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Counseling program receives state recognition
Counseling program receives state recognition
Posted on 10/29/2019
This is the image for the news article titled Counseling program receives state recognitionBy Elizabeth Caro, Public Information Office Intern

This year, the Jose H. Damián Elementary counseling program led by Cynthia Arteaga became a recipient of the Lone Star State School Counselor Association (LSSSCA) 2019-2020 Bronze Award. Arteaga is the very first Canutillo ISD counselor to receive a state award like it.

The program that Arteaga created is the Seven Strengths of a Firebird: Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, Confidence, Courage and Hope. These strengths promote all students to achieve and close the gap to learning, growth, and development.

According to Arteaga, the comprehensive school counselor program at Damián Elementary is a collaborate support program where her role as school counselor advocates for students, families, teachers, and the educational process as being crucial in supporting student success.

“Analyzing student data helped me look at our program thoroughly and decide how we could help the whole campus,” Arteaga said. “It was incredible to see all of the activities that we actually do and how everything comes into play. We continue to look at what else we can implement to improve the program.”

The LSSSCA developed a progressive awards system that includes three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. The system evaluates school counseling programs in 12 areas including program goals, mindsets and behaviors for student success, core curriculum action plan, lesson plans, and results report, closing-the-gaps, and social emotional learning.

“Receiving the state recognition demonstrates the outstanding comprehensive counseling program that was data-driven, focused on goal completion and aligned to the ASCA National Model,” Canutillo ISD Lead Counselor Nicole Morales said. “I am very proud of her hard work and dedication to our counseling program.”

Jose H. Damian will advance further in their journey this year to provide world-class counseling services to students by continuing to implement programs such as The Seven Strengths. Damian Elementary is now Silver bound.