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Show School TN and jtfVj Home cp i by Dr. Daryl J. McCarty Executive Secretary Utah Education Association 4f w It's high time that more parents and teenaged students stu-dents remember the educator without a classroom. Before we talk about this educator, though, let's discuss an important statistic. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, after surveying 100,000 students, reports taht 44 percent of American 17-year-olds want professional careers-jobs that require college degrees. By itself, that statement shouldn't raise many eyebrows. eye-brows. But consider this: According Accord-ing to the U.S. Department of Labor, 89 percent of all jobs require less than a four-year college degree. What this means is that many youngsters want jobs that probably won't be there when or if they receive college degrees." It points to the fact that a lot of students may not be using a key resource in their young lives-the educator ' without a classroom. This is the school conselor. Most Utah high schools and junior high schools have counselors. coun-selors. A few elementary schools offer counseling service ser-vice to students. One of the primary tasks of the school counselor is to help students to plan their careers. Counselors can do this by giving students aptitude tests; discussing ways students stu-dents can ready themselves to enter a career field; providing information on universities and technical colleges; and helping students obtain schol- i arships. 1 Problem is, many students I aren't taking advantage of this help from counselors. The same survey mentioned ear- lier showed that less than half f of the 17-year-old students i had taken an aptitude test and ; only 16 percent had discussed the results with a school counselor. Many persons don't under- I stand the services a school I counselor offers, perhaps be- 5 cause these educators are a relatively new branch of the t education profession. I They can and will help your ! teenager make some crucial decisions. |