GSCA Webinar Series - What You Didn't Learn in Grad School - Functionally Dysfunctional: Unifying School Counseling

Session Overview: Functionally Dysfunctional: Unifying School Counseling

Speakers: Dr. Chon Hester and Jameel Howard

Dr. Chon Hester currently serves as the Director of Counseling and Advisement in Henry County Schools and as a part time instructor at Georgia State University in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. She has a Doctorate and Specialist degrees in Educational Leadership, Masters Degree in School Counseling, and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. She was the 21-22 President of the Georgia School Counselor Association (GSCA). She serves on the Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University Advisory Councils, and the CSS/Financial Assistance Assembly Council (Collegeboard), and as a Board Member for the Clayton County Community Service Authority, Inc.

Moreover, she has a background working in day treatment services and psychiatric care for children and adolescents. She has a passion for developing leaders, advocating for the profession, serving school counselors, and providing intentional and meaningful professional development on various subjects such as Cultural Consciousness, Growth Mindset, Five Star Service, Effective Strategies in Engaging High School Students, New Counselor Development, and College Awareness. Moreover, she believes that students need emotionally healthy adults they can trust and have experiences that advance them to opportunities beyond high school.

Mr. Jameel Howard is extremely excited to join the Counseling the Matters (GSCA 2024 Annual Conference) as a Presenter along with Dr. Hester. Currently, Jameel serves as an Employee Relations Coordinator within the Atlanta Public School District in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Howard completed his training as a certified mediator through the Justice Center of Atlanta. Mr. Howard has been in education for the last seventeen (17) years. He served in school leadership for nine (9) years as an Assistant Principal at the high school level. As an Assistant Principal, he led the counseling department through redesigning, restructuring, and unifying the department.

Prior to accepting the role as an Assistant Principal, he served as a middle school Math and Science teacher. He worked in the Exceptional Student Education department as a department chair, working with students with disabilities and monitoring individualized education plans for federal and state compliance. He was honored and recognized as Teacher of the Year in 2011.

Mr. Howard is a native of the Atlanta metropolitan area and a product of the DeKalb County School System. He has worked as a contractor with the Georgia Department of Education as a data review consultant and with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) as a bias review team member for the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) Leadership Assessment. Mr. Howard is a transformational leader that strongly identifies with John C. Maxwell’s quote “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts, it is about one life influencing another.” In his role as Coordinator for Employee Relations, his focus is to positively influence the lives of the stakeholders of the community.

The link to join the virtual session will be sent with your registration confirmation e-mail.