The continued goal of the Frenship ISD Counseling department is to support the social and emotional needs of the students while equipping them for life after graduation. This mission extends to out of school hours, as our counselors work to connect students to outside resources that can offer a consistent level of support.
“We are there to help offer guidance when the student comes across obstacles and barriers that keep them from reaching their own positive outcome,” said Craig Thomson, Director of Counseling.
The Counseling department supports our schools and students through four components: guidance curriculum, responsive services, individual planning, and system support.
The counselors at each school provide daily support to the entire campus, while the district crisis intervention counselors and district student support coaches provide an extra layer of individualized support to students in need.
Thomson was recently promoted to Director of Counseling. However, he is no stranger to Frenship or education. Thomson has been in education for 21 years and served as a Frenship High School counselor for six years.
Along with Thomson, Frenship added a new crisis intervention counselor at the district level, Ashley Manale. Manale is a Frenship graduate and has shown her dedication to the district by immediately stepping in and offering a wealth of knowledge.
At the campus level, Kerry Stamps joined the Bennett Elementary team, Laura Hayward at Oak Ridge Elementary, Nina Montemayor at Heritage Middle School, and Ana Mohr and Janelle Desautell at Frenship High School. They have all fit right in to the counseling family and have each brought fresh ideas from previous counseling experiences. Each of our campuses are lucky to have them in the district.
The entire counseling team tirelessly works to support Frenship students and provide resources for parents. Frenship has two crisis intervention counselors who are able offer immediate support to students when emergency situations arise. They are also able to fill in the gap of services when parents are in the process of finding outside counseling for their child. The district student support coaches help students as they transition from District Alternative Education Program (DAEP) back to their home campus, as well as help support students with behavior needs.
Frenship also partners with several outside agencies to help support our students and families with a variety of resources. From Communities in Schools to Campus Alliance for Telehealth Resources (CATR), counselors rely on these area partnerships to help provide extra help for families in need.
Mental health is an important issue not just in schools but in day-to-day life. It is important that we learn how to best take care of ourselves and how to support others that we see daily. The counseling department is here to help support and connect students to the right services that they need to help find long-term balance in their lives.
“In my opinion, counseling services are important no matter the age of the person,” said Thomson. “Counseling can range from a variety of specialties, whether it be for developing social skills to dealing with more serious thoughts and feelings that someone may be having. The hope is with the support of counseling services the student can discover their own positive solutions to what is happening in their world so that they can be better equipped to handle similar obstacles that may develop later in life”