Finding a Deep Sense of Purpose as a School Counselor

After working at the Department of Children and Family Services, Ms. Emmali Richmond first joined CPS as a substitute. She thought this would be a good way to gain familiarity with the District while she waited for a position to open up as a school counselor. Her patience paid off, and she joined White Elementary Career Academy not too long after. 

She just reached her one-year anniversary at White, and it has certainly been a year to remember in a great way. We connected with her to learn more about what makes working as a school counselor such a positive experience. Read more below.

What has been your favorite part of working in CPS as a school counselor? 

I love working closely with the other counselors in Network 13. We have an amazing lead counselor, Dr. Venisa Beasley-Green, who has given us all the tools and resources to be great counselors. I also love working with our students here. I take great pride in helping them cope with some of the problems they are facing and also teaching them about postsecondary and career options. 

What qualities are most important to being a successful school counselor?

You have to be very resourceful. It’s also important to know all of the possible community resources and partners available to you, because they will help you be able to meet your students’ needs. You also have to be flexible, because your plan for the day might completely shift. And creativity is also key! 

What are some of your top goals for the rest of the school year?

I want to expose my eighth-grade students to as many postsecondary opportunities as possible. We have some speakers coming in this month to discuss different careers, and we’ll also do some college visits and tours later. My other goal is to reduce the number of students who are chronically absent. I am coming up with different incentives to encourage them to come to school. 

If you could do your career over, would you do anything differently?

I actually steered away from school counseling at first because I thought it would be too structured. As an independent contractor, I liked my independence. Now that I’m at White, I definitely think that I should have come to CPS earlier. 

What is your message to your students? 

Always do your best, and be respectful of others. I hope that my students, especially my eighth-graders, can have a strong one-on-one relationship with me. I know that in a larger setting such as high school, getting to know your counselor on a personal level may be more of a challenge. I’m very proud that I am able to have a close bond with all of my students.