CLINTON — Sumner Hill Junior High School counselor Heather Norton is Mississippi’s School Counselor of the Year.
She received the award in October during the Mississippi Association of School Administrators conference and awards luncheon. The award is given through the Mississippi Counseling Association.
Norton is the counselor for the Clinton School District’s ninth-grade school, and in this role she plans programs and activities including the annual Commitment to Graduate Ceremony, All Pro Dads, the Peer Guidance Committee, Coffee Talks for parents, and more.
“Heather is like the Energizer Bunny,” said CHS Career Complex counselor Lisa Lann. “She never stops. She is up and down the halls, calling parents, counseling students, assisting teacher and administrators. She is totally focused and devoted to serving students from the time she enters her school until the late hour that she leaves her school.”
MCA School Counselor of the Year is open to all school counselors across the state of Mississippi who are members of the Mississippi Counseling Association. Applicants from various school levels apply in September before a committee reviews the application packets and selects the one school counselor in the state to be named the MCA School Counselor of the Year.
The MCA School Counselor of the Year is a professional who has exemplified the positive impact school counselors can have on student growth and achievement through the delivery of a comprehensive school counseling program that focuses on academic development, social/ emotional development, and college and career readiness. This MCA SCOY then represents the state of Mississippi in the application process for the American School Counselor Association School Counselor of the Year competition.
“It is impossible to be around Heather and not be personally influenced to be a better counselor and provide the best services to students,” Lann said. “The individual attention she provides to more than 400 students is remarkable.”
Photo: Dr. Cory Uselton, superintendent of the DeSoto County School District and president of the Mississippi Association of School Administrators, presents the Mississippi School Counselor of the Year award to Sumner Hill Junior High School counselor Heather Norton.
-30-