James Bowie Elementary counselor Aimey Cole was named the Dallas ISD 2017–2018 Counselor of the Year at a special ceremony on May 9.
The other finalists for Counselor of the Year were: Jackie Villalobos of Young Women’s STEAM Academy at Balch Springs, KaShunda Davis of W.W. Samuell High School, and Rashunda Mendy of Thomas Tolbert Elementary.
Dallas ISD Counseling Services Director Dr. Sylvia Lopez thanked the finalists, as well as all district counselors, for being the heartbeat of their campuses.
“I know that as a counselor, your work is never done, and that you are constantly working to remove barriers that keep kids from learning while creating opportunities for them to be successful,” Lopez said. “There is nothing we can do to properly show counselors how thankful we are for everything they do on a given day.”
In addition to recognizing the counselor of the year, the ceremony recognized the Lone Star Award Winners. Counselors in these selected schools exhibited excellence in advocacy, leadership, collaboration, and systemic change as supported by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model. The Lone Star Award winners are:
Bronze Award |
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SCHOOL |
COUNSELORS |
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Nancy Moseley Elementary |
Rekesha Carter |
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Thomas Tolbert Elementary |
Rashunda Mendy |
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Billy Earl Dade Middle |
Nwakaego Edordu, Rhonda Woods, Norma Wright |
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W.H. Gaston Middle |
Shannon Celestine-Brown, Jennifer Jackson |
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D.A. Hulcy STEAM Middle |
Kimberly Miles |
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Ann Richards Middle |
Tarin Coley, Francine Luckey, Adrian Villegas |
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Young Women’s STEAM Academy at Balch Springs |
Claudia Rodriguez, Faysha Smith-Hammock, Jackie Villalobos |
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Bryan Adams High |
Lorelehi Berrios, Katherine Evans, Stephanie Givens, Nikita Jones, Shannon Rodriguez |
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Emmett J. Conrad High |
Jenny Garner, Sonya Gilb, Brenda McCoy, Johnny Moore, Nitzy Ocoro |
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Moisés E. Molina High |
Mata Armstrong, Paula Cortes, Courtney Fite, Ruth Gloria, Loree Jones, Angel Vales |
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Irma Lerma Rangel |
Maria Hernandez, Sheila Williams |
Bronze-ready Award |
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SCHOOL |
COUNSELORS |
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Seagoville High |
Silvia Cabrera, Karen Collins, Lynnette Je erson, Billisha Rice, Marie Roberts |
Also at the ceremony, W.H. Gaston Middle School counselors received a Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas (CREST) award. As winners of the Schools of Character awards, many counselors were recognized for the work they do to create learning environments in which staff and students work together to make a positive difference in their world.
A highlight of the Counselor of the Year Award ceremony was a video of all the Counselor of the Year nominees dancing. Watch the fun video here.
