School Counseling and Rap: Two Things That Go Great Together

One of the questions we ask ourselves at the beginning of every school year is, "How can I let my community know what it is that we school counselors do?"  As I've written about before, we suffer from an identity crisis, not only from within our profession, but from without.  As the media portrays in such television shows as Glee and such movies as Easy A, the role of school counselors is often at best misunderstood and, at worst seen as something to belittled and maligned.

The school counseling staff at West Springfield High School in Springfield, Virginia, has taken on that challenge and then some.  By using technology that is readily available everywhere, they have created a rap video to share with their students, parents, teachers, and community stakeholders that explains the role of school counselors and the impact they can have on the lives of their students.  Additionally, they use this format to give some year-by-year tips for their students about what activities and milestones they might want to be thinking about when they are freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

My hope is that this inspires you as a professional to think of new ways to get the word out about all that you do.  You don't have to produce your own music video, but let your creativity run wild.  Take a look: