The New Jersey School counselors Association recognized OVMS counselor Dan Jedwabny as “Counselor of the County.”
By Krista Cerminaro
Orchard Valley Middle School counselor Dan Jedwabny says he wears many hats as a school counselor.
“When you’re a school counselor, your primary goal is that you advocate for those kids,” Jedwabny said. “In some cases, you’re asked to be the voice of the kids, and in other cases, you’re asked to be the ears for them — and the ears for their parents. You kind of wear a lot of different hats.”
Jedwabny, who’s worked in the Washington Township School District for 17 years, has just added another — the New Jersey School Counselors Association has recently recognized the sixth-grade counselor, and former 10-year art teacher at OVMS, as “Counselor of the County.”
“I’ve always been interested in helping other people, and particularly helping the kids here as I started to work here and got to know them,” Jedwabny said. “When a kid knows that you care about them, they’re going to respond to you differently. So, I try and get to know our students a little bit, as a person.”
The concept of becoming a school counselor had sparked Jedwabny’s interest ever since pursuing a degree in art education.
“I actually thought about changing majors at the time, but decided to student teach — and when I student taught, it was everything I thought it would be in terms of being an art teacher. It was a great experience,” Jedwabny said. “A couple of years into being an art teacher, I went back to school to pursue a master’s degree for school counseling.”
Jedwabny said his main goal is to do whatever it takes in working with teachers, students and their families in helping each individual take full advantage of the opportunities offered within the district.
“I think our district values this position, through training opportunities and opportunities to work together with your peers,” Jedwabny said. “I’ve had a lot of really good experience working with great kids and great families.”
“In our school, in particular, we have a great department — I think the families at Orchard Valley, and the students who come here, can have complete confidence that the counseling team we have at our school is fantastic,” Jedwabny continued. “We’re a nurturing, caring group of people who are knowledgeable and work well together, with staff and kids.”
Other goals of Jedwabny’s include helping students connect what they want to do as they get older to what they’re doing now. Jedwabny reinforces that way of thinking with his students by getting them to think about their future, and working backward to build a framework of goals that help get them there. At the same time, Jedwabny is helping them with their day-to-day needs as well.
“I think it’s really valuable to constantly be switching gears between short-term, mid-range and long-term goals for that kid that you’re working with, and trying to get them to think the same way. It’s kind of harder with a kid this age to get them to realistically think 10 years from now, because it’s such an abstract concept,” Jedwabny said. “One of the things that we do here, that I think is so valuable for kids this age, is lessons on career exploration.”
Jedwabny said this allows students to learn more about career opportunities they might not already know about, and also use resources to help them become more aware of who they are, and what careers might be a good fit based on what they like to do, and what they’re interested in.
According to Jedwabny, the program at OVMS is a mix of working with individual students, small groups and classroom lessons. In addition to career exploration, students are learning about topics such as time management, coping skills and how to manage stressors.
“I try to adapt as much as I can to meet individual student needs,” Jedwabny said.
Jedwabny also deemed it important to get students to think from a different perspective.
“I do everything I can to expand a student’s awareness of whatever it is that we’re talking about. If we’re talking about some peer conflict or problems they’re having with someone, or problems they’re having in their lives, I try to stretch out their understanding of the whole situation with ‘what if’ questions,” Jedwabny explained. “There’s a lot of times, for kids this old, it is so much about their own perspective. To present to them, ‘if you were that other person, what would you think?’ can really help open up their mind.”
Jedwabny also advises flag football and indoor soccer, and co-advises the eighth-grade class — three more hats to add to his wardrobe.
