Laura Ross 2020 School Counselor of the Year
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Author(s): Sandra Conrad
March 1, 2020
2020 School Counselor of the Year Laura Ross often tells people she is a school counselor “on purpose” because she witnessed what happens when young people don’t feel connected to their education. An art major for three and a half years, Ross switched her major to social work after discovering how much she enjoyed working with kids at summer camp. Her social work internship happened to be at a men’s correctional facility. After graduation, she continued working there for several years. The profound experience changed her life and her profession.
As the detention center’s counselor and security threat group coordinator, Ross’ caseload was mostly made up of men who were in gangs or hate groups. She heard time and time again from the detainees how they didn’t know anyone who had become successful through educational achievements, nor had they ever connected with an adult at school who made them feel as if they belonged. Instead of completing or sometimes even starting high school, they found their sense of belonging and worth in gangs.
As she listened to their stories, Ross mourned the men’s lost opportunities and wondered how differently their lives could have turned out had schools pursued them with the same rigor the gangs had, making education more appealing than gangs.
“They were so intelligent and talented and charismatic,” Ross said. “It was such a loss of what success they could have had, but also a loss for the community and society.” She wanted to help students see education as a positive path to success, and she saw a school environment as the place to do it. “I knew my place was in schools working with students to connect with them, to help them feel a sense of belonging and to connect them to their education and the opportunities education provides.”
After completing her master’s degree in social work, Ross went back to school and got her education specialist degree in school counseling. “It was all because of those guys that were in gangs in the detention center,” she said.
Finding Connections
For Ross, connection is everything. Connecting students to their education. Connecting her school to the school counseling program. Connecting colleagues to culturally responsive classrooms and restorative justice. Connecting administrators and state legislators to the school counseling profession. Connecting school counselors to needed resources.
Ross is the lead school counselor at Five Forks Middle School, a diverse suburban school of 1,268 students, grades 6–8 in Lawrenceville, Ga. Since arriving at Five Forks in 2014, Ross has focused on building a school counseling program where all students feel connected. “I have worked with the other school counselors in the building to grow a school counseling program that is proactive and an integral part of our school community,” she said.
Ross spent her first school counseling years at elementary schools, and although she enjoyed working with her younger elementary school students, she found she could accomplish more with the older students. She considered a move to middle school, joking with another school counselor about whether they were cool enough for middle school. When she interviewed at Five Forks Middle School, she discovered the school’s three focus areas were connections, literacy and rigor, with connections being the priority. Sensing a job opportunity so seamlessly aligned with her own school counseling ideals, Ross knew she had to work there.
Although students at Five Forks Middle School might be surprised to learn that Ross used to work at a correctional facility, they certainly benefit from her experiences there and her determination to keep them connected to school. She sees in her students the same potential she saw in the detainees – talents that can be nurtured and built upon. Using a strengths-based approach, Ross holds her students accountable and encourages them when they don’t yet see that they can accomplish something.
In some ways the detention center experience also galvanized Ross, enabling a calm, assured demeanor when handling the travails and drama of middle school life and her caseload of more than 600 students. When teachers or staff come to her with a concern, they are surprised that nothing seems to faze or deter her. Instead, she offers reassurances that they can take on whatever challenge presents itself, telling them, “I’ve seen lots of different things, and that’s absolutely something we can work with and handle.”
RAMP Foundations
At Five Forks Middle School, Ross and her school counseling colleagues knew the power of a Recognized Ï㽶ÊÓƵModel Program (RAMP), as they had all achieved RAMP designation at their previous schools. Eager to apply for RAMP again, Ross knew they should wait and ensure they had a strong, data-informed program. “It’s something we definitely wanted to achieve at Five Forks, but we also wanted to really work on having a solid program first,” Ross said. She completed the ASCA U Data Specialist training to strengthen their efforts.
As they built and improved the program, Ross worked to provide meaningful and significant lessons for students, making sure those who needed extra support had that with small groups. She also developed tools and procedures to create a more accessible and efficient program, including calming baskets for students waiting to see a school counselor, referral forms to streamline parent appointments and readily accessible counseling folders in classrooms.
With a solid program in place, they applied for and received RAMP designation in 2019. Ross says the process helped educate school colleagues and show the positive influence a school counseling program makes in supporting students behaviorally, socially and academically. “By advocating for a comprehensive program, appropriate counseling duties and sharing data in my own school, I have helped my administrators see the impact school counselors can make, and in turn, they have shared this message with other administrators, community members, school board members and legislators.”
Follow Your Butterflies
A passionate advocate for the school counseling profession, Ross regularly extends her reach beyond the school walls, sharing her own ideas as well as supporting the voices and ideas of other school counselors. “Last year, I had the pleasure of presenting with her at the Georgia School Counselor Association conference, and I will tell you this, it was like being with a rock star,” said Christine Douthart, Five Forks Middle School principal. “Everyone knew Laura. Everyone was thanking her for helping them in some way, providing resources, lending support or just being there as a mentor. She shines so brightly.”
“Many in the school counseling profession seek her out for consultation and guidance,” said Jennifer Chapman, Five Forks Middle School counselor. “A few short seconds into a conversation with Laura, and you will see that she has a wealth of information to share.”
Public advocacy didn’t come easily for Ross at first. When colleagues, whom she describes as her “pretty rowdy cheerleading section,” urged her get more involved in the profession, she wasn’t sure she had anything valuable to share. Plus, the thought of putting herself out there seemed way out of her comfort zone. Public speaking was especially problematic. “It made me so nervous,” she said. Inspired by a quote to “Follow your butterflies,” Ross decided to embrace the nervous-but-excited feeling of butterflies in her stomach and venture out to something new.
She started presenting at district meetings and Georgia School Counselor Association conferences, sharing her experiences with school initiatives and classroom lessons. When one of her “cheerleaders” then suggested she should be a part of leadership at the state level, Ross hesitated at the thought of running for office. “That seemed really scary,” she said. Following her butterflies once again, she thought, “I love this profession and would love to be a part of making sure our state organization is supporting school counselors.” She joined the GSCA Leadership Team as service project chair, followed by two years as social media editor. As a next step, she ran for a GSCA Executive Board position and was elected metro director. She also serves on the Georgia Department of Education Counselors Advisory Council.
In the social media realm, Ross quickly advanced from being a smartphone holdout to fostering a prolific, positive digital footprint. “I had Facebook, and that was really it,” Ross said. She tried Twitter just for fun and discovered that people would live tweet the ASCA Annual Conference. Soon she was following hashtags and being a part of Twitter chats. “I thought it was a really cool and interesting way to talk with other school counselors that I never would have spoken to otherwise.”
Ross now guides her students in the positive ways they can use social media and evolve as responsible digital citizens and leaders. “We’ve always taught our students face-to-face what are nice things to say, what are not nice things to say, even as early as kindergarten,” Ross said. “It’s the same to me with social media. It’s just teaching them the right things to do.”
As she continues to grow and innovate, Ross has become much more comfortable with her public advocacy platform, now at the national level. When she does occasionally get butterflies, she reminds herself simply to follow them. “Every time I feel that way, it’s probably something I should just do,” Ross said. “It’s going to make me a little bit nervous, but it’s going to be something good.”
Culturally Responsive Education
After data showed a disproportionate amount of discipline referrals for black and Latino males, Ross felt it important to cultivate a more culturally responsive environment at the school, one that enabled better connections between teachers and the school’s diverse student population. In addition to providing students tiered interventions such as positive behavior incentives, strengths-based small groups and one-on-one mentoring, Ross explored ways to support teachers as well.
She and her school counseling intern facilitated professional development sessions on implicit bias, enabling educators to be sensitive to biases that may lead to discipline referrals. In the sessions, Ross provided a safe space to discuss this sensitive topic, offering her own personal biases as examples. She was quick to assure participants that implicit bias is not the same thing as racism. “It’s just making sure that we are looking at being culturally responsive, including understanding our own biases and how that can impact our students.”
Ross also led a book study on “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” by Zaretta Hammond. Participants discussed what culturally responsive teaching might look like in the classroom, including how to identify their own biases and learn about different cultures and ways of learning. “If we create a classroom atmosphere where students feel safe and they feel connected, then they’re less likely to have that fight or flight response happen in their brain where they feel like they need to be protective and guarded,” Ross said.
After implementing the multitiered interventions and the culturally responsive professional development, discipline referrals for black and Latino males decreased by 32%. With these initial successes, Ross plans to offer additional teacher supports such as culturally diverse pedagogy that connects with the diverse student population.
To support students emotionally and behaviorally, Ross also has championed restorative justice practices at Five Forks. “It’s been baby steps trying to work it in,” she said. Her goal is to teach students how their words and actions affect other people and relationships, so when discipline referrals do occur, students can understand their role, learn from it and then, moving forward, know how to better interact with others. “It’s really developing that empathy for others. And so, what do we do to repair that harm?” She also gives teachers strategies to connect and empathize with students, especially those who can be challenging to connect with or have behavior issues in the classroom.
Program Opportunities
Administrators and colleagues value Ross’ insight and unique perspective. “She reminds all of us that our connections with our students can make all the difference in the world,” Douthart said.
“Laura’s brain is basically like Pinterest,” Chapman said. “She is creative, and the programs she develops brilliantly advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.”
To help girls build self-esteem and confidence, Ross has implemented the . The group, typically composed of six to eight girls in eighth grade, meets during lunch and rotates every six weeks. The girls discuss appearance ideals and the pressures they receive from peers, society and even parents about how they should look. They also talk about comparing themselves with others and how media messages are manipulated.
Participants learn to focus on their strengths, talents and abilities rather than their appearance. They also come up with ways to compliment each other without using body talk. At the end of the session, they do a project to share what they’ve learned, such as covering the bathroom mirror with Post-It notes containing positive messages not related to looks. This year, Ross asked one of her high school peer leaders to help run the group, creating a powerful, peer-to-peer connection with the girls.
Another initiative Ross launched was the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), the first one for a middle school in her district. She has long advocated to ensure Five Forks is supportive and responsive to LGBTQ students, having worked with students who had either come out to her or were questioning their identities. “I knew we had students at our school who could use the support and that there were other students they could turn to.”
As Ross discussed the idea for a GSA at her school, she learned it would need to be started and led by a student. When a female student reached out and asked if Five Forks had such a club, Ross asked whether she would be willing to be the club leader. The girl, along with her sister and a few friends, agreed to lead it.
Ross and three other staff members sponsor the club, where leaders talk about subjects such as influential LGBTQ people in history, coping skills and who to go to for support. “We’ve gotten really good response,” Ross said. “Students who don’t quite fit in anywhere else have found a place where they’re accepted no matter what.” Staff members and teachers have come by to say hello and show their support. Recently, Ross heard from another middle school counselor in the district whose school had also just started a GSA. “Maybe this will be the norm now, that middle schools will have them.”
As School Counselor of the Year, Ross hopes to help more school counselors recognize the myriad ways they can connect and engage with students and stakeholders, starting with seeing themselves as an integral part of school life. “We’re not in a bubble, isolated from everything else that’s happening in the school,” Ross said. “We really are a part of, and should be a part of, all of these activities because there’s a place for us in all of those things.” She also wants to share the importance of school counselors having smaller caseloads so they can create truly powerful school counseling programs.
Although she has let her former colleague know that “no adult really is cool enough in a middle schooler’s eyes,” Ross has found her connection at Five Forks Middle School. “It ended up being just the perfect spot,” she said. “And sometimes they think I’m cool.”
Sandra Conrad is a freelance writer based in Dallas, Texas, who’s written previously for ASCA School Counselor about the School Counselor of the Year and finalists.
As the detention center’s counselor and security threat group coordinator, Ross’ caseload was mostly made up of men who were in gangs or hate groups. She heard time and time again from the detainees how they didn’t know anyone who had become successful through educational achievements, nor had they ever connected with an adult at school who made them feel as if they belonged. Instead of completing or sometimes even starting high school, they found their sense of belonging and worth in gangs.
As she listened to their stories, Ross mourned the men’s lost opportunities and wondered how differently their lives could have turned out had schools pursued them with the same rigor the gangs had, making education more appealing than gangs.
“They were so intelligent and talented and charismatic,” Ross said. “It was such a loss of what success they could have had, but also a loss for the community and society.” She wanted to help students see education as a positive path to success, and she saw a school environment as the place to do it. “I knew my place was in schools working with students to connect with them, to help them feel a sense of belonging and to connect them to their education and the opportunities education provides.”
After completing her master’s degree in social work, Ross went back to school and got her education specialist degree in school counseling. “It was all because of those guys that were in gangs in the detention center,” she said.
Finding Connections
For Ross, connection is everything. Connecting students to their education. Connecting her school to the school counseling program. Connecting colleagues to culturally responsive classrooms and restorative justice. Connecting administrators and state legislators to the school counseling profession. Connecting school counselors to needed resources.
Ross is the lead school counselor at Five Forks Middle School, a diverse suburban school of 1,268 students, grades 6–8 in Lawrenceville, Ga. Since arriving at Five Forks in 2014, Ross has focused on building a school counseling program where all students feel connected. “I have worked with the other school counselors in the building to grow a school counseling program that is proactive and an integral part of our school community,” she said.
Ross spent her first school counseling years at elementary schools, and although she enjoyed working with her younger elementary school students, she found she could accomplish more with the older students. She considered a move to middle school, joking with another school counselor about whether they were cool enough for middle school. When she interviewed at Five Forks Middle School, she discovered the school’s three focus areas were connections, literacy and rigor, with connections being the priority. Sensing a job opportunity so seamlessly aligned with her own school counseling ideals, Ross knew she had to work there.
Although students at Five Forks Middle School might be surprised to learn that Ross used to work at a correctional facility, they certainly benefit from her experiences there and her determination to keep them connected to school. She sees in her students the same potential she saw in the detainees – talents that can be nurtured and built upon. Using a strengths-based approach, Ross holds her students accountable and encourages them when they don’t yet see that they can accomplish something.
In some ways the detention center experience also galvanized Ross, enabling a calm, assured demeanor when handling the travails and drama of middle school life and her caseload of more than 600 students. When teachers or staff come to her with a concern, they are surprised that nothing seems to faze or deter her. Instead, she offers reassurances that they can take on whatever challenge presents itself, telling them, “I’ve seen lots of different things, and that’s absolutely something we can work with and handle.”
RAMP Foundations
At Five Forks Middle School, Ross and her school counseling colleagues knew the power of a Recognized Ï㽶ÊÓƵModel Program (RAMP), as they had all achieved RAMP designation at their previous schools. Eager to apply for RAMP again, Ross knew they should wait and ensure they had a strong, data-informed program. “It’s something we definitely wanted to achieve at Five Forks, but we also wanted to really work on having a solid program first,” Ross said. She completed the ASCA U Data Specialist training to strengthen their efforts.
As they built and improved the program, Ross worked to provide meaningful and significant lessons for students, making sure those who needed extra support had that with small groups. She also developed tools and procedures to create a more accessible and efficient program, including calming baskets for students waiting to see a school counselor, referral forms to streamline parent appointments and readily accessible counseling folders in classrooms.
With a solid program in place, they applied for and received RAMP designation in 2019. Ross says the process helped educate school colleagues and show the positive influence a school counseling program makes in supporting students behaviorally, socially and academically. “By advocating for a comprehensive program, appropriate counseling duties and sharing data in my own school, I have helped my administrators see the impact school counselors can make, and in turn, they have shared this message with other administrators, community members, school board members and legislators.”
Follow Your Butterflies
A passionate advocate for the school counseling profession, Ross regularly extends her reach beyond the school walls, sharing her own ideas as well as supporting the voices and ideas of other school counselors. “Last year, I had the pleasure of presenting with her at the Georgia School Counselor Association conference, and I will tell you this, it was like being with a rock star,” said Christine Douthart, Five Forks Middle School principal. “Everyone knew Laura. Everyone was thanking her for helping them in some way, providing resources, lending support or just being there as a mentor. She shines so brightly.”
“Many in the school counseling profession seek her out for consultation and guidance,” said Jennifer Chapman, Five Forks Middle School counselor. “A few short seconds into a conversation with Laura, and you will see that she has a wealth of information to share.”
Public advocacy didn’t come easily for Ross at first. When colleagues, whom she describes as her “pretty rowdy cheerleading section,” urged her get more involved in the profession, she wasn’t sure she had anything valuable to share. Plus, the thought of putting herself out there seemed way out of her comfort zone. Public speaking was especially problematic. “It made me so nervous,” she said. Inspired by a quote to “Follow your butterflies,” Ross decided to embrace the nervous-but-excited feeling of butterflies in her stomach and venture out to something new.
She started presenting at district meetings and Georgia School Counselor Association conferences, sharing her experiences with school initiatives and classroom lessons. When one of her “cheerleaders” then suggested she should be a part of leadership at the state level, Ross hesitated at the thought of running for office. “That seemed really scary,” she said. Following her butterflies once again, she thought, “I love this profession and would love to be a part of making sure our state organization is supporting school counselors.” She joined the GSCA Leadership Team as service project chair, followed by two years as social media editor. As a next step, she ran for a GSCA Executive Board position and was elected metro director. She also serves on the Georgia Department of Education Counselors Advisory Council.
In the social media realm, Ross quickly advanced from being a smartphone holdout to fostering a prolific, positive digital footprint. “I had Facebook, and that was really it,” Ross said. She tried Twitter just for fun and discovered that people would live tweet the ASCA Annual Conference. Soon she was following hashtags and being a part of Twitter chats. “I thought it was a really cool and interesting way to talk with other school counselors that I never would have spoken to otherwise.”
Ross now guides her students in the positive ways they can use social media and evolve as responsible digital citizens and leaders. “We’ve always taught our students face-to-face what are nice things to say, what are not nice things to say, even as early as kindergarten,” Ross said. “It’s the same to me with social media. It’s just teaching them the right things to do.”
As she continues to grow and innovate, Ross has become much more comfortable with her public advocacy platform, now at the national level. When she does occasionally get butterflies, she reminds herself simply to follow them. “Every time I feel that way, it’s probably something I should just do,” Ross said. “It’s going to make me a little bit nervous, but it’s going to be something good.”
Culturally Responsive Education
After data showed a disproportionate amount of discipline referrals for black and Latino males, Ross felt it important to cultivate a more culturally responsive environment at the school, one that enabled better connections between teachers and the school’s diverse student population. In addition to providing students tiered interventions such as positive behavior incentives, strengths-based small groups and one-on-one mentoring, Ross explored ways to support teachers as well.
She and her school counseling intern facilitated professional development sessions on implicit bias, enabling educators to be sensitive to biases that may lead to discipline referrals. In the sessions, Ross provided a safe space to discuss this sensitive topic, offering her own personal biases as examples. She was quick to assure participants that implicit bias is not the same thing as racism. “It’s just making sure that we are looking at being culturally responsive, including understanding our own biases and how that can impact our students.”
Ross also led a book study on “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” by Zaretta Hammond. Participants discussed what culturally responsive teaching might look like in the classroom, including how to identify their own biases and learn about different cultures and ways of learning. “If we create a classroom atmosphere where students feel safe and they feel connected, then they’re less likely to have that fight or flight response happen in their brain where they feel like they need to be protective and guarded,” Ross said.
After implementing the multitiered interventions and the culturally responsive professional development, discipline referrals for black and Latino males decreased by 32%. With these initial successes, Ross plans to offer additional teacher supports such as culturally diverse pedagogy that connects with the diverse student population.
To support students emotionally and behaviorally, Ross also has championed restorative justice practices at Five Forks. “It’s been baby steps trying to work it in,” she said. Her goal is to teach students how their words and actions affect other people and relationships, so when discipline referrals do occur, students can understand their role, learn from it and then, moving forward, know how to better interact with others. “It’s really developing that empathy for others. And so, what do we do to repair that harm?” She also gives teachers strategies to connect and empathize with students, especially those who can be challenging to connect with or have behavior issues in the classroom.
Program Opportunities
Administrators and colleagues value Ross’ insight and unique perspective. “She reminds all of us that our connections with our students can make all the difference in the world,” Douthart said.
“Laura’s brain is basically like Pinterest,” Chapman said. “She is creative, and the programs she develops brilliantly advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.”
To help girls build self-esteem and confidence, Ross has implemented the . The group, typically composed of six to eight girls in eighth grade, meets during lunch and rotates every six weeks. The girls discuss appearance ideals and the pressures they receive from peers, society and even parents about how they should look. They also talk about comparing themselves with others and how media messages are manipulated.
Participants learn to focus on their strengths, talents and abilities rather than their appearance. They also come up with ways to compliment each other without using body talk. At the end of the session, they do a project to share what they’ve learned, such as covering the bathroom mirror with Post-It notes containing positive messages not related to looks. This year, Ross asked one of her high school peer leaders to help run the group, creating a powerful, peer-to-peer connection with the girls.
Another initiative Ross launched was the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), the first one for a middle school in her district. She has long advocated to ensure Five Forks is supportive and responsive to LGBTQ students, having worked with students who had either come out to her or were questioning their identities. “I knew we had students at our school who could use the support and that there were other students they could turn to.”
As Ross discussed the idea for a GSA at her school, she learned it would need to be started and led by a student. When a female student reached out and asked if Five Forks had such a club, Ross asked whether she would be willing to be the club leader. The girl, along with her sister and a few friends, agreed to lead it.
Ross and three other staff members sponsor the club, where leaders talk about subjects such as influential LGBTQ people in history, coping skills and who to go to for support. “We’ve gotten really good response,” Ross said. “Students who don’t quite fit in anywhere else have found a place where they’re accepted no matter what.” Staff members and teachers have come by to say hello and show their support. Recently, Ross heard from another middle school counselor in the district whose school had also just started a GSA. “Maybe this will be the norm now, that middle schools will have them.”
As School Counselor of the Year, Ross hopes to help more school counselors recognize the myriad ways they can connect and engage with students and stakeholders, starting with seeing themselves as an integral part of school life. “We’re not in a bubble, isolated from everything else that’s happening in the school,” Ross said. “We really are a part of, and should be a part of, all of these activities because there’s a place for us in all of those things.” She also wants to share the importance of school counselors having smaller caseloads so they can create truly powerful school counseling programs.
Although she has let her former colleague know that “no adult really is cool enough in a middle schooler’s eyes,” Ross has found her connection at Five Forks Middle School. “It ended up being just the perfect spot,” she said. “And sometimes they think I’m cool.”
Sandra Conrad is a freelance writer based in Dallas, Texas, who’s written previously for ASCA School Counselor about the School Counselor of the Year and finalists.