Providing Access for All
Life-changing program supports students in Valley City By Tom Gerhardt, NDU Communications
Valley City Public Schools started its “Access for All” program in the fall of 2016. It started small — with a limited number of students leaving school to see a counselor. There was a 4-6 week waiting list. That changed last spring at a meeting following a student’s death by suicide. “At that meeting, we all, with tears in our eyes, sat and said, we cannot wait any longer. We can’t just swim in the shallow end and just say it’s going to go away. And so, we all just jumped in and 12
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ND United Voices
said that was the moment where we all decided we need to have a counselor here and we need to like be proactive with it and help the kids that need the help right now.” Nicole Powers is a veteran kindergarten teacher and president of the school’s education foundation that made the decision to raise money to provide expanded counseling services within the school. “Now we are we are able to meet the needs of the students,” Powers said. Talia Germann is one of those students.
