High School Counselors Conference 2008

Rob Peters, D V C counselor, addressing local High School counselors

On the odd-day out of Friday, February 29, DVC's Counseling Department hosted the 19th annual "High School Counselors Conference" in the Student Union Conference Room. Some 35 staff and faculty members participated in providing a day's worth of information, partnerships and updates to 62 High School participants from our feeder schools. Feedback surveys are collected each year, and acted upon to focus on participants' concerns. Annual attendance has continued its upward climb, increasing over 20 percent from last year's numbers.

In addition to the traditional panels of speakers, information tables and introductions, a demonstration in navigating the DVC web-site was presented by Tonia Teresh, the new DVC Outreach Coordinator. Just prior to lunch at the Norsemen, participants took a tour of the Sports Medicine program with Mike Chisar and visited the Inquirer newspaper office to learn of the English Department's many offerings with Marcia Goodman and Jean Dickenson.

Counselor Rob Peters has been the Coordinator of the Counseling Department event over the past several years. He credits a number of elements at the planning and organization levels for their continued success. These include outstanding staff and faculty support, a structure and format that delivers what it pledges, great food and cross-campus interest, and content that engages the participants. "We encourage good food and audience engagement, punctuality is promoted, the content and speakers are diverse, and we're not afraid to laugh at ourselves. Just as in a classroom, education can be enlightening and entertaining, not just terminally dry. Folks from the high schools really respond to that essential foundation."