Two Dripping Springs ISD schools earn counseling award

DRIPPING SPRING — Two Dripping Springs ISD campuses have been awarded the prestigious Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas (CREST) award by the Texas School Counselor Association (TSCA).

Rooster Springs Elementary and its counseling team of Kimberlee Guerrero and Michelle Gilpin earned the honor for the fourth consecutive year — the most of any DSISD school. Sycamore Springs Middle School and counselors LaDonna Caroselli and Sandy Zimmerman garnered the first CREST award for the campus.

CREST is a continuous improvement document that school counselors can use to demonstrate effective communication and a commitment to obtaining results, according to a district news release. CREST helps counselors to document their school counseling program’s role in supporting student success, highlight program successes for all stakeholders, strengthen the counseling program by aligning it with the campus improvement plan and more.

CREST looks at the counseling program in five categories:

• Introduction to the School and the Role of the Professional School Counselor

• Program Implementation Cycle

• Foundational Components

• Four Service Delivery Components

• Program Curriculum

Each counseling team prepares an online submission that highlights the five categories and communicates what the counseling program is doing to help students succeed. Each submission is evaluated and scored by members of the TSCA CREST evaluation team comprised of Texas school counselors.