REBECCA CARRASCO

LUTCHER – A shortage of counselors in the St. James Parish School System is being addressed through a new intern mentorship program. Budget cuts in the St. James Parish School System will result this fall in job transfers and position reassignments in the elementary and junior high schools. While the state does not mandate that students have access to counselors, local teachers and school officials felt that an effort needed to be made to maintain students’ access to social and psychological counseling. According to Dr. Judy Petit of the St James Parish School Board, a “grass roots effort” arose to compensate for the loss of counseling power. The objective of the program, she said, is to help students in “obtaining academic success, attaining social and emotional well-being, and overcoming barriers to a productive lifestyle.” The program makes use of Nicholls State University consumer science seniors, who will function as counselor interns in the local elementary schools. “Hopefully by third grade we can identify family and personal problems which will distract from academic learning,” Dr. Petit explained. The interns will help students develop study skills and conflict-resolution techniques, so as to improve their ability to overcome cognitive and emotional obstacles to learning. A particular goal, Dr. Petit noted, is to encourage programs to promote family involvement in the education of children. Some of the techniques these in-training counselors will use are fairly routine, such as tracking student absences, contacting the home, monitoring excessive tardiness and truancy, and keeping a watch for the telltale signs of medication irregularities, or drug and alcohol abuse, or serious family problems. When difficulties arise, they will make referrals to appropriate authorities. With the LEAP tests now part of students’ lives, Dr. Petit suggested, it is vital that students develop the power of concentration that will allow them perform well on timed, standardized exams. “If you can’t focus and track information,” she explained, “you can’t do well on standardized tests because these tests are strictly timed.” Dr. Petit will supervise the interns and under her direction they will be given a more systematic approach to counselling procedures.