Boone Townships Schools Boost Counseling

Munster Times (Munster, IN): In an effort to increase the number of students receiving CORE 40 and Indiana Academic Honors diplomas, the Boone Township School Corp. is pursuing the state's Gold Star Counseling model. Superintendent George Letz said more students need to work toward higher-level diplomas. The idea of Gold Star counseling is to pool the goals of the school district and the community to equip graduates with the most valuable set of skills possible, by making choices that support high achievement and then reaching those high achievement standards. There are three main things schools need to do to qualify for the Gold Star Counseling Award. A representative from each school must attend four training sessions to learn how to properly implement the changes. A portfolio also is required, documenting the progress of the changes, as well as the efforts of the School Counseling Advisory Counsel, a group of students, teachers, parents and community members, to weigh in on proposed programs. "This program also tries to demonstrate that it's more than just one person -- the counselor -- that needs to be involved in guiding students through middle school and high school so that they have the knowledge and skills to make decisions," Letz said.