Serving as a School Counselor in the Pandemic and Beyond

"I appreciate being nominated, I appreciate being recognized, I appreciate the opportunity to earn the award, but I don’t think that I do things any different than any of the other school counselors, any of the other educators who work with students. I just want our students to succeed." - Taraja Shephard Allen, Junior Achievement of Central Ohio's 2020 Educator of the Year<p><strong>Featured guest: </strong></p><ul><li>Taraja Shephard Allen, school counselor, Columbus City Schools<ul> <li>This is my ninth year as a school counselor in Columbus City Schools. I love being a school counselor because I have an opportunity to help my students become the best versions of themselves. I love working in CCS because I believe in being an integral part of my community. I am a proud CCS graduate from Linden McKinley High School. I obtained my undergraduate degrees from Ohio University and my Master’s in School Counseling from the University of Dayton. I believe in advocating for our professional rights on a local, state and national level.  Thus, I am an active dues paying member of my local union CEA. I also serve on committees for OEA/NEA. As none of us can do this work in isolation, I am supported by/support my colleagues through networking, leadership and engagement activities as a member of Ohio New Educators. Above all, I am a proud mother of three amazing, beautiful and talented children who are being educated in our public schools by hardworking teachers.</li> <li>Taraja was named <a href="https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-centraloh/ja-in-the-news/-/blogs/-we-have-to-make-learning-applicable-not-just-theoretical-we-have-to-engage-them-in-finding-the-solutions-to-their-own-problems-in-a-fun-way-;jsessionid=CE8B7F709C07E9A1C87D8DFF36F67E26?_33_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.juniorachievement.org%2Fweb%2Fja-centraloh%2Fja-in-the-news%3Bjsessionid%3DCE8B7F709C07E9A1C87D8DFF36F67E26%3Fp_p_id%3D33%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dja-maincontent%26p_p_col_count%3D1">Juni