The West Central School Corporation hopes to improve its counseling services, thanks to a grant from the Lilly Endowment.
Superintendent Don Street says the school board was awarded a $30,000 Comprehensive Counseling Initiative Planning Grant. “We’ll use this $30,000 for planning and gathering information to apply for a $100,000 counseling grant,” he explains. “We’ll do a needs assessment, consulting with an organization called Battle for Kids, and we’ll also do student experience surveys. Our guidance counselors will do site visits and research will be conducted.” He adds the focus of the initiative is to improve social and emotional health, as well as career readiness, starting in middle school.
The school board voted last week to accept the planning grant, as well as the corporation’s annual Title II grant. Street says it provides just over $32,000 for improving teacher quality. “We use that to have a data coach/curriculum coach to work with our staff in analyzing data of our students in ISTEP tests and other assessments,” he says. Street adds that some of that money also helps cover professional development for staff.
