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Three recent University of Georgia College of Education graduates were named top counselors during Gwinnett County School District’s National School Counselors Week last month.

The school district recognized the year’s best counselors in Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools, and Counseling Advocate and Counselor Writer at a ceremony at the Instructional Support Center in Suwanee on Feb. 10.

Appling

Brandee Appling (EdS’11) received the 2012 Gwinnett County Middle School Counselor of the Year award. Described by her colleagues at Bay Creek Middle School as a “counseling warrior,” Appling developed a middle school transition program to support rising students from the feeder elementary schools. As part of this program, peer leaders and 6^th grade team leaders from Bay Creek visit a few elementary schools and participate in a presentation to 5^th graders. In addition, the 5^th graders and their parents visit the middle school and learn about the supportive process available to assist them in creating a successful transition for their children. Appling received her education specialist’s degree in school counseling from UGA-Gwinnett. She was recently accepted into a doctoral program in UGA’s department of counseling and human development services.

Parker

Tinisha Parker (EdS ’07, BSEd ‘00), a counselor with Gwinnett County Online Campus was named 2012 Secondary Counselor of the Year.  Gwinnett County Online Campus became a diploma-granting high school when it opened to full-time students in 2011. With the innovative way of learning for students came challenges for new ways of thinking about counseling online students. Parker created a virtual counseling site, designed online tutorials identifying skills necessary to be successful in virtual coursework, created opportunities for online tutorials, and even created an avatar of herself for online students to ask questions and access information. She also has changed how she communicates with students, adding texting and email in addition to face-to-face sessions. Parker received her bachelor’s degree in social science education and her education specialist’s degree in guidance and counseling from UGA.

Johnson

Paul Johnson (PhD’11) received the 2012 Gwinnett County School District’s Mary Joe Hannaford Counseling Advocate of the Year award. Johnson is currently the assistant principal of Peachtree Ridge High School. Before becoming an administrator, he was a school counselor and taught French and mathematics. Over the years, he has aligned the school’s counseling program with the American School Counselor Association’s National Model, which illustrates the best comprehensive counseling program for all counselors. Johnson received his doctorate in counseling and student personnel services from UGA-Gwinnett.