Needing to up your school counseling game? Try a little School Counseling Public Relations (PR)! Find out when and how to use PR  for school counseling in this article!

What exactly is PR for School Counseling?

According to Merriam-Webster, it’s the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution; also: the degree of understanding and goodwill achieved.

So basically, it’s all about getting information out to the public so they can further understand the good you are trying to do.

With this definition, it’s easy to see that school counselors are sometimes the focus of PR at schools. It just kinda falls into our mission and purpose for the greater good of our students. But, how do we start getting information to the public?

Advocate for Your Program

Speak up for what you should be doing!

Spending your time doing what’s right for kids and your program is key. Make it a point to stay within the four areas of your counseling program (Curriculum, Individual Planning, Responsive Services, and System Support). Taking on too many other responsibilities can really bog down your program and make you less efficient with your impact on student success. The best way to get a hold of your time is to do a Time Task Analysis. If you want more info on how to do this check out How to Run Your Elementary Counseling Program Like a Boss!

Where should I NOT spend my time?

Our nature is to be helpful, so it’s easy for us to get caught up in non-counseling tasks. But… there is a difference between fair-share and non-counseling activities.

Fair-Share activities are things that everyone takes part in at school. These duties are carried out by everyone and share equal responsibility. For example, everyone has a hallway duty in the morning. Administration, counselors, and teachers take part to share the monitoring of students.

Non-Counseling activities are things that get in the way of you carrying out the comprehensive school counseling program and following the model. These may be duties or responsibilities that the counselor has… that no one else takes part in. If it doesn’t fit in the four areas and it’s not shared responsibility… it’s probably non-counseling! For example, if you have cafeteria duty every day and no one shares this responsibility with you. There are better ways to serve students at this time.. so advocating for your role would be important here. Needing a way to track your time? Check out The Simply Perfect Planner!

Spend Time Helping Others

Spend time with your parents!

I’m talking about school families!

From my experience, I have found that parents/families are very open to receiving help. They are interested in what you have to say and for the most part, just want to do better at whatever it is they are struggling with. Parents want what’s best for their kids. So, if you can provide some extra support and get resources into their hands… they will LOVE you!

These are things I do to help out my school parents:

• Parent/Family Nights – Fun or Informational
• Newsletters – Related to Building Relationships
• Coffee Talk – What can I help with?
• Parent Library – Books, CD’s and DVD’s available for check-out
• Website – Informational with Parent Tips and School Counseling Info

Help Out Your Co-Workers

Teachers and other co-workers can become frustrated and overwhelmed when faced with a difficult challenge. They want what’s best for all their students, but sometimes run out of ideas! Spend time listening to their concerns and frustrations… building teacher/counselor relationships are important too! You never know what insight you can bring to the table. You may have a different bag of tricks and this can help validate that you know what you’re doing and you truly are there to help! Two people can come up with a lot more ideas, than one alone.

Offer to do some professional development or host a faculty meeting. Tell your colleagues about your counseling program or your character initiatives. Just giving them knowledge about what you’re doing can help them understand the bigger picture of what you are trying to accomplish.

Some PD examples are:

• Share your school’s crisis plan and how it relates to teachers
• Bullying and how to watch for signs
• Share some counseling data and talk about growth
• Talk about Mandated Reporting and how to submit a concern

Work with Other Counselors

Networking and collaborating together is super important! There are so many awesome ideas out there and one person can’t think of all of them on their own. Brainstorm with other counselors in the same area. Talk about what works and what doesn’t. Think about what they do and tweak it to fit your school. The biggest saying in education is… “don’t reinvent the wheel”! That’s why collaborating can be so useful! You can check out tons of ideas on TpT! There are amazing counselors on there who have AMAZING products!

Contribute to a BIGGER Cause

Not that our causes are not already big… because they are! But… I’m thinking outside of the box… outside of your building.

Get Involved with Your Community

Businesses want to work with you and promote what you do at school. Become a partner with area businesses and help each other. People in the community make great resources when it comes to career speakers and getting helpful adults into the building.

Make a Community Impact

I know you are extremely busy… sometimes that’s just our nature… and adding one more thing sounds exhausting. But, I’m telling you…

      If you Invest in your community, they will invest in you!

Sometimes, community businesses or foundations will host a benefit night or a special time for others to come and truly understand the impact of a program, business relationship or company mission. If you are partnered with them and they have helped your students and your school program, offer to speak or write a testimonial. Obviously, protect the names and personal info of your students… but share the overall impact this foundation or company has had on your students.

Remember, invest in what you believe in. You will be amazed at the return!