Chrystal Kelly

High School Counselor of the Year

Chrystal Kelly, counselor at Rocky Mountain High School, had big shoes to fill. Her dad was a school counselor at the high school she attended. He inspired her to be the best that she could be. . . I think he did an excellent job as Chrystal is CSCA's 2010 High School Counselor of the Year.

In Chrystal's tenure as a counselor, she has been instrumental in bringing useful data tools to her district, re-aligning middle & high schools, and receiving the prestigious RAMP designation. Although these are incredible achievements, her main focus remains her students. Chrystal believes that, "you can't help remove barriers for students without creating great relationships with them."

Her principal, Thomas Lopez agrees. He stated, "Chrystal is a self-motivated, kind, engaging woman, who excels in creating positive inter-personal relationships. I have received an abundance of personal commentaries, emails, and notes from parents and students complimenting Ms. Kelly on her professionalism at Rocky Mountain High School. What sets Chrystal apart from others is that she bases her work on extraordinary rather than the ordinary."

Chrystal - thank you for representing the professional school counselor role in such a positive way. Your award is well-deserved.

Gary Frantz

Middle School Counselor of the Year

Gary Frantz was nominated by his colleague, Jennifer Quintana. She stated, " I was fresh out of Grad School when I started working at Scott Carpenter Middle School. I watched Gary interact with students, parents and staff. I watched Gary organize and head many of our committees and daily functioning. I learned a lot from him and am proud to say that I am the counselor I am today because of his leadership and guidance."

Gary does have a passion for school counseling. He states that early on in his 11 year career, teachers, administrators, parents did not understand the purpose of school counselors. He advocated for his role by educating these stakeholders . He believes that it is important to find the people who have the power and educate them on what school counselors do and how they impact student success. Gary has not only done this in his district but also at the state level. He served as the CSCA Middle School VP for three years and currently is a member of the government relations committee.

At his school, Gary has seen rapid change. This is not only in his student population but also how his district measures student success. His middle school feeds into Westminster High School. All eyes are currently on this high school as they have moved to a standards based leveling system. This has brought much change for the middle school students as they have to transition into one of 5 high school career academies. Gary has written a middle school career planning curriculum for the entire Adams 50 School District to prepare middle school students to make a preliminary career choice before entering into the high school career academy.

How many of you have worked with middle school students? Okay - so you know the challenge that Gary has embraced! I could go on and on about all of the great programs Gary has created or brought to his school. He is instrumental in changing the culture of his school. His interventions have helped lower discipline referrals, helped low achieving students reach grade level proficiencies, and have engaged girls into making better social and academic decisions.

Gary, has truly impacted a community. CSCA is proud to announce you as the 2010 Middle School Counselor of the Year!

Mary Whitman

Elementary School Counselor of the Year

Mary Whitman from Skyway Elementary School in Colorado Springs has been named the 2010 CSCA Elementary School Counselor of the Year. She has made a positive impact on her school and community through role-modeling superb character, healthy choices, and genuine compassion toward others. Her biggest fans, the students of Skyway Elementary state, "She teaches us good habits and to make good decisions. She spends time coming to our class to teach us lessons. She is always kind and respectful to us, just like she encourages us to be to each other."

Mary has advocated for the school counseling role for over 17 years. She believes it is a noble profession and wants to give back to those just entering the field. She gives of her time to graduate programs, community events, and her school. As the eyes and ears of the school, the school secretary reported, " I have never seen anyone as dedicated to her students (and her own children and husband) as Mary is. I'm am always telling families who are new to Skyway that Mary is the best School Counselor I've ever known, and it's so great that the rest of the state has now recognized her abilities as well. Mary constantly goes the extra mile for everyone in our building; she is always recognizing students and staff members for their efforts and accomplishments."

Congratulations Mary on being the 2010 CSCA Elementary School Counselor of the Year!

Representative Karen Middleton

CSCA Advocate of the Year

In the last few years, Colorado has intentionally focused on improving high school graduation rates. In 2008, Representative Middleton sponsored HB1370. This Bill sought to bolster counseling services in Colorado middle and high schools. With the passing of this bill, the state implemented the Counseling Corp Grant. It provided $5 million to increase the number of school counselors in institutions with high dropout rates.

Many school counselors have been impacted by Representative Middleton's legislation. More importantly, 90 schools and 37 districts that were assisted by this grant have provided additional services to over 82,000 students of which over 38,000 (46 percent) are economically disadvantaged.

The drop out rate at these schools has improved. So much so, that 4,729 more students stayed in school last year at the counseling corp grant schools.

We, as school counselors, are proud that you had the insight to sponsor such a bill. Not only did you sponsor this key legislation but you have constantly supported our important role in promoting career and college readiness for all students.

Karen, thank you for all of your hard work these past 3 years. We are honored to name you our 2010 School Counselor Advocate of the Year.

Tracy Thompson

Lance Huffman Award

The Lance Huffman Award is given annually by the CSCA Past-President to honor a person who has helped the past-president during their presidency and who also given exemplary service to CSCA.

The person I have selected to receive this award has done an extraordinary job in her 6 years of serving on the CSCA board. She came onto the board as the High School Vice President and was then elected to Presidency in 2007.

Tracy Thompson ran for the CSCA Presidency because she had a vision to lead our state organization to become one of the top school counseling associations in the nation. She helped our board align with policy governance. This was a huge undertaking as it was a new way of thinking how the board would operate. Change is not always easy but Tracy poured her heart and soul into making the Colorado School Counselor Association the leading counseling organization in the state and also one of the top in the nation.

As a result of Tracy's forward thinking, CSCA is 600 members strong. We have a voice with our state legislators. We can afford a lobbyist who keeps us up to date on current legislation. During her presidency, the Counseling Corp Grant was signed into law. Tracy was instrumental in advocating for the ICAP legislation which contains school counselor specific language. We've had back-to-back-to back highly attended state conferences. All of these successes are a result of Tracy's visionary leadership.

Tracy, thank you for all of your hard work these past six years. Thank you for taking CSCA to the next level. Thank you for all of your support you have given me through my Presidency. Congratulations Tracy!