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Monique Badal, who’s spent her entire school counseling career at Central Avenue Elementary in Kissimmee, has been nominated for the national LifeChanger Award by her peers. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Monique Badal, a school counselor at Central Avenue Elementary School, has been nominated for the 2022-2023 LifeChanger Award. Sponsored by the National Life Group Foundation.
The program honors K-12 public school educators and employees who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence, and leadership. Eighteen LifeChanger Awards are given nationally, with up to $10,000 to be shared with the school district.
Badal is in her fifth year at Central Avenue, which serves as many as 700 elementary students. It’s her first educational job, the UCF grad said, so she began working at Central Elementary just when many of the present fifth graders first began school.
“We kind of started here together. It’s been quite an experience watching myself grow as a school counselor and also watching our students grow,” Badal said. “It’s definitely been a learning experience not only for the students, but a learning experience for me.”
She said the traditional role of a guidance counselor has changed, and that a school counselor’s job is much expanded from that original role.
“I see it as all encompassing. We don’t just focus on career and college readiness, but also focus on the social and emotional piece, the life skills part, the support of our students.
“It’s a lot of relationship building with them. It’s a lot of teaching them how-to, not only interact with other students, but also to understand themselves in order to be able to interact with other students.”
The most common challenge for the students she said she works with is emotional regulation, especially over the past few years that brought the pandemic and the impersonalization of learning online. Now, two or three years after COVID-19, younger students are still learning how to socialize in person.
Other problems she deals with regularly are even more basic. Central Avenue Elementary has a high homeless population, and counselors often need to help provide clothing, school supplies and arrange for social worker services. Families in transition sometimes need help just getting the young kids physically to school.
“You can’t expect them to succeed in an educational environment if you are not hitting all their basic needs,” Badal said. “So that’s where we come in, making sure that as a counselor we are ensuring that all students, all their basic needs are being met, whether that be food, clothing, social/ emotional support, and support at home. We’re making sure those needs are being met, so that they can bloom in an educational environment.” It’s a lot to take on, but Badal clearly embraces the challenge.
“I’ve really enjoyed these five years. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve quite a ways to go, but it’s been a pretty awesome experience being here. I’m very honored and appreciative of being nominated for this award.”
Wallene Kingston, a Central Avenue Elementary teacher, nominated Badal, and wrote in the nomination packet, “She is an awesome asset to our school. Every single time that I called or sent an email, she will be right on it. The rapport that she builds with the students is phenomenal. I nominated her because she is a value to Central Avenue Elementary, and I believe that she should be recognized for what she does here.”
