Category: AGRICULTURE

         EDUCATION OFFICER & SENIOR EDUCATION OFFICER GUIDANCE & COUNSELING UNIT       Professional Summary     I joined the Ministry of Education in 1982 and was posted at the R.M.Bailey Senior High School where I remained for seventeen and a half wonderful years.  I served as Head of the Guidance Department from 1991 to 1999 until my redeployment to Special Services Section to oversee the Guidance & Counseling Unit upon the retirement of the former officer.  I enjoyed my experience at R.M.Baily and have had the pleasure of working with and assisting students even after my departure from the school, I am still counseling many of them and their children today.     I have had the opportunity of supervising the Guidance & Counseling Unit over the past sixteen years and watched it grow from forty- two (42) counselors in 1999 to one hundred and thirty two (132) in 2015, posted in ninety-four schools on fourteen islands and cays throughout the country.  During my leadership, we collaborated with the College of The Bahamas and Kent State University and established a Master's of Education Degree Program in School Counseling from 2001 to 2011.  Eighty- nine (89) persons obtained the Masters Degree, and the unit has the largest amount of employees with this Degree in the Ministry of Education.   I realized in order for the unit to move forward, ongoing training was a requirement for all officers, which kept them informed about the latest techniques and strengthened areas of concern.   We also established a crisis team that assists with grief and disaster counseling.    The needs of students were being met but those of the employees were not and after visiting the school district in Dallas Texas, I learned about the Employee Assistance Program, and implemented it at the Ministry of Education on a smaller scale.  This proved to be very successful but  the need for expansion was necessary. Upon the retirement of Mrs. Pansy Hamilton Brown, Iris Strachan, and Clevette Gibson took the  reins and took EAP to the next level.  The demands on the officers made me realize that the service needed to be made available to all government employees and the idea to expand the service was decided.   I enjoyed my role as Senior Education Officer and if given the opportunity would like to be a part of taking EAP to the next level.            Core Qualifications          Experienced in individual and group counseling   Sound knowledge of Erik Erikson developmental stages from birth to death   outstanding planning and organizational skills   Exceptional communication skills and outstanding leadership qualities   Flexible, enthusiastic and enjoys working with people   Solution focus      Unique knack in identifying and improving counselors and clients potential   Skilled in MS Office and researching on the Internet   effective listener and Critical thinker skills  Outstanding interpersonal and rapport building skills .  Skilled in collecting and compiling information through interaction with colleagues, parents and students                    Experience         10/2007   to   Current       Co-chair person of the Annual Careers Month & National Careers Fair  The purpose of the activities during the month of October is to launch career information to all students in the school system, which continues throughout the school year.       Adjunct Lecturer 2002 to 2012    Kent State University & The College of the Bahamas for the Masters degree in School Counselling, Nassau Campus     Employee Assistance Program Coordinator     In 2003,after visiting the school system in Dallas Texas and learning about their Employee Assistance Program, I designed and implemented a portion of the program that addressed the counseling needs of employees at the Ministry of Education.  The program is a voluntary or referral ‘work-based program that offers free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services to employees who have personal and/or work-related problems'.  The program has assisted an estimated two thousand five hundred employees over the last twelve years.      National L.E.A.D Institute Bahamas  Delegation site visit to North Carolina where visited correctional Facilities and review programs to address the needs of students and family members. These concerns were address and suggestions recommended on how to best assist our students.            Education Officer & Senior Education Officer Guidance & Counseling Unit   08/1999   to   03/2015     Company Name     Supervise Guidance Counselors in the Government School system. The Guidance Counseling Unit continues the effort to assist counselors across the Bahamas, to develop well-balanced and comprehensive programs in order to meet the academic, developmental/person and social needs of students.         School Counselor   03/1982   to   06/1999     Company Name            Office Clerk   01/1975   to   01/1977     Company Name            Education      Masters of Science  :    Guidance Counseling   1985       Long Island University   City  ,   State  ,   US               Bachelors  :   Psychology   1980       Bethune Cookman College   City  ,   State  ,   US             High School Diploma     1975       St. Johns College            Professional Affiliations     Nassau Chapter of Links,   Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority- 1979 - Present  Bahamas Association of School Counselors - 2010 - Present  American School Counselors Association – 2000-Present  Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) – 2013-Present        Skills     Brief Counseling, Resistance and Prevention Program (RAPP) certified trainer, Group and Individual counseling.