A press release from the Iowa School Counselors Association (ISCA) regarding Sue Schirmer, Adjunct Instructor in the Counseling Department.
Sue Schirmer, Consultant at Heartland AEA, was awarded the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in School Counseling by the Iowa School Counselor Association (ISCA) at the annual ISCA conference held in Des Moines, Iowa on November 3-4, 2014. Ms. Schirmer has been a leader and advocate for school counselors in the state of Iowa; the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes that leadership and advocacy.
In her role as Professional Learning and Leadership Consultant, License Renewal Coordinator At Risk Programming Coordinator, and School Counseling Consultant for Heartland AEA, Ms. Schirmer has multiple responsibilities, however, it is clear that she not only always makes time for her counseling role, but that she has significantly impacted professional school counseling by providing professional development opportunities, teaching counseling classes, aligning curriculum with state standards, and serving on local and state task forces intended to support the counselor role in Iowa schools.
With a masters degree in Counseling and Human Resources from South Dakota State University, Ms. Schirmer started her counseling career at Colome School District in South Dakota as a K-12 School Counselor. She came to Iowa in 2001 as a counselor / educator at Indianola Learning Center and High School. In 2005, Ms. Schirmer began her work at Heartland AEA and also joined the Counseling Department at Drake University as an Adjunct Instructor.
Sarah Majoros, School Counselor/ 2014 Iowa Elementary School Co-Counselor of the year, stated: “When I think of Sue, three words come to mind – commitment, experience, and tenacity… She works tirelessly to provide support and education to Iowa’s School Counselors. Her level of commitment to furthering the profession is above and beyond any expectation.”
Ms. Schirmer has facilitated multiple professional development opportunities for counselors around the state; she serves as an Ad-Hoc member of the ISCA Board; together with counseling colleagues, she recently completed a counselor evaluation tool aligned with the ASCA model and the Iowa Teaching Standards; she designed and led a Mentoring/Leadership experience for young counseling professionals – to name a few of the many ways she has impacted the field of professional school counseling in Iowa. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have worked tirelessly to promote the profession and advocate for Iowa’s school counselors: Sue Schirmer has done exactly that.