You Know! The One about the Sister's Internship!

                     Guidance Counselor Internship

                    In conjunction with Southern Utah University Community Engagement Center and the Psychology Department I was able to complete a 150 hour internship in Elementary School Guidance Counseling. This project was also used to fill the university’s new EDGE Program requirements. This program allows students to complete a service or career project with one of the five engagement centers on campus before graduation.

                      I chose to complete an internship to fulfill this requirement and it turned out to be a life altering experience for me. I have always been interested in children and adolescents and have had multiple service and employment opportunities to work with this age group. In the past two years I have been interested in how my educational choice of psychology ties in with this population. I discovered school counseling and new this is what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I was fascinated how elementary school counseling combined behavior modification, life skill coaching, group counseling and classroom instruction together.

                      I was paired with Mrs. DeAnn Graff a local Elementary School Guidance Counselor at Enoch and Parowan Elementary to complete my internship. Mrs. Graff is not only the most passionate and intelligent counselor I have ever met she is also versatile and compassionate. I couldn’t have imagined working with anyone more driven and incredible in the field. Mrs. Graff is able to reach students on multiple levels and has many different counseling techniques. Mrs. Graff is one of the most driven women I have ever met, she makes every minute of her day valuable by fitting in groups, classroom lessons and one on one time with students into every second of her day.

                      During my internship I was able to teach life skills to classrooms full of students as well as creating my own lesson plan for courage. I was able to design and present this lesson to students at both Enoch and Parowan Elementary. Mrs. Graff also allowed me to observe and facilitate her groups. Mrs. Graff has small groups that help students deal with issues such as parental divorce and grief counseling as well as teaching life skills in her study skills and impulse control groups. I also had the opportunity to assist with fundraising efforts for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and felt story boards for the Women’s Crisis Center.

                      Mrs. Graff has a strong passion for bully prevention. I was able to assist her by teaching bully prevention lessons to the sixth graders as well as connecting and hanging students’ bully prevention pledges. Every day at my internship I was doing new things and being challenged in different ways.

                      I couldn’t have picked a more meaningful way to complete the Edge Project than with my internship. I can’t wait to be an Elementary School Guidance Counselor and hope I can mimic the passion and determination Mrs. Graff exemplifies. I would like to thank the Community Engagement Center along with Enoch and Parowan Elementary and of course Mrs. DeAnn Graff for this incredible opportunity.