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KPBSD counselor wins school counselor of the year award

Courtesy of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

The 2018 school counselor of the year award went to a traveling counselor on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. The Alaska School Counselor Association honored Natali Jones last week.

“At the Alaska School Counselor conference, I found out that I had won," she said. "I was looking at the big screen and I see one my principals, Joshua Hinds, on there, and I instantly knew. So, I kind of got a quivering lip and started to cry, but joyful tears. It was really exciting.”

Jones has been working for the Kenai Peninsula School District for seven years. She works one day a week at Susan B. English, Nanwalek, Homer Flex, Nikolaevsk, Port Graham and then consults at Chapman Middle School. She’s also on the prevention committee for the Alaska School Counseling Association. The committee works on suicide prevention among other issues.

Jones said her work ranges from helping students create a post-secondary education plan to securing basic everyday items such as shoes. She said students opening up to her is a rewarding part of her job.

“I spend a lot of time with students who are hurting and for them to be able to share their truth and to allow me to be there with them and help them with next steps of navigating, that's a really wonderful thing as well, even though, you don't want anyone to be hurting,” she said.  “I think the success is all the students. I just support them.”

Jones’ award gives her the opportunity to apply for the national school counselor award. She could potentially go to Washington D.C. in January to represent Alaska counselors. But she said, that’s not what’s excites her the most.

“More important for me working with the families in the communities that I have that being able to help support in a way and keep developing that relationship,” she said. “So that's great to be forging those relationships with families and communities and students.”

Jones said counselor services are essential in the district, and she hopes there will be more financial recourses to hire more district counselors to improve the services they offer. But for now, she said she feels lucky to have the district’s counseling cohort as well as supportive communities and staff in her schools.  

Renee joined KBBI in 2017 as a general assignment reporter and host. Her work has appeared on such shows as Weekend Edition Saturday, The World, Marketplace and Studio 360. Renee previously interned as a reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles and as a producer for Stateside at Michigan Radio. Her work has earned her numerous press club awards. She holds an M.S. in journalism from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in women's studies from the University of Michigan.
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