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POLK COUNTY—The Polk County Community Foundation recently awarded Polk County Schools a generous grant to assist school counselors and social workers for the 2024-2025 school year. 

This grant provides valuable resources and experiences for these important professionals, who are on the front lines to assist students and families during some of the most difficult and challenging times at school and home. These professionals need access to training and professional organization memberships to provide quality assistance. 

The grant covered the expenses for annual memberships to the American School Counselor Association and the North Carolina School Counselor Association. It also covered expenses for all counselors and social workers to attend the NCSCA Annual Conference in Concord in November of last year.

School Counselor Monica Barber at Sunny View Elementary said the NCSCA conference was beneficial in many ways 

“As the only counselor at my school, it’s rare to spend time with others who understand the challenges and rewards of our profession,” she said. “It was also great to meet counselors from different areas and hear about the various issues they are facing.”  

Ashley Bell, School Counselor at Polk Central Elementary, also felt the conference was invaluable to her and her school. 

“This year at the conference, my focus was to attend sessions that focused on specific programs and strategies to build the tier 1 component of my school counseling program and our school,” said Bell. “Since attending the conference, I have met with my administration team at my school to discuss how to implement some of these elements in the upcoming school year. The NCSCA conference is a great resource for me and the other school counselors to gain up-to-date knowledge and practices for the school counseling field.”

Tryon Elementary School Counselor May Rikard gained valuable strategies for supporting dysregulated students in the classroom and learned effective ways to engage diverse families. 

“These insights will help create a more inclusive and welcoming culture for all at Tryon Elementary,” she said.

Katie Montgomery, School Counselor at Polk County High School, is very grateful for the financial support received from PCCF. 

“We recognize that other school districts do not have the chance to go to the school counseling conferences, and we are so thankful that we get this opportunity,” she shared.  

School Counselor Buffy Weathington at Polk County Middle School is the Western region VP of NCSCA, and she recognized Polk County Community Foundation’s contributions to Student Services in her recent newsletter, which is distributed statewide. 

Weathington wrote, “Not only does [Meghan Mauldin, School Counselor at Polk County High School] pull all of [the grant requirements] together, with the support of the other counselors in the county, the Polk County Community Foundation supports the finances for these things, and the county leadership encourages all of the school counselors in the county to attend the conference for professional development and support!” 

The Polk County Community Foundation has consistently supported Polk County Schools and its staff and students. Without this much-needed assistance, our Student Services professionals would not be able to provide the high-quality support that students and families so desperately need in today’s environment of increasing mental health and academic needs.