Purdue Northwest School of Education and Counseling Receives $20,000 Lilly Endowment to Help ‘Bridge the Gap’

Purdue-Northwest-colorPurdue Northwest (PNW) School of Education and Counseling received a $20,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment Comprehensive Counseling Initiative intended for the school principal and counselor preparation programs.

The purpose of the funding is to help “bridge the gap” between the traditional roles of school counselors and those of the transformed school counselor. The Lilly Endowment promotes the expansion and enhancement of school counseling programs in Indiana so that counselors can utilize their knowledge and skills to promote the healthy academic and personal development of all the students with whom they work.

“Our society has changed dramatically in the past years,” said Clinical Associate Professor Bonnie Colon. “The traditional responsibilities of guidance counselors in schools included the scheduling of classes and coordinating of standardized tests. In today’s world, professional school counselors are trained to do so much more to assist students in being academically, socially and emotionally successful, and college and career ready.”

Enhancing collaboration to promote student success on Nov. 14 The first project to be underwritten with the Lilly endowment funds will be, “School Principals and Counselors Together: Enhancing Collaboration to Promote Student Success.” This is a workshop centered on creating collaborative working relationships and realigning expectations, roles and responsibilities. Organized by the PNW School of Education and Counseling, the event will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Purdue Northwest Hammond Campus.

Featured guest speaker for the evening will be Cynthia Mose-Trevino, principal at Calumet New Tech High School. Mose-Trevino has worked for the Lake Ridge New Tech Schools District for 16 years in various roles, including high school Counselor.

“We expect this is to be a great opportunity for the area counselors to come together to continue their education and make connections,” said Director of the School of Education and Counseling Anne Gregory.

School administrators and counselors will be able to receive PGP and CEU credits at no charge while attending the free event.

Area school administrators and counselors who would like to attend the event may reserve their seat at www.pnw.edu/enhancing-collaboration.

Purdue University Northwest Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is a student-centered university that values academic excellence, supports growth and celebrates diversity. Located in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago, PNW fosters a vibrant academic community through high quality and engaging undergraduate and graduate education. For more information about PNW, visit www.pnw.edu.