Plan to Be Surprised (#107)

Matt Fleck:
Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us for another Inspiring School Counselor’s podcast. I’m Matt Fleck with my colleague Aimee Portteus at Inspire Success, the nonprofit that advances what works to elevate student success. If there’s one thing you learn on the job as a school counselor, it’s to be prepared for just about anything to happen. And part of the purpose of this podcast is sharing how school counselors not only cope with the unexpected, but seem to make it all work. This week Aimee talks with Pennsylvania middle school counselor, Dr. Danielle Schultz, who shares her tips for marketing, counseling or favorite podcasts, the items she has on her desk, and why a cat in a backpack is just another typical day in the life of a school counselor,  

Aimee Portteus:
Welcome to the Inspiring School Counselors podcast.  

Dr. Danielle Schultz:
Thanks so much, Aimee, for having me.  

Aimee:
To begin with, can you please share a little bit about yourself with our listeners?  

Danielle:
Sure. I’m a middle school counselor in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Um, so I work with students in grade six through eight.  

Aimee:
Do I understand that you have a role with ASCA as well?  

Danielle:
No, I, um, write some newsletter articles. Um, I wrote a newsletter article recently. Um, I’ve written for their magazine before, but, and I’ve done some webinars for asca, but I don’t work for them.  

Aimee:
Um, do I also understand that you have a blog that pertains to the school counseling profession?  

Danielle:
Yes. Yes. I actually started a blog before I even really understood what it was, <laugh> back in, um, 2009. My dad encouraged me to start one. At the time I was a brand new school counselor. I was actually emergency certified as a school counselor, so I was the only <laugh> school counselor for like 550 kids, K to three had not, like, I was just brand new, like not even out of school yet. I was emergency certified in my last internship, so I just kind of hit the ground running and started building a program there. And I, my dad’s like, well, you should just write about what you’re doing because I was constantly looking for resources. It was really hard to find. So I kind of hit the scene at a time where there really wasn’t much like information for school counselors on the internet. So I started just writing about the things that I was doing and hoping that I could help other school counselors and hopefully inspire some other people to do it so that we could share ideas.  

Aimee:
Oh, that is awesome. And, have you had a lot of interaction with other school counselors? Through your blog?

Danielle:
Yes. Yeah. I mean, that was in 2009, so it’s been a long journey <laugh>. Yeah. But I’ve met a ton of school counselors in person that I’ve met online. It’s been, it’s been really cool. And, since then I branched out to other forms of social media, like Twitter and then Instagram and so it’s just, well, and Facebook too. So I, it’s, it really um, has been a cool way to connect with other school counselors, even if you’re not in the same state. Because our role can often be very isolating and you’re often the lone school counselor in a building or you don’t have a lot of other people to interact with, uh, that do your actual job. Yeah. So I, I’ve found it to be a really cool way to connect with people and find your like-minded group of people that you can bounce ideas off of.

Aimee:
Yes, yes. Like-minded. That’s, that’s exactly how I characterize us and it really doesn’t matter where we are, in the country does it? We all face the same things that we need to talk about. That’s awesome. Sure. Yeah. Well that sounds like a lot of good work that you do there and we look forward to reading your work and, and joining you in that blogging. Can you share with us a little bit why you believe that it’s important for us as school counselors to market our programs?  

Danielle:
So I feel like sometimes it’s hard for school counselors to kind of share what they do because they feel like it’s bragging and they feel like it’s like about them or like, they worry that people will think it’s about them. And my kind of philosophy is if you like, really dive deep into what ASCA says school counselors should be doing, like sharing about your program is actually a form of advocacy. So absolutely it’s helping others understand what you do. Um, it’s educating them about your role. It’s, it’s changing the narrative about what school counselors can do and showing them examples like in real life  

Aimee:
<laugh>. Yeah, absolutely. And changing the narrative of what is expected of us as well. What are some things that you believe we should have handy in our offices?  

Danielle:
Well, I personally have like, kind of like a bucket <laugh>. I guess I would call it a basket. I don’t know, I just kind of like fidgety type things. Um, I’ve shared this on Instagram before, but I have some of my go-tos. Like I always have like a card game that works. Um, Rory story cubes.  

Aimee:
Say that again. Rory story cubes.  

Danielle:
Rory’s story cubes. They’re some of my favorites, you can just roll them and then create a story. There’s lots of ways to play them. I have some I got so long ago, but they’re called wonder tubes. It’s like those glitter tubes. But these have little pictures that you can find in them. So just kind of like Steph to just kind of get a conversation started. I also like a tech thing that I, uh, didn’t really think was something that you actually needed is a ring light <laugh>. I know it’s really silly, but like, even though we’ve been obviously back in person, I still do so many Zoom meetings and I just feel like looking professional when you’re doing a meeting with parents and it just adds an extra layer to things. So doing that, like having a ring light, I know it sounds silly and I, I thought it was honestly like a vanity thing, but I honestly think it makes the picture look better so that everything is clearer <laugh>. Yeah.  

Aimee:
No, no, I don’t think that sounds silly. I think when I read that in your survey, I looked around my office and went like, why didn’t I already think of that? That’s, it’s on my list of things to get now is a ring light because you said that’s a good idea. <laugh>. Uh, how about at a personal level? What are some of the beliefs or behaviors, habits that you’ve cultivated over the years that have most improved your life both professionally and personally?  

Danielle:
So early on in my career, I was always so afraid to take a day off. I was, I would like seriously, even if I was sick, I was so stressed out about it. But, um, one of the school counselors I worked with early on, she was like, you need to just take a day. Like if you need to take a day, like you’re not, you’re doing your best work. Like you’re not doing your best work, you’re not being your best self if you don’t take time for yourself. So flash forward to the pandemic and having three children, like I definitely understand now, you have to take days sometime. Right. And like, they kind of helped me into it because like, you have to take days sometimes for your kids, so you need to take them for yourself too <laugh>.  

Aimee:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And how does that impact your work with students?  

Danielle:
I feel like it makes me, um, like if, if you’re taking time for yourself, you’re able to be your best self more. It’s just, you need to do that for yourself to be a whole person and to be able to interact in the best way that you can.  

Aimee:
And remember when you were talking about that counselors don’t like to advocate because we think it’s vain. It’s the same thing with taking the time off. Sometimes we feel like that’s, um, that we’re not taking care of our kids if we take care of ourselves and that’s totally the opposite of truth, isn’t it? 

Danielle:
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. 

Aimee:
So that’s very wise. And, you know, we like to end our interviews with some rapid fire thoughts. So I’m gonna ask you a few questions. Okay? And I want you to answer them briefly with your first thought. You don’t have to think about it. 

Danielle:
Okay. 

Aimee:
All right. Here we go. What song or activity helps you destress after a long day?  

Danielle:
I really like listening to podcasts. Two of my favorites would be Life Kit by NPR. I always get some really good ideas and I just feel like they’re good. Like they’re just so good. And I really like aKimbo by Seth Goden. He’s a business person, but my dad introduced me to him and I just really like everything. But it helps me think about things in a different way.

Aimee:
Because it’s business oriented. 

Danielle:
Yeah. It’s just a different perspective.  

Aimee:
What was it called again? AKimbo?  

Danielle:
Yes, AKimbo. By Seth Godin.  

Aimee:
Okay. What’s the funniest quote or oddest thing a student has ever said to you?  

Danielle:
So one time I was doing a new student group and um, I used to do an activity where I gave everybody animal crackers and had them pick one and introduce themselves and I had a student one time say, um, that he was a pony. And I said, okay, tell me about how you’re like a pony. He’s like, well because everybody’s always on my back. And I was like, oh my goodness, <laugh>. But it was very telling but it was just like not at all what I was expecting to hear!

Aimee:
Because everybody’s always on my back. Well you had some things you could work on with him!

Danielle:
Yeah, definitely.  

Aimee:
He opened the door right up for you. What question or statement from a student annoys you the most?  

Danielle:
Well, I mean this goes for teachers and anybody else really in the world!  When people call me the G word, which is guidance counselor <laugh>. Yes. I mean I can use it as an opportunity to educate, but it still is just kind of like fingernails on a chalkboard.  

Aimee:
<laugh>. Ah, yeah. And we can’t seem to get completely past that.  

Danielle:
No. Even like, sometimes like it’s just so unexpected. I’m like, oh my gosh. Yeah. I try really hard. I’ve never called myself that so I don’t really know. Yeah. How, why you are <laugh>.  

Aimee:
Yes, yes. And I have to work on facial expressions.  

Danielle:
<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely  

Aimee:
Offended by right? Yeah. <laugh>. So what’s the weirdest non-counseling task you’ve ever had to complete?  

Danielle:
So one time when I worked in the Harrisburg school district, I came to school and the principal called me to her office and said that they found something in a backpack. And I was like, oh goodness, where’s this gonna go? And it was a cat. Um, so <laugh>, they knew I was a cat person and they’re like, okay, you deal with this. And I was like, oh goodness, this just is not what I expected for my day. Um, so I ended up keeping it in my office. I got it some food from a local like Dollar General or whatever and um, I kept it in my office all day and ended up taking it to the Humane Society, but it was just not at all what I planned. And like it, it honestly is like a good example of how as a school counselor, like someday, like you try so hard to have the best laid plans, but someday you just walk in and you just really don’t even know! Plan to be surprised. That’s like <laugh> what, what my philosophy is. 

Aimee:
<laugh>. That’s an excellent plan to be surprised. That might be the title of this podcast. <laugh>. That’s exactly right. Um, and so what’s the most unique job you’ve had other than being a school counselor? Because we know everything we do is unique. 

Danielle:
I was a long-term sub for a school counselor that worked in the county jail <laugh>. So that was a very different experience. It was still working with students doing credit recovery, running groups related to grief and loss, but it was in the jail. So it was just a very different experience. Like it was great working with the students. I was really nervous to be in the jail. <laugh> I mean, you do feel boxed in. Definitely. And I, the one day I set off the alarm because I brought in a Diet Coke and I was so stressed out about that!<laugh>  

Aimee:
<laugh> Well at least you didn’t bring in the cat.  

Danielle:
No, no. Thank goodness. <laugh>.  

Aimee:
Yeah. Well, Danielle, again, I appreciate your time and we’re gonna encourage school counselors everywhere to check out your blog and your social media. Thank you for being with us!  

Matt:
It’s always a treat for me to hear what school counselors around the country are listening to reading and exploring. So before we wrap up, let me challenge you to consider taking a moment to share what resources you listen to or put in practice that helps your students. All you have to do is go to our podcast website at inspiresuccess.org/podcast. Click on the little yellow oval up in the right that says Inspiring School Counselors form. Answer a few short questions. And that’s it. Also on that same website, don’t forget there’s a link to the Encouraging Songs for School Counselors playlist that can help brighten your day as you drive in in the morning or process the day on the way home. All of that at inspiresuccess.org/podcast. That’s it for us. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.