Advocating with Data Works (#111)

Matt Fleck:
Hi everyone. Welcome back to this week’s Inspiring School Counselors podcast. I’m Matt Fleck, along with my colleague Aimee Portteus from Inspire Success. We are sadly counting down to our final few podcast episodes, which we’ll explain in a few minutes, but continuing to find some exceptional school counselors whose stories we just have to share with you. This week Aimee talks with Nancy Fernandez of Chicago Public Schools about how the implementation of a comprehensive counseling model can truly make a difference.  

Nancy Fernandez:
My last seven years I’ve been at Brighton Park, which is actually where I earned RAMP for the school counseling program there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and that’s how I, um, I did a lot of learning and learned a lot to really identify what those needs are and what are the best supports that we can provide, um, because we do have a lot of kids.  

Aimee Portteus:
Yeah, you sure do. You’re a school counselor of the year, is that correct?  

Nancy: 
Yes, I am. I was excellent surprised and shocked and excited <laugh>.  

Aimee:
I bet, I bet. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?  

Nancy:
Yeah, well, so far it’s been really great. Um, it’s been, I’ve met so many people from the Illinois School Counselor Association. As a result, just having that acknowledgement or that recognition has been amazing because you get the, like I’ve been able to present at conferences.  

Aimee:
That’s awesome. So the whole experience is kind of transformative, huh?  

Nancy:
Yeah, I definitely think so. At least for me it has been. Um, it, it definitely has been and I really, you know, a lot of our jobs, like we have to advocate for our role, right? And so being able to just be in a leadership limelight is a great opportunity to even advocate further, like outside of your school building. So it’s been great.  

Aimee: 
What are some of the resources you would say no school counselors should be without?  

Nancy:
Well, I always need chocolate at the end of the day.  

Aimee:
<laugh>  

Nancy:
Peanut M&Ms are my favorite, but I think any chocolate that’s like, I have a tendency of like, that’s how my day ends and when you have like that bite of chocolate, it’s just like so calming.  

Aimee:
Well I know quite a few school counselors that would agree with you on that and if it’s not M&Ms, it’s something similar I would guess.  

Nancy:
But sometimes I’ll have a Boston Cream from Dunkin Donuts <laugh>.  

Aimee:
That sounds good too. How do you use data to self or to advocate, excuse me? How do you use data to advocate for our profession?  

Nancy: 
Yes. So I’ll give you this example that I have for my new school. Actually. They – the previous school counselor that used to be there before – was still doing test coordinating duties and you know, we all know that those are not counselor duties. And so I, one of the requests that I had when I transferred was just I did a survey of just how to see where our tier one SEL instruction was doing. Like, how the implementation was working, um, how the students were feeling about the programming, because we used Second Steps. And so just doing some of those check-ins right, to see how it was working and just with that data alone of, you know, some students still expressing a lot of anxiety, some students not necessarily remembering or knowing some of those skills, right? So they were struggling with the implementation, right?  

And so just by showing them that and then showing them even some of the CDC data of how the mental health of our kids has struggled from the pandemic. I think just showing that and showing what the students were reporting with at, with the survey I was able to complete, I was able to really demonstrate of like, yeah, I can’t do test coordinating because I need to really start doing small groups. And small groups was one of the things that they were missing. And so, so far I transferred there in January of this year and so it hasn’t been that long but within the timeframe that I’ve been there, I’ve already been able to run two small groups, right? And one of them was for the anxiety and then the other one was using SS screen for social skills for our fifth graders, which is what came out of that data. And so it’s been great. And then also with that alone, we had a handful of students who were comfortable enough in disclosing their gender identity. And so now I have started a GSA after school and so that was a lot of what was, I’m going to say was missing because it wasn’t happening before I arrived.  

Aimee:
Wow. You jumped in with both feet since January, didn’t you? 

Nancy:
Yes. 

Aimee:
But, using the data probably just helped you to do that more efficiently. Like you can, you know where the needs are right away if you are able to click.

Nancy:
Yeah, for sure. And then, looking at the attendance data, looking at the behavior data, and their grades. That really helped me identify besides the responses in the survey. Right. All of that put together really helped me narrow down who the best kids would be for those groups.  

Aimee:
Excellent. Yeah. Excellent. That’s awesome. Okay, well wonderful, thank you so much. We like to end our podcast with some RapidFire questions. So I’m gonna ask you these questions and I want you to give me your first instinct response. Okay? 

Nancy:
Sure. 

Aimee:
Okay. What song or activity helps you de-stress after a long day?  

Nancy:
That’s, I was gonna say quickly, but I, so many. Well one of the artists is Julieta Venegas-Eres Para Mi. She’s one I always really go to. She’s a Spanish artist so I’m gonna go with that one.  

Aimee:
<laugh>. That is awesome. And I’m gonna request that after this, uh, recording that you send me some of her music that we can include with your profile because she sounds great. 

Nancy:
Sure. 

Aimee:
Who’s your favorite superhero?  

Nancy:
My kids because they make me, they make everything feel better. 

Aimee:
Oh, that’s awesome. They don’t wear capes and boots, right?  

Nancy:
<laugh> Sometimes they do!

Aimee:
<laugh>. So what is a technique or process you use at work that has helped you the most beyond data?  

Nancy:
So besides data, I think, um, being able to have that go-to person to either consult or collaborate with and just, I guess really, consultation, being able to have consultation with other members of the team or teachers or staff, whoever it is to be able to process.  

Aimee:
That’s awesome. What’s the most unusual or unique item in your office?  

Nancy:
Um, I’m gonna say I have, like, this little wooden person where it’s like a, he is arms and legs and everything move and so like the kids play with it all the time, but it’s like a wooden person that just doesn’t look like a person because everybody always moves their arms and legs all in awkward places and that’s how they always stay. <laugh>  

Aimee:
<laugh> So it’s just, just stress release for kids while they’re talking?

Nancy:
Yes.  

Aimee:
That’s awesome.  And I think I know the answer to this, but what candy do you have on your desk?  

Nancy:
My M&Ms! <laugh>

Aimee:
And do you have candy for your students?  

Nancy:
Uh, sometimes but sometimes that’s just since we’re a healthy school, so sometimes I try to sneak it in there for them because I know they need it too. Um, but other than that we try to have more healthy snacks for them and then they get mad at me that I’m eating my M&Ms. <laugh>  

Aimee:
<laugh> Totally understand that. Well good job Nancy. It was really a joy meeting you. I really appreciate the time you’ve given us. We wish you all the best.  

Nancy:
Thank you so much for having me.  

Matt:
As we mentioned briefly at the beginning of the podcast, Nancy is one of the last inspiring school counselors we will be featuring on this podcast. That’s because the generous funding we’ve had for the podcast over the last several years is going away this summer. We can always hope that maybe you know of someone who would love to sponsor the podcast to keep it going and if so, feel free to contact us via our podcast website. That’s inspiresuccess.org/podcast where you can also find past podcast episodes and tons of resources provided by the many school counselors we’ve featured over the years. Note that we’re not done yet, so be sure to join us again for the next Inspiring School Counselors podcast. So long.