Where did you go to college and what degree did you get?

I went to Winston-Salem State for undergrad. I received my bachelors in mathematics teacher education and I went to North Carolina A&T for my graduate degree in school counseling and I received my educational leadership specialist degree from George Washington University.

Why did you become a counselor? 

I became a counselor because my first year teaching my students would drop by my classroom and would have all of these issues that they wanted to talk about and discuss. So I wanted to make sure that I was properly trained to be able to help students. Also I love post secondary opportunities. I want to be able to expose students to the world beyond high school. 

Did you do anything before being a counselor at Dominion?

I was a math teacher in my first five years, I then became a school counselor, then I transferred here to Northern Virginia. I’ve been a school improvement coordinator, a data coach, and a school testing coordinator. 

What will you be responsible for doing this year as the new head of counseling?

A lot. I am hoping to make sure that student schedules and the master schedule is settled going into the school year. We will begin that around January to ensure that students have course requests and are able to choose their classes for  next year. I’m also looking at getting our seniors ready for college, so we will have a couple of classroom lessons going on where we will meet seniors and then we’ll talk with our freshmen. We’re also hoping to have some parent events and just providing opportunities for students here to be able to thrive and succeed. 

What additional resources will be offered to seniors this year to help them navigate the college application process? 

We have a couple of nights planned. We’re going to try and do a FAFSA night and some financial aid workshops. We’re going to have colleges and universities come throughout the year for seniors to be able to visit in the college and career center. We have workshops for seniors where we can help you get your college applications done along with connecting your school links. We’ve got a lot of things on board for you guys to be able to be, hopefully, at ease with the process. 

What are ways that counselors are planning on getting to know seniors before college app deadlines approach?

Next week[September 15-19], there are going to be two senior assemblies and the counselors will be there to meet students, to introduce themselves and to give some senior information. Then we will be scheduling individual meetings with seniors to be able to get their post secondary plans and be able to walk them through those pathways. 

How will this change in the counseling staff affect recommendation letters for seniors? 

We still want students to be able to reach out to their teachers, but for the counselor letters we want you to fill out the “brag sheet” so we want you to complete that and fill it out as detailed as possible, along with this in those one-on-one meeting, anything that your counselors should know about you, share that so that they are able to write those letters. They will, of course, be able to write it from your academics and the things you do in your community and just getting to know you throughout some of the conversations because there will be several meetings where you get to know your counselor. 

Is there anything else you want people to know? 

I am happy to be here, excited to start my journey at Dominion and I’m here for all of our students. Go Titans!