By Sanjana Jain, Staff Writer
In accordance with HB1372, Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – Revisions, the Howard County Public School System established the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Counselor position in all 13 high schools, starting in the 2023-24 school year. River Hill has been joined by Mrs. Pauline Baek, a former guidance counselor at Marriotts Ridge High School.
The primary purpose of a CCR advisor is to ensure that all students have equal access to resources and information regarding potential future paths, whether that be in the form of professional or educational opportunities. “Inevitably, students get the question: ‘What are you doing after graduation?’ and I think a lot of students…feel like the default answer should be college,” said Mrs. Baek.
This new initiative recognizes that enrolling in college directly after high school may not be every student’s plan. “Our focus is more on career rather than college because, again, it’s not a one size fits all. As a community, we’re naturally defaulted to college as the end goal and we kind of bypass other options that may be very meaningful,” explained Mrs. Baek.
But now, after individualized CCR advising, the hope is that students are more self-aware when planning their future. Mrs. Baek elaborated that students will be equipped with tools that will help them to “actually know how to figure out who [they are], what [their] interests are, where [their] skills lay, and then align them to careers that have meaningful pathways going forward.”
The thirteen CCR advisors across HCPSS have all been a part of the school system for several years prior to starting in this new position. Mrs. Baek explained that while she is “coming from a counseling background, not all of [the CCR counselors] are.” This diversity in background is reflected in the assortment of previous roles that advisors held: the classroom, as teachers or liaisons; administrators, former principals and assistant principals; Pupil Personnel Workers (PPW); and former sports coaches.
Each College and Career Readiness advisor is going to provide information based on their school’s individualized needs, but, to ensure that this diversity of experience is being shared across all thirteen high schools, the CCR advisors “spend time every week collaborating as a team of thirteen,” said Mrs. Baek.
The bill that made this initiative possible – Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – was originally vetoed by former Governor Larry J. Hogan. He reasoned that it wasn’t feasible to inject such a large investment during the economic downturn that was brought around by the COVID-19 pandemic; the plan ultimately “increases annual education funding to over $3.8 billion in 10 years,” as stated on the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) website.
Alternatively, Governor Moore made passing the bill a priority during the 2021 regular legislative session and signed the bill into law on April 9th, 2021. “When we talk about what does it mean to have a 21st century education system for our children, it is an education system that we know our children deserve,” Governor Moore said in a statement recorded by WBALTV. Education is a prominent pillar of his campaign, and he demonstrated his commitment early on by passing this revolutionary education bill.
Governor Moore explained that the Blueprint is critical to propelling Maryland students forward by setting new expectations for higher levels of college and career readiness by 10th grade. This in-turn will ensure success regardless of the path students decide to take after high school.