Placement Description  

Public Middle School placement that offers practical foundational experience working with students. SKMS seeks to  give students a full picture of the middle school counseling career. Our Field Placement students will enjoy a very  “hands on” site and will leave with practical knowledge and experience to take into their graduate studies.

Intern or Field Placement Responsibilities/Opportunities

• Individual student meetings – provide a “check-in” for academic progress 
• Possible group counseling 
• Meetings with parents and teachers, professional development meetings/workshops 
• Testing assistance 
• Opportunities for large group instruction 
• Assist with development of student Academic and Career Plans 
• Assist with scheduling of new students

Contact Information

• Contact Person: April Howard, HCPS Central Office 
• Address: 470 Linda Lane, Harrisonburg, VA 22802 
• Telephone: 540-434-9916
• Email Address: ahoward@harrisonburg.k12.va.us
• Website: http://web.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/skms/ 

Read about students’ experiences at this site below:

Spring 2017 – Krista Batezel

During the spring of 2017, I had the opportunity to complete my field placement interning in the counseling office  at Skyline Middle School in Harrisonburg. At Skyline, it is the mission to create a safe and caring environment  where students can learn and have their individual needs met so that they can achieve academic success. During  my time at Skyline, I watched this mission statement be lived out by the counselors and other staff on a daily  basis. The three school counselors work closely with the administrators, school psychologist, social workers, and  TDT (Therapeutic Day Treatment) counselors to help the students reach their full potential. The team of faculty at  Skyline Middle School is passionate about making sure that each child gets the services that they need in order to  thrive in the school environment. The counselors and administrators at the school care deeply for each and every  student, which is evident in the way that they interact with the students. It was encouraging for me to watch everyone at Skyline take the extra steps to make sure that the students feel loved and cared for. 

During my time at Skyline Middle School, I was able to experience a large variety of responsibilities that are  required of the school counselors on a day-to-day basis. A large portion of my time at the school was spent  observing Mrs. Powers while she counseled students. Mrs. Powers allowed me to sit in on her one-on-one meetings with students, of course first asking the students if they were okay with me staying in the room. I was able to  watch the techniques and approaches that Mrs. Powers uses when talking with students about different situations.  I found that middle school counseling is a combination of career planning and scheduling and meeting children’s  emotional and social needs. In addition, Mrs. Powers sometimes allowed me to meet with students on my own.  During my time with students I had the opportunity to put what I observed Mrs. Powers doing when I sat in on her  time counseling students into practice for myself. Similarly, once in a while students would come into the  counseling office for lunch, and I had the opportunity to sit and talk with them while they ate their lunches and see how their days were going. This allowed students to have a break from their day and relax for a few minutes. In addition to observing Mrs. Powers’ counseling and spending time with students, I spent much of my time at  Skyline doing whatever the counselors needed to have done that day. This varied from putting together and  hanging up posters around the school, helping to create presentations and activities for school events, helping with students’ rewards for getting points on their behavior charts, entering data into spreadsheets, and working on  paper work, among other things. 

I am very thankful for the opportunity to complete my field placement at Skyline Middle School. The counselors  and administrators at the school have created a family environment in the office, which was very welcoming to come into. In particular, the three counselors look out for each other and share the burden of their work. They are  really good about taking over each other’s projects when someone has a lot on their plate and providing a listening ear when someone is having a hard day. It was a very positive atmosphere to come into and the way that the  counselors care for each other creates an understanding, cooperative environment and helps things to run  smoothly in the counseling office. In addition to the welcoming environment, I was very thankful that Mrs. Powers  allowed me to sit in and observe her time counseling students. This experience was very beneficial and I learned a  ton from it. I had never taken a class on counseling or seen it in practice before starting my field placement, so it  was very helpful for me to get to see what counseling looked like firsthand and then to be able to apply what I was learning and put it into practice when I met with students on my own. Similarly, Mrs. Powers was very good  about helping me to experience all of the different aspects of the job of a school counselor. Getting to help with the many different jobs of a school counselor opened my eyes to the range of roles that a school counselor takes on  within the school. Lastly, I also loved the diversity of Skyline Middle School. There are students at the school from  all over the world, and I enjoyed getting to work with children who come from many different cultures and backgrounds.

At Skyline Middle School, I learned a ton about the role of a school counselor. I discovered that they are involved in almost every aspect of the school and provide guidance to the teachers as well as the students. They are the ones  that everyone in the school turns to when they need something because they know that the counselors will  selflessly serve to make sure that everything in the school runs the way it should. Through watching Mrs. Powers, I learned what school counseling looks like firsthand. I learned how to approach conversations with students about a range of topics, and my counseling skills were improved. I also learned how to interact with students who come  from different cultures and backgrounds than I do. The diversity at Skyline taught me how to make myself  relatable to students who were very different from me and gave me an appreciation for other cultures. I came to  enjoy learning about where the students came from and the culture they grew up in. Lastly, I learned how unique  a time of life middle school is and how fun it is to get to be a part of children’s middle school years. I realized that middle schoolers are mature and need as much love and guidance as children of other ages. My time at  Skyline Middle School reaffirmed my belief that I want to go to graduate school for and pursue a career in school  counseling. It also helped me to realize that I want to work in a diverse school, similar to Skyline, in the future.  Lastly, completing my field placement at Skyline confirmed my love for middle schoolers and helped me to  recognize that I want to work in a middle school when I become a school counselor. Overall, I learned a lot and  loved my experience at Skyline Middle School!