Guidance Counseling in the Midst of COVID-19

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The mental toll of COVID-19 will require many counselors to come back to school prepared to help their students. However, this may not be so easy. Already, there is a lack of sufficient support for students from guidance counselors – the national ratio of students to counselors is 482 to 1, nearly double the recommended 1 counselor for every 250 students. This issue caused problems before the pandemic, and may affect virtual counseling during the new school year. 

Students feel as if they won’t be able to connect the same way with their guidance counselors due to the distance created with virtual learning. The transition from in school to virtual could be a setback for the growing relationship between counselors and students. 

“Having a good relationship with your guidance counselor is essential to your growth as a high school student,” rising sophomore Lily Ukpere said. “As a freshman last year, that was the first year the counselors got to know me. It was hard to create the same relationship I had with my counselor in school, online.” 

However, guidance counselors continued to offer their best support to their students when schools closed down in the spring. Different schools tackled the situation effectively, while using various tactics to let their students know that they were still there for them. At Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, counselors posted encouraging videos, made informational sheets about mental health, and continued to contact their students through email or phone. Despite the plan, Guidance Counselor Jennifer Kratsa at Conestoga still missed the face-to-face interaction she used to get with her students in school. 

“Working in Student Services is very personal. We get to know students well, so we missed the face-to-face interactions very much. We, just like everyone else, had to adjust to that. That doesn’t mean we had to love it, but we had to figure out a way to make it work so that everyone felt comfortable,” Kratsa said. 

Although the District hasn’t worked out the full plan for counseling in the fall, they know that it will be different than the Spring. The TESD District Plan; however, ensures that school counselors and mental health specialists will continue to meet students, despite the circumstances. Guidance counselors plan to use Microsoft TEAMS, a platform similar to Zoom, to communicate with their students. They aim to have group meetings in the beginning of the school year to explain the plan to students, parents, and teachers. Conestoga counselors want their students to remember that they will continue to offer their support, regardless of whether they are at home or school. 

“Overall, we just want to help students navigate their way through high school,” Kratsa said. “We hope that all our students know that we are here, ready and willing to help when they need us.”

In the end, counselors need to come back to school prepared to face a different future. The need for ample counselors may make it difficult for counselors to adjust to the new changes, but it may also shed light on the large deficiency and initiate changes for the future. 

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