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From Discovering Potentials to Solving Conflicts ft. Ellie Burton | Ep. 5
15 Plays1 year ago
Welcome to our fifth podcast episode, where we have the honor of conversing with the insightful school counselor, Ellie Burton.
Join us as we explore Ellie Burton's journey, from her beginnings as a Certified Financial Planner to her impactful role as a school counselor at North Gwinnett High School. In this episode, we'll delve into Ellie's dedication to igniting passions in young minds, navigating challenges, and fostering growth.
Whether you're an educator, a parent, or simply curious about the world of school counseling, this episode promises to offer valuable insights and inspiration from Ellie Burton's remarkable career. So, join us as we uncover the essence of guidance and empowerment with Ellie Burton.
About Ellie Burton:
Ellie Burton is a school counselor with a unique blend of expertise in both finance and guiding young minds. With seven years of experience at North Gwinnett High School, Burton isn't just about college applications and conflicts – she's all about igniting sparks and watching them grow into blazing fires of passion. Before diving into education, Burton spent time as a Certified Financial Planner, mastering the art of numbers and ensuring financial harmony. When not changing lives in academia, you'll find Burton planning race schedules or hiking in nature, embracing life's adventures and pushing boundaries.
To see the video version of this episode subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thezainabkhan
Website: https://thezainabkhan.com/
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/zainabkhanpodcast/
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Guest
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, I'm Zainab Khan, your host, and I welcome you all to the podcast, where we explore the incredible stories of those shaping young minds.
00:00:06
Speaker
Music
00:00:16
Speaker
Absolutely Zainab.
00:00:17
Speaker
Today we have a very remarkable guest, Ellie Burton, a school counselor with a unique blend of expertise in both finance and guiding young minds.
00:00:27
Speaker
With seven years of experience at North Gwinnett High School, Ms.
00:00:31
Speaker
Burton isn't just about college applications and conflicts.
00:00:34
Speaker
She's all about igniting sparks and watching them grow into blazing fires of passion.
Establishing Rapport with Students
00:00:40
Speaker
Before diving into education, she spent time as a certified financial planner, mastering the art of numbers and ensuring financial harmony.
00:00:48
Speaker
When she's not changing lives in academia, you'll find her planning race schedules or hiking in nature, embracing life's adventures and pushing boundaries.
00:00:56
Speaker
Now let's welcome Ms.
00:00:57
Speaker
Burton.
00:00:58
Speaker
Hi.
00:00:58
Speaker
Hello, Ms.
00:00:59
Speaker
Burton.
00:01:00
Speaker
Hey, thanks for having me today.
00:01:02
Speaker
Thank you for joining in.
00:01:03
Speaker
How are you?
00:01:04
Speaker
I'm doing all right.
00:01:05
Speaker
How are you guys doing today?
00:01:07
Speaker
Great.
00:01:07
Speaker
You're doing good.
00:01:08
Speaker
We're doing great.
00:01:09
Speaker
Thank you so much for asking.
00:01:11
Speaker
You bring a wealth of experience and a diverse skill set to your role as a school counselor.
00:01:16
Speaker
Reflecting on your role, how do you approach helping students discover and pursue their passions and potential?
00:01:22
Speaker
Sure.
00:01:22
Speaker
So that's a great question to start off with.
00:01:25
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:25
Speaker
One of the things that I like to do is make sure that I'm establishing a rapport with students first.
00:01:31
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So
00:01:31
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kind of goes by the old adage of people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
00:01:37
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So even getting to know the student a little bit, I think is helpful and goes a long way.
00:01:42
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And also teenagers can spot phonies really easily.
00:01:46
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So if I can get to know them and be authentic with them, chances are they're going to be authentic with me.
00:01:52
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So another thing that I do is leverage the tools that I have with me.
00:01:57
Speaker
So we have some great programs through our school system that
00:02:00
Speaker
that help our students discover
Role in Academic and Social Planning
00:02:02
Speaker
themselves.
00:02:02
Speaker
So we have some personality inventories, we have some career exploration tools that we like to leverage, and we can reference back to those when we're in our conversations together.
00:02:14
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Also, I like to get to know the students' hobbies and interests, and that way we can try to put together a blend of classes or talk through college or career plans.
00:02:23
Speaker
That's gonna be the best fit for the student.
00:02:26
Speaker
Very nice.
00:02:28
Speaker
I have a question.
00:02:31
Speaker
Student counseling is not just confined to the universities, colleges, or as I said earlier, that resolving conflicts.
00:02:40
Speaker
So in a broader spectrum or in a broader sense, what actually counseling is?
00:02:46
Speaker
Can you like elaborate on that?
00:02:51
Speaker
Sure.
00:02:51
Speaker
So basically what a school counselor does on a day-to-day basis is
00:02:55
Speaker
we operate in three domains.
00:02:57
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It's gonna be academic planning, social and emotional learning, and then post-secondary
Encouraging Goal Achievement
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planning.
00:03:03
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And so we might spend all day in one of those three, or we might spend all day in different areas of those at different depths.
00:03:11
Speaker
So for the academic side, we might be meeting with students on how to craft their schedules for next school year.
00:03:18
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That's a big part of my job right now, helping students optimize their schedule for the next school year, whether it be
00:03:25
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a blend of AP classes and on-level classes here or dual enrollment classes or other opportunities that we have.
00:03:32
Speaker
For the social and emotional piece, it might be they're having a conflict with their parents and they need to talk to another trusted adult about it, or they're having trouble with a friend and they just need a listening ear.
00:03:45
Speaker
And then lastly, for the post-secondary planning,
00:03:48
Speaker
There's a whole array of options.
00:03:50
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So whether the student is going to be career ready, we can talk that through.
00:03:54
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There's programs actually at the high school level that can help students become career ready and go straight into the workforce.
00:04:00
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We can talk through military options and then always the big one, which is college
Adapting to Educational Needs
00:04:06
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planning.
00:04:06
Speaker
And that just takes a little bit more time because there's a lot more steps to it than those others.
00:04:11
Speaker
But I can like I said, I can spend my day in all of those or just one of those in particular.
00:04:16
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It really depends on the day.
00:04:19
Speaker
Right.
00:04:19
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Excellent.
00:04:20
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So how do you navigate the balance between encouraging dreams and managing realistic expectations?
00:04:25
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That is a hard one.
00:04:28
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And so that's one where I like to put that back on the student.
00:04:31
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So I would like to ask them, you know, hey, that's great that you are thinking about this.
00:04:37
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How are you working towards this?
00:04:38
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Tell me what you're doing to accomplish these goals.
00:04:41
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And we also, if there are any metrics or if there are any
00:04:45
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guidelines out there, let's say it's a particular university or a particular profession, you know, is there a professional website putting out credentials that the student might need?
00:04:56
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If the college has credentials, you know, are there certain courses the student needs to take here?
00:05:01
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So we try and explore that together and find out
00:05:04
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Are you on track?
Career Assessment Tools and Programs
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Are you heading in that direction?
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If you are, that's great.
00:05:09
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But if not, what are ways that you need to course correct?
00:05:12
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And are those course corrections realistic in the timeframe that's allowed?
00:05:17
Speaker
Very nice.
00:05:19
Speaker
As a guide for students' future paths, how do you address the evolving landscape of career opportunities and the impact of technological advancements?
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah, so we are so lucky to be in the state of Georgia because Georgia definitely is forward thinking as far as education goes.
00:05:38
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And so we have a great Department of Education that thinks through those things.
00:05:42
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What are classes that students are going to need to help be successful in the real world?
00:05:47
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And so we're able to, as a school system and as a school, pick and choose from those.
00:05:52
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So, for example,
00:05:53
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We have really worked hard over the past several years to build out our engineering pathway and our computer science pathway, because those are classes that not only do we know are in demand for job skills in the real world, but our students have been wanting them to.
00:06:08
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And we're also excited that we've been starting to build out our healthcare science pathway as well.
00:06:12
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So we started this year with Intro to Healthcare Science.
00:06:15
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We're going to add Essentials of Healthcare.
00:06:18
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Again, we have a lot of students who are gravitating to the medical field and we feel like we're able to meet needs in those ways and get students exposure.
00:06:27
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We wanna make sure that students get exposure now so that they're not maybe wasting time and money
Embracing Authenticity and Overcoming Challenges
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in college.
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They can find out by taking an elective course here, hey, I really like this.
00:06:38
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This is something that I'm really gravitating towards or you know what?
00:06:42
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I took that in 11th grade and I never have to worry about it again.
00:06:45
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That was not the right thing for me.
00:06:48
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If we don't have pathways that fit here, we have opportunities through dual enrollment where we can pair a student with other opportunities.
00:06:55
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So, for example, I had a student who was very interested in welding and I was able to help him look at options at one of our partner dual enrollment schools and he was able to get a good opportunity this school year.
00:07:08
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Very nice.
00:07:08
Speaker
Have you come across any of the difficult student who had a dilemma of not sure where he wants to be?
00:07:16
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And how did you tackle that situation, a particular situation?
00:07:20
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Yeah.
00:07:20
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And it's really hard when you're a young person trying to figure out exactly what to do.
00:07:25
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And the good thing that I tell them is that that's a moving target.
00:07:30
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And the best thing is to get to assess your strengths and weaknesses and find out
00:07:36
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where your passions and hobbies are too and try and blend those together.
00:07:40
Speaker
And again, we go back to those career assessments.
00:07:43
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We go back to those strengths inventories that we do.
00:07:45
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And I also encourage that student
00:07:48
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to try and get a part-time job if their family allows, because exposure to the world of work is a great way to figure out what you're doing.
00:07:57
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So you can find out, I like working with people.
00:07:59
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I like a flexible schedule, or I'm more of a Monday through Friday kind of person, or I'm a behind the scenes person.
00:08:05
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I really like working in the stock room.
00:08:07
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So, you know, really getting that student that exposure, if they're able to, I think can help make the real world and the working world
00:08:15
Speaker
seemed like more of a reality for them.
00:08:17
Speaker
Right.
00:08:18
Speaker
Do you have any like aptitude testing design program where you can like get to know where the students aptitude lies or is there any format for you, you offer?
00:08:32
Speaker
Yes.
00:08:32
Speaker
So we actually have a program that our county purchased for us that has a whole array of strengths, explorers, career assessments,
00:08:42
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personality inventories.
00:08:44
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And as we go into the classrooms as counselors, we have the students take those on a year-by-year basis.
00:08:51
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So they do certain things in ninth grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, so that they can get exposure and know more about themselves.
00:08:59
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Also, we have another test that we have a third party come in and do called the ASVAB, and that is a much more
00:09:06
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in-depth profile where the student can look and see what their career aptitudes are as well.
00:09:11
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And we offer that every year.
00:09:12
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We encourage students to take that.
00:09:14
Speaker
So with a blend of all of those things, we hope that students can get a good reflection of who they are.
00:09:20
Speaker
And also with some of those assessments, they talk about how their strengths and skills are contributing to the workforce and what that could look like.
00:09:29
Speaker
So
00:09:30
Speaker
We are definitely there to help students go through those results and we often encourage students to look at them, talk with their parents about them, and reflect on them as they are trying to figure out their future plans.
00:09:43
Speaker
So some students have like a particular passion, but due to societal pressures and expectations, they're not able to pursue it.
00:09:51
Speaker
So how do you deal with those kind of students?
00:09:54
Speaker
Right, so that can be difficult where you feel like something is kind of holding you down.
00:09:59
Speaker
And so I kind of guide students to, you know, think about who their authentic self is.
00:10:05
Speaker
And I actually have a quote on my desk from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and this is from the 1800s, but it still rings true today.
00:10:12
Speaker
He says, to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
00:10:20
Speaker
So looking at who you are authentically and is there a way for being
00:10:26
Speaker
those traits within you and who you are to fit into what you're looking to do.
00:10:32
Speaker
And so you think about the trailblazers in our society, like the Steve Jobs and the Bill Gates, like they didn't necessarily fit into, you know, neatly into a round hole, like it was a square peg in a round hole situation.
00:10:45
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And they were able to go and do some really great things.
00:10:47
Speaker
So think back to, you know, who you are and how can you make yourself shine?
00:10:55
Speaker
Would you like to share any inspiring stories of students' success or resilience that you witnessed recently?
00:11:02
Speaker
Sure.
00:11:02
Speaker
So just kind of over the years, I didn't have one specific instance, but over the years, I've had a handful of students who have really come in with just some difficult home situations or housing situations where they may have had housing insecurity.
00:11:17
Speaker
And they were able to really just dig down deep.
00:11:20
Speaker
They had a team of support, whether it was here at school or outside the walls of school or a combination thereof where they can lean on those folks and really dug deep and found hope that their situation would get better.
Self-Discovery in Career Decision-Making
00:11:35
Speaker
And then they were able to graduate and move on to their next phase of life.
00:11:39
Speaker
And I think that is what really propelled them to take the opportunities now in high school
00:11:45
Speaker
to help make their future more of a success.
00:11:48
Speaker
They weren't necessarily wallowing in their situations or throwing a pity party, but they look to see that I'm going through a challenging time, but there is hope for that.
00:11:57
Speaker
And that is very inspiring.
00:12:00
Speaker
Awesome.
00:12:01
Speaker
In your experience, what role does self-discovery and personal development play in helping students make informed decisions about their futures?
00:12:11
Speaker
Since like when I, for example, when I was growing up, there were like limited options for a career.
00:12:17
Speaker
I mean, I'm not that old, but still, like during my time when we were growing up, we had very limited options.
00:12:25
Speaker
So now students have like hundreds of options.
00:12:28
Speaker
So is it like difficult for them to choose or is your job more difficult now?
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:36
Speaker
So, you know, that really is the catch 22, right?
00:12:39
Speaker
It's like options.
00:12:41
Speaker
And in the past, everybody was hoping for more options, but now it's like optionitis almost where, you know, the world's your oyster.
00:12:48
Speaker
And if you've done a good job building a good transcript and building a good high school resume to present to colleges, you know, it almost is like I have too much to think about, too much to explore.
00:13:01
Speaker
But that's where, again, we try and bring the student back to
00:13:04
Speaker
Let's think about your skills, hobbies, and interests.
00:13:07
Speaker
Let's think about your innate strengths.
00:13:09
Speaker
Let's go back to what we're seeing in those career assessments and in those strengths inventories so that we're trying to, you know, point you in the right direction.
Counseling Post-COVID and Mental Health Support
00:13:18
Speaker
And we're not, again, kind of talking about those unrealistic career goals earlier.
00:13:23
Speaker
You know, we're trying to shoot for what could be successful and what could be realistic.
00:13:28
Speaker
So I'm really just trying to help those students discover who they are
00:13:32
Speaker
Also, we are so lucky at our school to have so many clubs and activities where if in academia they can't pursue a passion or a strength there, they can find a strength maybe in our after school activities or our clubs.
00:13:46
Speaker
And so that's where we really encourage that depth as well.
00:13:49
Speaker
Wow.
00:13:50
Speaker
There's a very important question here.
00:13:53
Speaker
Are there common misconceptions about your role as a counselor?
00:13:58
Speaker
Like how do you address them in order to best support students?
00:14:02
Speaker
Because as I said earlier, that people think that student counseling is only about recommending colleges and universities or resolving the conflict.
00:14:12
Speaker
So how do you support best support your students?
00:14:17
Speaker
Sure.
00:14:18
Speaker
So one thing we do is when we go into the classroom and we go into the classroom multiple times a year, we're so lucky that our teachers are flexible and allow us to do that.
00:14:27
Speaker
But we always try and review what a school counselor does and what our role is.
00:14:32
Speaker
And so we talk to them about, you know, we're here for more than just college planning.
00:14:36
Speaker
We're here to talk about your day to day schedule.
00:14:38
Speaker
We're here to just be a trusted adult if you need someone to talk to and you don't feel like you have anyone right now.
00:14:44
Speaker
And of course, we're here for that after high school planning as well.
00:14:49
Speaker
I really see the biggest misconception is maybe from people who really from parents where they may have only had one interaction with a high school counselor years ago, where they may have gone over like a career assessment that they did, or they just brought them in the office and said, Hey, you're on track for graduation.
00:15:07
Speaker
That's great.
00:15:08
Speaker
And for us, the profession has grown over the years and it,
00:15:13
Speaker
We get more face time with the students.
00:15:15
Speaker
We have more responsibilities.
00:15:17
Speaker
There's never a dull day or a dull moment in school counseling because we have so much to do and so much ground to cover.
00:15:23
Speaker
Very nice.
00:15:24
Speaker
Given the disruptions caused by COVID-19, how has the role of the guidance counselor evolved and what new challenges do you face?
00:15:33
Speaker
So COVID-19 really threw all of us for a big loop.
00:15:36
Speaker
But coming out of it, we really found that students needed additional social and emotional support.
00:15:44
Speaker
Because remember, students were home not with their peers anymore, but with their families and not necessarily getting meeting those developmental markers as far as student interactions, knowing how to handle certain types of peer conflict, learning how to handle certain types of peer pressure.
00:16:01
Speaker
And so when students came back into the building and when things were more normalized, we were really seeing a lag in maturity in students.
00:16:09
Speaker
and things that we expected were middle school behaviors we were seeing at the high school.
00:16:14
Speaker
So really just being patient, listening to the students, working with them, trying to help them think through, and ultimately just giving it time has helped students readjust.
00:16:26
Speaker
We are seeing not necessarily things all the way back to normal with student behaviors, but we've definitely seen a great improvement as time has gone by.
00:16:35
Speaker
Right.
00:16:37
Speaker
Considering the increased focus on remote work and digital skills, how do you help students prepare for a workforce that continues to undergo significant changes since the technology is rapidly changing in the world?
00:16:52
Speaker
So one thing I am thankful for is we do have student Chromebooks where students do get exposed to technology on a one-to-one basis.
00:17:00
Speaker
And so students are learning how to work digitally, send in assignments remotely,
00:17:07
Speaker
And also with students and just remote workforce in general, any type of exposure they can get to the world of work, whether it's digitally or in person, I think is helpful because businesses run on efficiency and they're going to be some of the first ones to implement new technology to make themselves more efficient.
00:17:27
Speaker
So.
00:17:28
Speaker
Like we talked about before, any exposure that students can get to the world of work, even if it's working at the drive through at their local fast food restaurant, they're going to be working a cash register, which is technology.
00:17:38
Speaker
They might be operating an ordering system.
00:17:41
Speaker
And so even those little bits and pieces of technology, I think, are helpful to just put in those students' hands.
00:17:48
Speaker
How do you think the role of guidance counselor will evolve in the near future?
00:17:53
Speaker
I think that's a great question.
00:17:55
Speaker
And it's always good to be forward thinking, especially in your
Early Connection with Counselors
00:17:58
Speaker
profession.
00:17:58
Speaker
But I continue to see just a focus on mental health for our students.
00:18:03
Speaker
That's something that just with social media and with so much going on in society, they just need that additional support and that additional listening ear.
00:18:13
Speaker
And I know everyone on our team is super happy to be just patient with students and a trusted adult for students when
00:18:22
Speaker
They just need someone to talk to.
00:18:25
Speaker
Before we wrap up, would you like to share any piece of advice for students and parents?
00:18:30
Speaker
Sure.
00:18:31
Speaker
So the counseling office is a great host of resources.
00:18:35
Speaker
So if you can get to know your school counselor as soon as possible, as high school starts, that's only going to be to your benefit because they can help guide you through that career planning that we talked about, that academic planning and college planning.
00:18:51
Speaker
And the more that they know you, the better that they can help suggest options.
Individualized Education and Diverse Needs
00:18:55
Speaker
So definitely don't delay in visiting your school counselor.
00:18:59
Speaker
Right.
00:18:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:19:00
Speaker
Before we come to the end, one last question is what is lacking in the education system and what do you think should be changed?
00:19:10
Speaker
You know, the hard part about public education is that it's a one size fits all.
00:19:16
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We're trying to figure out
00:19:18
Speaker
how to meet the needs of a large, diverse group of students.
00:19:21
Speaker
And so I think it's a best effort.
00:19:26
Speaker
I wish that we could tailor everything individually as best we could to students, but I think we're doing the best job we possibly can.
00:19:34
Speaker
So if I had my wish list, it would just be to help students be more individualized.
00:19:41
Speaker
But again, we're doing the best we can with trying to work with everybody.
00:19:47
Speaker
Very nice.
Conclusion and Thanks
00:19:48
Speaker
As our conversation comes to a close, a heartfelt thank to Ms.
00:19:51
Speaker
Burton for joining in today.
00:19:53
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me.
00:19:55
Speaker
I appreciate the time.
00:19:56
Speaker
Thank you so much for taking your time out.
00:19:58
Speaker
I know you're always very busy.
00:20:00
Speaker
Thank you so much.
00:20:02
Speaker
I appreciate it.