The Huntsville City Schools Counseling and Guidance Program helps prepare students for success in academic, career, and personal/social development. Counseling and guidance is an integral part of each school's total education program.
Counseling Services Coordinator
Office: 256-428-9832
Location: Chapman Middle
Counseling Resources for Parents and Students
- Character Education
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Character education is an important part of developing the whole student. Teachers and other school personnel, parents, and members of the community come together to support positive character development. Our monthly character words serve as a foundation for schools to promote strong character and citizenship among our students.
Character Words for 2022-23
Month Character Word August
School Pride
September
Compassion
October
Respect for Others
November
Sportsmanship
December
Cheerfulness
January
Honesty
February
Creativity
March
Self-Control
April
Courtesy
May
Patriotism
- College & Career Readiness
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ETV Video Resources
- Disaster Distress Helpline
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Disaster Distress Helpline Offers Immediate Crisis Counseling
Call 1-800-985-5990 or text "TalkWithUs" to 66746.
The Disaster Distress Helpline is a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week national hotline dedicated to providing disaster crisis counseling. The toll-free Helpline is confidential and multilingual, and available for those who are experiencing psychological distress as a result of natural or man-made disasters, incidents of mass violence, or any other tragedy affecting America's communities.
- Anonymous Alerts
- Bullying
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For information on bullying, please visit the Bullying Prevention & Resolution page.
- Suicide Awareness & Prevention
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Common warning signs that someone may be thinking about suicide include:
- Changes in mood
- Giving away prized possessions
- Putting final affairs in order
- Withdrawing
- Changes in physical appearance
- Prior suicide attempts
- Alcohol or drug use
- High-risk behaviors
- Making statements with themes of hopelessness, helplessness, and fear of becoming a burden
- Making verbal suicide threats, such as “I want to die” or “I’m going to kill myself”
- Any other significant changes
Crisis Resources in North Alabama
Contact Info/Hours Information/About Crisis Services HELPline:
HELPline is a 24/7 free hotline that offers a trained worker and caring crisis cousnelor who can provide a listening earwhen tiems are rough. If you consider it a crisis, so do we.
Crisis Services TEXTline:
Stressed out? Our trained counselors are here to support you through whatever you're going through. Our texline is secure and confidential, so go ahead: vent it out! We are open everyday 4 PM - 11:30 PM 211 Resources Hotline:
Dial 2-1-1
211 is a 24/7 resource line where you can speak to a specialist for free. We can help you find resources in your area. Things such as basic human needs physical/mental health, employment support, utility/rent assistance, etc. SPEAK North Alabama app
SPEAK North Alabama is a suicide prevention and Education app designed to help users easily access and recognize the signs of suicide in friends and family and get them the help they need, fast. It's not a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment, but rather a "first line of defense" that offers people some solid information and useful tools that they can use to help someone they love make thorugh a difficult time.
Type SPEAK North Alabama in the app store or click this link: SPEAK Program APP
Free Local Support Groups at Crisis Services of North Alabama: Crisis Services of North Alabama offers a variety of free support groups: Domestic violence, Sexual assault, survivors of suicide loss (bereavement), domestic violence survivors who are LGBTQ
Call the HELPline at 256-716-1000 for information, when we meet, and how to join!
National Crisis Resources
Contact Info/Hours Information/About National Suicide Prevention Hotline:
Trained helpers at the Naitonal Suicide Prevention Lifeline are online right now 24/7. All conversations are confidential and free. National Crisis Textline:
741-741
Crisis Text Line is free 24/7 support for those in crisis, connecting people in crisis to trained Crisis Counselors. Our first priority is helping people move from a hot moment to a cool calm, guiding you to create a plan to stay safe and healthy. YOU=our priority. National Crisis Chat
Crisischat.org
Lifelines Crisis Chat is a free 24/7 emotional support and crisis intervention service for people who are depressed, despairing or thinking about suicide. LGBTQ+ Resources
Contact Info/Hours Information/About TrevorTEXT
Text 678-678
TrevorText is a confidential and secure resource that provides live help for LGBTQ youth with a trained specialist, over text messages.
Available 7 Days A Week, (Noon - 1 am ET/ 9am-10pm PT)
TrevorLifeline
Our trained counselors are here 24/7 to support you. If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement -free place to talk, call. Trans Lifeline
We also have a website!
Trans Lifeline is a national trans-led organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to the critical need of our community. Need to talk? Call! Our peer support hotline is run by and for trans people.
We're availbalbe 7am-1am PST/ 9am-3am CST/ 10am-4am EST.
Volunteers may be available during off hours.
Planning for Your Future
- ACT/SAT
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Parents and Students,
If you participate in the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch program, PLEASE see your school counselor. You may be eligible for fee waivers to help pay for ACT, SAT, NCAA and college application fees.
ALL scholarships will be posted in Naviance and updated throughout the year. If you need login information, please see your school counselor. Check out the 2015-2016 Huntsville City Schools College and Career Guide listed under "Downloads."
- Career Information
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It's never too early to start thinking about your career! Do you want to be an engineer, a fire fighter, or an English teacher? There's something for everyone! We encourage you to start thinking now about the things you enjoy doing and the things you're passionate about. Use the links below to guide you as you explore different options for the future.
- Alabama Career Planning System (Kuder) - Find education and career exploration activities as well as college financial aid information. List of Alabama's Hot 40 Demand Occupations. Log in to the Kuder program (ask your Guidance Counselor for login information). Find careers that fit with your interests, skills, and values through interactive inventories and quizzes.
- CareerOneStop - A great place to compare occupations, salaries, and job outlook. Take advantage of the Tools and Resources such as the Skills Profiler, Ability Profiler, Interest Profiler, Work Importance Locator, and Employability Checkup.
- College Board Resources - Search college majors and career profiles. Search and compare colleges. Search your major to find colleges that offer it.
- Salary Comparison - Search careers by category and zip code to find job descriptions and base salaries based on location.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook - Search hundreds of jobs to learn about training and education needed, earnings, expected job prospects, job tasks, and working conditions.
- College Information
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Higher education in whatever form - community college, university, technical school - is the opportunity of a lifetime. Being academically prepared will help students make the most of that opportunity.
As Huntsville City Schools works to prepare students for higher education, we're also taking proactive steps to increase our students' knowledge about various careers, especially those in our community! We feel students and parents need the information, skills and tools to make informed decisions regarding post-secondary educational options and careers.
Our goal is to bring college and career awareness to the forefront with a variety of activities and resources for students and parents.
Visiting colleges is a very important part of the process of finding the right college for each student. Students/parents may always contact the college to set up a tour on campus. Another great option is to attend a College Preview Day. These days are often held on the weekend and are designed for high school seniors and their families to attend and learn more about the college. The events often include a campus tour as well as informational sessions on topics like housing, financial aid, academics, and more! Check out the website at the college for more information or to find out if they will be hosting an Open House or Preview Day this fall or spring. **12th grade students are allowed two excused absences from school to visit colleges. See your School Counselor for details and a College Day approval form.
- Scholarship Information
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Huntsville City Schools is pleased to provide information from a variety of sources regarding scholarships.
For a list of local scholarship opportunities, please log in to Naviance at succeed.naviance.com. The information included in this list is provided to our School Counselors throughout the year from a variety of sources. Scholarships listed here are for graduating 12th grade students unless otherwise noted. We will update Naviance regularly, so please check back often!!
- Naviance
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Introduction
Naviance Family Connection is a tool that is freely provided to Huntsville City School students in grades 9-12, which serves as a comprehensive K-12 college and career readiness solution that helps districts and schools align student strengths and interests to post-secondary goals. With your Naviance Family Connection account, there are so many things you can do to prepare for your post-secondary plans! You can take career assessments, research careers, and colleges, search for local & national scholarships, request transcripts, prepare for the ACT using Naviance Test Prep, create resumes, set goals for your future, and much more! It is a useful tool for nearly everything college and career related. If you have questions regarding Naviance Family Connection, please see your counselor.
Getting Started
- To access Family Connection, you must complete the following steps:
- Visit the College & Career Readiness Technology Solution | Naviance website.
- Select “Students and Families.”
- Enter your zip code.
- Select your high school.
- Enter your username and password.
- Your username and password:
- Username: firstname.lastname (ex. chris.smith)
- Password: six-digit date of birth (ex. 062998)
Additional Resources
