How Philadelphia school counselors are balancing the COVID-19 pandemic and gun violence epidemic in the city. NatashaCBS3 reports.
All tackling, not just the gun violence epidemic that’s breaching school walls, but also the gravity of a nearly three-year battle with a pandemic.
“There is a disconnect through all the grief, all the trauma, all the loss because it’s not just the loss and grief of Overbrook High School, it’s also the community,” Davenport said. “They lost relatives to COVID, to gun violence.”Unimaginable loss has led to unprecedented measures to support not just students but their families.
“So yeah, some people might think it’s unconventional for a school counselor to actually go do a home visit,” Lee said, “but it was a necessity for us because we needed to engage the students, we needed to become their biggest cheerleaders.”“We have decreased the number of students that have out-of-school suspensions,”said. “As we see the number of students that are involved in dual enrollment, she spoke about our graduation rate, all of that is is the contributing work of school counselors.
For Davenport, this work is personal. It’s what drives her and other counselors to become a life-changing force. “It takes a village to raise a child,” Davenport said, “and I want to be a part of someone’s village. Because I’m not just impacting that student, I am changing the trajectory of their life.”School officials say they’re continuing to see success in the holistic model of support they’ve created with a 100% graduation rate for students who were in the 2019-2020 academic year.