesting an outreach program to increase the number of students furthering their education,” she said. “With the current budget cuts, we never would've seen this new position created without PAFE support.”

 Will the district be able to absorb the new position's salary four years from now, given current budget cuts?

“At the conclusion of this strategic grant, we'll assess its effectiveness in assisting students to develop concrete post-high-school plans,” said district superintendent Dick Cvitanich. “If we're successful, as we hope to be, the district will look to fund the position in the future through supplemental levy dollars.”

The three parents — Karen Stone, Jan Ramore, and Cindy Griesemer - who help Albertson in SHS's Career/College Assistance program, are also excited about the new guidance-counselor position. Griesemer, who started volunteering in the guidance office in fall 2006 and helped develop the PAFE grant proposal, said she believes the new position will help the counseling center expand its services and increase its impact.

“As parents and community members, we should be thrilled that PAFE is doing this for SHS students - it's something that's been missing, and it wouldn't be happening now if PAFE hadn't stepped up to fund it,” Griesmer said.

“All of us, even those without a child at SHS, want kids to leave high school ready to be productive members of our town. This position will help us to help more of our students. It's going to make a difference.”

The Panhandle Alliance for Education is a nonprofit organization comprised of local citizens, businesses, and educators.

Its mission is to promote excellence in education and broad-based community support for the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Donations are distributed as a combination of permanent endowment which is managed by the Idaho Community Foundation, and as a working pool of money used to create local teacher grants, fund a district wide accelerated reading program, and initiate the career guidance program.

Local citizens are encouraged to join by making tax deductible donations. To learn more about PAFE, or to make an on-line donation, visit the web site at www.panhandlealliance.com or call Marcia Wilson at 208.610.3236.