Title: District School Counselor Coordinator and School Counselor
Company: Livingston Middle School
Location: Ripon, California, United States
Alma J. Lopez, District School Counselor Coordinator and School Counselor at Livingston Middle School, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements, and leadership in school counseling.
Since 2006, Ms. Lopez has been the district school counselor coordinator and a school counselor at Livingston Middle School in California. In this position, she provides direct service to students and follows the American School Counselor Association’s national model, which dictates they should spend 80% of their working hours in direct service to students. Once per week, Ms. Lopez works in the district office, overseeing and helping to support all counselors in her district.
Among the services offered by the school counselors under Ms. Lopez’s direction, in-classroom counseling instructional lessons make up a large part of the work. The second topic they handle is suicide awareness and prevention, using a curriculum named “Signs of Suicide” which has been in service for several years. Ms. Lopez teaches the acronym “ACT,” which stands for “Acknowledge a concern, Care about the Person, Tell an adult.” Among their efforts to provide resources to students and teachers, the school counselors under Ms. Lopez address topics including drug abuse awareness and prevention, diversity and bullying prevention.
In preparation for her career, Ms. Lopez attended California State University, Fresno, graduating in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She continued her education at the same institution, earning a master’s degree in counseling in 2003. Ms. Lopez has additionally completed CPR and first aid training, youth mental health training, and suicide intervention training.
For her career accomplishments, Ms. Lopez was named School Counselor of the Year in 2022 by the American School Counselor Association. In 2018, she earned a City of Livingston You Made Us Proud Award and was recognized with an American School Counselor Association Model Program award. She was likewise honored as the California School Counselor of the Year in 2021. In 2015, Ms. Lopez received a United State House of Representatives Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, and in 2014, she received an award from the Livingston School District.
To keep abreast of her field, Ms. Lopez has maintained affiliation with the California Association of School Counselors, the American School Counselor Association and the American Counseling Association. She is also a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Psi Chi National Psychology Honor Society, the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Delta Zeta National Sorority. In the coming years, Ms. Lopez hopes to continue serving as a voice for the school counseling profession.
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