Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 39, 196, 278.
- [S47] Sevier County, Tennessee and its Heritage, Sevier County Heritage Book Committee, (1994, Don Mills, Inc.), 306.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 11 Feb 2007.
Opening Doors
By: GAIL CRUTCHFIELD
Community News Editor
February 11, 2007
School counselor works to improve future of students
SEVIERVILLE - "You have to be an edutainer," said Joy Parton of her work as a counselor at Sevierville Middle School.
Teachers and counselors are competing with video games, short attention spans and any number of other distractions to reach students. And the work has changed so that counselors aren't just getting the students ready for college and careers as they near graduation, but to help younger students begin planning early for their future.
Parton earned a masters degree in guidance and counseling. She spent her first 10 years as an educator teaching English and language arts before a counseling job became available five years ago and she applied for the position.
Education wasn't Parton's first career choice, however.
"My career plan originally was to be a photojournalist," she said. She wanted to study people and work with Life Magazine, McCall's and National Geographic.
Then Parton married her husband Merle, who is now semi-retired as a teacher and basketball coach.
"What I really wanted to be was a mother," she said, adding her dream of working at Life and National Geographic changed, but her wish to study people remained. She found her way to counseling while choosing her college electives.
Her education, however, was put on hold while her husband finished his.
"We couldn't afford for both of us to go to college," Parton said. "I got my PHT, putting husband through," she joked.
When she started college again, she became pregnant and decided she couldn't do both, so took some time off to raise her family.
When her daughter Jennifer was in the seventh grade, Parton returned to college in her late 30s to complete her degree.
Parton said it was easier to go to college as an adult than when she was younger. It took organization and a lot of support and teamwork from her family, she said.
She's currently working on her doctorate for which she'll write a dissertation on whether children of multiple births should be schooled together or separately. Parton is a triplet.
"Now I know whey they call it a terminal degree," she said. "It's about to kill me."
Years ago, counselors were mainly found in high schools, helping students plan their college educations.
Now, Parton spends a portion of her time in the classroom, helping seventh- and eighth-graders make plans for high school that will help them prepare for life.
Part of that job is assessing the child's interest and skills and matching those with their values to help point them toward a career path. That may not always mean college.
"Going to college is not for everybody," Parton admits.
Finding a career that will make the person happy as they work 86,000 hours over the next 55 years is more important.
As a counselor, it's Parton's goal to help each child find their path for academic, career and personal development. Most of that deals with making the right choices, she said.
"I have to let each of them know it's not how smart you are but how you're smart," she said.
Helping each child find their passion is her goal, she said.
"I'm fortunate," she said. "I came to a job that I really enjoy."
Sure, it's a lot of hours, work and worry, she said, but she enjoys getting to know the children and having at least some small part in hopefully improving their lives. After all, that's the goal of every school counselor.
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