Trace Crossings counselor honored for exemplary performance

The counselor and counseling program at Trace Crossings Elementary School have received multiple recognitions for exemplary performance this school year.

Counselor Terri Coleman this past fall was named the Alabama Elementary School Counselor of the year by the Alabama School Counseling Association, and her counseling program was named a “program of distinction” for implementing a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program.

Now, this coming July, Coleman and Trace Crossings will be recognized as having a “model program” by the American School Counselor Association at its annual gala in Las Vegas.

School counselors have to submit evidence of the impact their program has on the support of student achievement, connection to the mission and goals of the school, use of data to drive decisions, and collaboration with stakeholders (parents, students, administrators, and community members) to receive input and evaluate their school counseling program’s effectiveness.

The “model program” applications are reviewed once a year by a panel of school counseling professionals, and Trace Crossings now will hold that designation for five years.

Coleman has been a school counselor for 12 years and is finishing her fifth year at Trace Crossings. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a master’s degree and educational specialist degree in school counseling from the University of West Alabama.

She lives in Hoover and is married with three children.