December 18, 2024 - Comal ISD’s Pieper High School is a 2024 CREST Award winner for its counseling program that demonstrates a commitment to improving the lives and achievement of students academically, professionally and personally.
The Texas School Counseling Association announced the CREST winners for the 2024-2025 school year recently and notified the counseling team at PHS that it was a winner. This recognizes the work from last school year. The team will be recognized at an awards dinner Sunday, Feb. 2, at the TSCA’s Professional School Counselor Conference in Galveston.
“This honor is extremely rewarding for the counseling team,” says Katherine Tolbert, the lead counselor at PHS. “We love what we do and are proud of the program we have been able to create and grow from the ground up. This award affirms our goals.
“We have created a student first, comprehensive program, that we review each year. We feel strongly that the more foundation we provide with our students in guidance, and tier 1 intervention, allows the program to be proactive and ensures student success. Our goal is for our students to graduate college, career and military ready and be able to prioritize their mental health.”
Besides providing the four domains of the Texas Model for a comprehensive school counseling program, Tolbert explains, the team also incorporates student-focused opportunities. For example, they offer ‘Tranquil Tuesdays’ which has grown over the last four years.
During ‘Tranquil Tuesdays,’ counselors invite students to focus on being present in the moment through a monthly activity during their lunchtime. A few activities have included mindful breathing with bubbles, painting, origami and Zentangles.
In addition, the team provides monthly lunch events based on nationwide initiatives such as Red Ribbon week, bully prevention and national suicide prevention; two guidance lessons per grade level each year; and each counselor coordinates at least one small group based on student needs such as anxiety, coping skills and transitioning to PHS. The team also established a Counseling Advisory Council made up of staff members, parents, students and community members.
Currently, PHS has six counselors including Tolbert. They are Ashton Chandler, Catrina Clarke, Natalie Gates, Kristen Guerra and Nivia O’Malley.
Congratulations!
Photo Descriptions
-Students at Pieper High School are given opportunities to learn more about nationwide initiatives such as bullying awareness and social media through the school’s counseling program which recently received the CREST award for its work.
-The Pieper High School counseling team received the CREST award for its work on campus. The PHS counselors are pictured here from left, Katherine Tolbert, Catrina Clarke, Kristen Guerra, Ashton Chandler, Nivia O’Malley and Natalie Gates.