Active Guidance Program in Place at WWES

The School Guidance program at Washington-Wilkes Elementary School provides a wealth of support to the students, parents, and faculty of the school. Classroom guidance lessons, individual and group counseling sessions, and activities promoting student leadership are the basis for this successful program at WWES.

Mrs. Debra Harper serves as the school's guidance counselor. She holds a Master of School Counseling degree from Augusta State University. In December 2006, Harper fulfilled the additional requirements necessary to be named a Nationally Board Certified Guidance Counselor, a first for the Wilkes County School System.

All students at WWES benefit from classroom guidance lessons on a regular basis. Each month, PreK students at the school have lessons based on themes such as friendship, sharing, and cooperation. Fourth and fifth grade students receive weekly instruction based on the Botvin's Life Skills curriculum. These lessons focus on important concepts such as decision making, responsibility, and self concept.

Individual and group counseling sessions are available for all WWES students, either on an "as-needed" or a "regularly scheduled" basis. Sometimes students may just need someone to talk with about something that is bothering them or that they are fearful of. On other occasions, there may be an ongoing concern for which the school counselor will work with students and their parents to bring together all the needed resources for solving a problem or fulfilling a need.

Two highly successful student groups at WWES are the Tiger's Den and the Student Leaders Are Mentors (S.L.A.M.) groups. The Tiger's Den serves to familiarize students new to Wilkes County and their parents with the school system and the surrounding community. The S.L.A.M. group is comprised of fifth grade students who assist in PreK classrooms each week by reading to students or by helping them with art projects. Other small groups deal with subjects such as organizational skills, divorce, and grief counseling.

In addition to the above mentioned activities, the school guidance counselor is responsible for planning the Red Ribbon Week-Just Say No! campaign, organizing Career Week, and for the awarding of monthly citizenship awards to our students.

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