In honor of National School Counseling Week, XAP and Bridges would like to recognize...

Lori Wilson
Bowman High School
Santa Clarita, CA

At Bowman High School in Santa Clarita, Calif., students graduate on different days during the year. For each student graduation, an individual ceremony is held -- the name of the graduate is announced over the PA system, and the song, Pomp and Circumstance, is played live on the kazoo.

Graduating from high school is a big deal at Bowman, because as a continuation school, many of its 500 at-risk students were not successful in traditional high schools.

A counselor at Bowman, Lori Wilson recalls being home sick one day when she received a call from one of her graduating students. The student held the phone to the PA speaker so Wilson could hear her name being called and her song being played.

"She and I had worked so closely together, she just didn't want me to miss out," says Wilson.

Despite the odds, Bowman has tremendous success rates. Last year, the school's graduation rate was 94 percent. Ninety-three percent of students went on to some form of post-secondary training.

"It's because we work so hard at it," explains Wilson. "We just have an expectation for students that they will go to college. We just tell them, 'You're going to college,' and we spend a lot of time working with them."

As one of two counselors at Bowman, Wilson considers herself a jack-of-all trades. She prepares students for college, provides career planning and academic counseling, and helps students with personal issues. Many of her students have experienced poverty, family issues, neglect, and in some cases drug and alcohol abuse, and gang involvement.

Bowman High School was recently chosen to be part of Roadtrip Nation, a public television series, which encourages young people to interview professionals in the community about their jobs. Wilson is serving as her school's Roadtrip Nation project manager.

As part of the project, all 500 students will work in teams to produce short films. But first students must examine what's important to them, and decide on their paths in life, so Wilson is working to integrate career exploration into the school curriculum. Later she'll help students edit their films.

"I'm going to have to learn how to edit," says Wilson with a laugh. "Another hat -- I'm going to be a film editor!"

It's a lot to manage, but Wilson loves her job. "It's a passion to me," she says. "I'm so lucky that I get to work here.... Continuation kids get under your skin, and you just love them. They give you as much as you give them.... I always said to my parents that the greatest gift they ever got me was the ability to love unconditionally, and I use that every day at work."

XAP and Bridges congratulate Lori Wilson for making a difference in the lives of her students!

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