Local Guidance Counselor Goes Virtual

We don't much remember our high school guidance counselors. We do, however, blame them for the crap jobs we had in our twenties.

Wasn't it their job to guide us towards an appropriate career path? To keep an eye on our grades? To check in with us once in a while? We remember one such conversation—sometime during our senior year—when we handed over a college application and asked for a transcript. Flash forward 10 years, and we're brewing coffee because the Art History degree didn't quite open the doors of possibility.

Teenagers want to exit the system more than anything. And then? It's too easy to follow the family path or the Hollywood story, recognize the mistake, and then burn out or drop out. A graduate program (or two) eventually centered our interests and goals, but thousands of dollars could have been saved had someone intervened earlier—like a school counselor.

Michael Curtis, a guidance counselor at Simon Gratz High School, put his job into perspective for us. "Things happen that require you to be reactive, like meetings, unplanned parent visits, phone calls, assemblies, test proctoring, supporting students in crisis, etc. Servicing a caseload that can range from 300 to 700 students can be challenging." Curtis, who holds an MA in Counseling, has been working in the field for seven years. In order to make the best use of his limited time with students, he created MyHSCounselor.com, a virtual counselor's office that offers career advice, skill assessments, and college data searches. The goal, Curtis says, is for "any counselor, student, or parent" to "jump online and quickly access online resources that have been vetted."

The site's advice and pathfinders are free (Curtis does offer personal consulting for a fee). What caught our eye was the user-friendly quality of MyHSCounselor.com, a true gift for any teenager who lacks focus and/or a mentor. By following simple instructions, students can explore a variety of college paths, vocational-technology and trade opportunities, or career resources. "I am happy with whatever path a student takes as long as he/she has all the information necessary and has taken the time to make an informed decision," says Curtis.

It's difficult to stay optimistic about secondary education in this city. Between hiring freezes and the forced removal of entire teaching staffs, we wonder how Philly's teachers stay motivated enough to enter a thankless system every day. So it's more than encouraging to hear about one employee's efforts to foster student development outside of the school day.