Three Honored by State Counselors’ Association

Three MCPS staff members were recognized by the Maryland School Counselor Association (MSCA) last month.

• Beth Thomas, currently acting principal at Maryvale Elementary School, was recognized as Administrator of the Year for her work while she was principal at Quince Orchard High School.
• Theresa Dethlefsen, coordinator for school counseling services, was named Dr. Vivian Lee School Counselor Advocate of the Year.
• Jessica Naylon, school counselor at Greencastle Elementary School, was honored as Emerging Counselor of the Year.

Beth Thomas

As former principal at Quince Orchard, a job she retired from on Jan. 1, Thomas was instrumental in empowering and enriching the school counseling program in several ways. Among them, she:

• Encouraged the team to implement initiatives that promoted access and equity for all.
• Ensured counselors had the resources, time and technology to serve students.
• Built a caring school culture that prioritized relationships, supported a sense of belonging for students and staff and focused on mental health.
• Dedicated time for the Student Well-Being Team to meet weekly to discuss individual students, collaborate on supports and document multi-tiered levels of support.
• Supported the counseling team as they created a yearlong calendar focused on social-emotional well-being, student lessons, and outreach to parents and caregivers.
• Created a work-based learning team to advertise internships and apprenticeships while providing support for students to earn credits.
• Developed an attendance review process with actionable steps to engage students in their learning.
• Reviewed policies and procedures, such as the 504 process, and advocated for adjustments to expectations placed on counselors to allow for a stronger focus on direct student support.
• Created a dedicated counseling position to focus solely on enrollment, support and advocacy for Emergent Multilingual Learners (EMLs).
• Collaborated with county and city partners, such as Identity, Street Outreach Network and EmpowHER, to create impactful student groups.

Theresa Dethlefsen

The Dr. Vivian Lee School Counselor Advocate of the Year Award recognizes a person or organization whose advocacy of school counseling has had a positive effect on school counseling, made a significant contribution to the improvement in counseling services in schools and contributed to the implementation of new or the improvement of existing programs in Maryland.

A coordinator in School Counseling Services, Dethlefsen has implemented systems that streamline responsibilities and eliminate inefficiencies, enabling counselors to focus on their primary mission: supporting students academically, socially and emotionally. She has worked to secure funding for National Board Certified counselors at the county and state levels. Unlike other counties, MCPS does not provide the $10,000 NBCT incentive. This year, Dethlefsen also provided comprehensive training on Lauryn’s Law, focusing on mental health awareness and crisis intervention, as well as support for EMLs, and strategies to enhance college and career readiness. She has been an advocate for the removal of 504 plans on counselor caseloads.

These efforts have helped enhance the professional experience for school counselors and outcomes for students and staff. She has established Professional Learning Community time for resource counselors to collaborate on developing effective practices, which are implemented across schools to maximize impact. She has also prioritized access for underrepresented students through innovative programs, such as three on-the-spot admissions events for African American, Hispanic, EML, FARMS and first-generation students who might not otherwise apply to college.

Jessica Naylon

Naylon, named this year’s MSCA Emerging School Counselor of the Year, is a school counselor at Greencastle Elementary School in Silver Spring.

Naylon has built a program that empowers students and addresses their needs through collaboration, consultation and targeted interventions. With more than 300 students on her caseload, her work centers on connections that inspire resilience and positive change. One of her first initiatives was a data-driven system that tracked student visits, interventions and outcomes. This revealed achievement gaps and guided interventions, such as small groups focused on anxiety, social skills and friendship, and the Golden Guard program, which helped at-risk fourth grade boys develop leadership skills and reduced office referrals by 50 percent.

She organized a field trip to Thomas Edison High School of Technology to expose students to career opportunities. She also spearheaded Greencastle’s largest Career Day, partnering with the PTA to bring in more than 30 role models.

Naylon is an active member of the Core Team at Greencastle, and co-leads the Student Well-Being Team. She leads cluster meetings for counselors to share ideas, struggles and successes, and social committee efforts to celebrate and recognize staff.