Tag Archives: School Counselors

Wisconsin’s Eugene Powers: The school counselor a cut above the rest

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Wisconsin’s Eugene Powers, a school counselor a cut above the rest.

When honoring our nation’s Chalkboard Champions, we should remember that school counselors are members of the category, too. These hardworking, dedicated professionals toil tirelessly on behalf of students, their families, and even their colleagues. One of these champions is Eugene  Powers of Wisconsin.

Eugene Scott Powers was born on Oct. 26, 1958, in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated with honors from Proctor High School. He attended both Golden Valley Lutheran College and Concordia University. He earned his degree in Psychology, cum laude. He later graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Superior, with a double Master’s degree in K-12 School and Community Counseling.

Eugene worked as a school counselor from 1998 to 2020, most recently at Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin. There he went above and beyond in his efforts to come to the aid of his most needy students. Parent Timothy McGrady remembers Eugene with great affection. “He was the school counselor for all of my sons at Superior High School,” McGrady recalls. “When I moved to Superior in 2009 with my autistic son who was seventeen at the time, I didn’t have housing, making me a homeless veteran with disabled son. We lived at a campground in a tent,” McGrady continued. “The first time I met Mr. Powers, it was when my son enrolled at the school for that year. Mr. Powers, after we were done, reached into his pocket and took $145.00 out of his wallet and gave it to me, apologizing that he didn’t have more,” McGrady described. “When I had the money to repay him, he refused to take it. Eugene Powers was a truly a cut above the rest. May his memory be eternal,” McGrady concluded.

This dedicated school counselor passed away on Jan. 17, 2020. He will be interred next to his wife, who preceded him in death, at Industrial Cemetery in Culver, Saint Louis County, Minnesota. To read more about Eugene, view this obituary published in the Duluth News Tribune.

Georgia’s Laura Ross named School Counselor of the Year

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Georgia’s Laura Ross named School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association.

Today we send congratulations out to Laura Ross, a school counselor at Five Forks Middle School in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She’s been named the 2020 School Counselor of the Year by the American School Counselor Association.

Laura earned her degree at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. In fact, she has three degrees: A Bachelor’s in Social Work, a Master’s in Social Work, and a degree as an Educational Specialist in Professional School Counseling. In a career that has spanned nine years, she has spent the last five of them at Five Forks. Five Forks is part of the Gwinnet County Public School District.

“Laura is a true hero when it comes to helping us grow as a school in building relationships with our students,” remarked Christine Douthart, Principal of Five Forks Middle School. “She is a school counselor who has the best interest of students at the heart of everything she does.”

This amazing school counselor serves as a trainer for the Dove Self-Esteem Project. She facilitates presentations to educators about body confidence for teenagers. She has also spearheaded a movement to provide acceptance and support for her students in the LGBTQ community. To this end, she became a founding sponsor of her school’s first Gay/Straight Alliance.

The School Counselor of the Year Award honors professionals who devote their careers to advocating for the nation’s students. These Chalkboard Champions devote themselves to addressing students’ academic, social, and emotional development, and their college and career readiness needs.

To read more about Laura, click on this link to the American School Counselor Association.

Chalkboard Champion Jacobi Crowley runs for Oklahoma State Senate

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Jacobi Crowley

Chalkboard Champion Jacobi Crowley, a crisis behavior specialist, runs for state senator in Oklahoma.

This year’s mid-term elections have seen a record number of talented and hardworking educators running for public office. One of these is Jacobi Crowley, a special education teacher and crisis behavior specialist from Oklahoma. The Chalkboard Champion is bidding for a seat in the Oklahoma State Senate.

Jacobi garnered the Democratic nomination for Oklahoma State Senate District 32 in his state’s primary elections last June. If the 26-year-old wins the general election in November, he will be the youngest state senator in Oklahoma history. His opponent is Republican state Representative John Montgomery. Jacobi’s two biggest priorities, if elected, would be education funding and criminal justice reform. “I’m running on things that truly affected my life and that truly affected a lot of people’s lives in the state,” he told ABC News in a July 4, 2018, interview.

Jacobi was born to a struggling single parent in 1992 in Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma. As a youngster, Jacobi had very few positive male role models. He was raised by his grandmother, who passed away when he was just eight. “My grandmother taught me to be very strong, very precise in what I wanted, and be goal-oriented,” Jacobi remembers. “As an eight-year-old, that’s what I did. And I kept doing things within my life, moving forward, and I always wanted to be somebody and do something with my life.” And, even at a young age, he knew education was the ticket to his success.

After his high school graduation, Jacobi attended Southeastern Oklahoma University, where he graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Behavior Management. While in college, Jacobi participated in the debate team, joined the Young Leaders of America, and played football and basketball.

After college, Jacobi returned to his home town, and for the past three years he has worked with at-risk youth as a crisis behavior specialist in the Lawson Public School District. During that time, he has also coached football and track, refereed basketball games, hosted a weekly radio show, and become an ordained minister.

To learn more about Jacobi Crowley, visit his campaign website at www.jacobi4ok.com.

Alaska teacher and State Senator Jan Faiks

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Jan Faiks

Alaska teacher and state senator Jan Faiks working with her llamas.

Talented classroom teachers often go on to have successful careers in politics. One teacher who proves this to be true is Jan Faiks, a math teacher and school counselor who served in the Alaska State Senate.

Janice O. Faiks was born on November 17, 1945, at Mitchel Air Force Base in New York. As a young girl, she attended Choctawhatchee High School, where she graduated in 1964. After her high school graduation, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Florida State University in 1967. She earned a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in 1975.

After college, Jan taught mathematics and worked as a school counselor in the Anchorage School District. She worked there from 1968 to 1978. In addition to her work in the classroom, the educator was well known for operating a llama farm.

In 1982, Jan was elected to the Alaska State Senate on the Republican ticked. She served two terms, and became the first woman president of the Alaska State Senate. While there, her biggest claim to fame was that she was one of the key legislators to create the Constitutional Budge Reserve, a savings fund for surplus tax revenues that could be used in times of economic downturn.

After her service in the state senate, Jan moved to Washington, DC, where she earned a law degree from Georgetown Law Center. She worked for several years as a Congressional staff member. She also served briefly as an assistant secretary with the Mine Safety and Health Administration at the US Labor Department. Finally, she became a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). She retired in 2013.

After her retirement, Jan relocated to Amelia Island, Florida. There the former teacher was diagnosed with brain cancer, and five months later passed away on April 10, 2017. She was 71 years old. You can read her obituary at Anchorage Daily News.