{"id":8620,"date":"2019-02-04T11:48:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T16:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=8620"},"modified":"2019-02-08T16:16:02","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T21:16:02","slug":"school-counselor-helps-student-realize-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/school-counselor-helps-student-realize-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"School counselor helps student realize potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

Randy Lawrence\u2019s office walls are covered with pictures of the many students who he has advised over the past 27 years. Although he is officially a school counselor at Bayside High School, Lawrence said he doesn\u2019t think of it as work.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, this has been fun,\u201d said Lawrence. \u201cEvery day is different with new challenges and ways that I need to help students. I love it. My first day on the job I felt like I died and went to heaven. I knew this is where I was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"alt=""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Students at Tallwood and Bayside high schools who have sought his direction over the years validate that he\u2019s very good at what he does.<\/p>\n

Just ask Stephanie Filio who doubts she would have walked across the graduation stage without Lawrence\u2019s help.\u00a0Now, she is a school counselor herself.<\/p>\n

The fall of her senior year at Tallwood High School, Filio found out that she was pregnant. She contemplated not participating in her commencement ceremony and mentioned her concerns to Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to him saying, Mr. Lawrence, what if they judge me?\u201d adds Filio. \u201cHe told me, \u2018You\u2019re going to let them. You are going to let them call your name, walk across the stage and you\u2019ll let them think those things. Then, they will hear the presenter say \u2018with honors\u2019 and all the other awards you pushed and worked so hard for and you\u2019ll show them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Filio remembers this moment as a turning point in her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always been a little bit rebellious and he, in that moment, let me own my rebellious side and turn it,\u201d she said. \u201cI can take all those stereotypes of a teen mom and show people that my daughter and I can be successful. He gave me permission to be proud of myself, my daughter and what I have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witnessing the positive effect a school counselor can be in a child\u2019s life, Filio decided to become one herself.<\/p>\n

\"alt=""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLike Mr. Lawrence did with me, I want to be in these kids\u2019 lives to say \u2018It\u2019s OK. Whatever mistake you made, it\u2019s OK, you can turn this around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawrence was there for Filio after she earned her graduate degree in school counseling. She then accepted her first job as a school counselor with him at Bayside High School. Now, six years later, Filio still admires Lawrence for his candor and work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s made such an impact on how I work with students and how I advise them,\u201d said Filio. \u201cHe was always so supportive. No matter what anyone wanted to accomplish he never told them no. He gave them a path to follow and helped guide them to their goal, which is what I try to replicate every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

After her first year of counseling, Filio was transferred to another school. On her last day at Bayside High, Lawrence gifted her a spider plant, which she has tended for the past five years. But recently, she decided it was time to return a piece of Lawrence back to Tallwood High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s closing the circle,\u201d said Filio. \u201cI graduated from Tallwood and this year my daughter, who I was pregnant with when I graduated, is a senior herself and will also be graduating from Tallwood. It\u2019s the place that I met Mr. Lawrence, and I felt like a piece of him should always remain there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plant now lives in the school store with a sign that reads, \u201cMy name is Mr. Lawrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"alt=""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Lawrence was a huge part of how I reframed my life in a time when most people told me to give up,\u201d said Filio. \u201cHe deserves to be recognized for what he does. All counselors should be recognized for what they do because they help kids every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawrence said school counselors are meant to serve students. \u201cCounselors care and are here to help you on your way. I\u2019m here to serve. To make sure we are meeting students\u2019 needs so they can accomplish what they want. We are not here to judge. We are here to accept you as you are and help you with your next step. Counselors care.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Randy Lawrence\u2019s office walls are covered with pictures of the many students who he has advised over the past 27 years. Although he is officially a school counselor at Bayside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[202,127],"class_list":["post-8620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bayside-high-school","tag-tallwood-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8620"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8624,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620\/revisions\/8624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}