Beth Roach, Erin Hamilton, Susan Miller, Margot Pomar, and Daniel Rufner

Service High School’s counseling team of Beth Roach, Erin Hamilton, Susan Miller, Margot Pomar, and Daniel Rufner are known within their school as compassionate, hard-working, professional, and conscientious.

The Administration Team at Service High School is incredibly proud of their counseling team, saying, “Our counselors are one of a kind because they always think outside the box. Over the last four years, they have all worked on implementing a Comprehensive School Counseling Program that is integral to the school’s academic mission and will have a significant positive impact on student achievement, attendance, and discipline. Their dedication and commitment to the Service High community is beyond outstanding.”

Many students wrote letters of support for the Service High School Counseling Team. To her particular counselor, one student wrote: “Through my difficult times you were always there for me. I try to do good in school because I know it will make you proud. You are always helping me in situations where I thought there was no hope left. I thank you so much.”

The SHS counseling team is the first in the District to apply for RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) through the American School Counselor Association, which is the national governing organization for School Counselors. To qualify for RAMP, counselors must provide a true comprehensive, data driven counseling program to all students within their school. This time-consuming process includes conducting program assessments, designing lessons and other interventions to meet any program gaps, creating specific SMART goals interpreting those goals, evaluating, changing implementing again, reevaluating and sharing data with shareholders. This team has attended additional meetings, trainings, and conferences mostly on their own time to ensure their counseling program is truly meeting the needs of their school and students.

Regarding the team, the counseling coordinator for the Anchorage School District said, “I applaud their efforts and am so inspired and proud of the work that they have done and will continue to do. They are truly a model for all other ASD counselors and staff.”