Barnes Named School Counselor Of The Year
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Jonathan Barnes is pictured at last Thursday’s graduation.
WATER VALLEY – Water Valley High School counselor Jonathan Barnes has been named 2024 School Counselor of the Year by the Magnolia State School Counsel Association. The recognition comes as Barnes completes his seventh year at the school district where he has helped guide students during their junior high and high school years and beyond.
“It was big shock to me, my job is one that I can really say I enjoy coming to every day,” Barnes reported about the recognition. “I do it because I want to help the kids, whether it be social, emotional, academic or career, anything like that. For my peers to recognize me is rewarding.”
Water Valley High School Principal Drew Pitcock credited Barnes’ dedication to his students as a big part of the success Water Valley High School has earned in recent years. The high school, including seventh and eighth grades, earned a B-Rating for the 2021-2022 school year and again each following year. The B-Rating is the highest received by the school since the state changed to the A-F accountability model in 2014.
Pitcock served as the high school principal for nine years before taking the job as the superintendent last year.
“I could not have done it without him being right there by my side,” Pitcock explained. “He is great at planning things, that is just one small part of what he does great.”
The superintendent wrote a recommendation letter that accompanied Barnes’ nomination, describing him as the “ultimate counselor.”
“Planning out career paths for students, caring about their emotional well-being, planning their future and always being there when they need him,” Pitcock wrote.
Barnes believes in finding the best fit for students and has made it his passion to help them prepare for life after graduation.
“One of the goals, we wanted to make sure we increased applications into colleges and other programs.,” Barnes said. “A lot of kids would wait until the very end of the school year when we have testing, graduation and awards.”
He implemented application days in the fall, initially working with Northwest Mississippi Community College (NWCC) to provide students with an earlier opportunity to register.
“Each year, we have added to it. We always have Northwest come out, they do a presentation. Most kids are going to take a class there at some point in time,” Barnes explained.
Barnes has also coordinated financial aid workshops, allowing parents to work one-on-one with NWCC admission workers.
“They can complete their application for financial aid during the workshop,” Barnes said.
Barnes also said students are encouraged to pursue different career paths.
“We don’t push everyone to go to a four-year college. It is great, but not for everybody,” Barnes added. “If they are going to the work force, we celebrate that. If they are going to a skilled program, we also celebrate.”
Barnes also tries to make planning for the future fun. His first year at Water Valley, he launched a mock interview program to bring in business members from the community to interview students.
“Student participation has grown with this each year, and this past year the interviews were required for all seniors in the College and Career Readiness Class,” Barnes said. “It doesn’t affect their grades, but we wanted to give the students feedback to prepare them for a job interview of college interview.”
Another fun program he started is a reality fair.
“Instead of kids picking their careers, we run their GPAs to show the importance of keeping their grades high,” Barnes said.
During the reality fair, a student is assigned a job based on their GPA. A low GPA means a low salary. Students travel through several stations mimicking real-life scenarios including paydays or an unexpected bill.
“We want to motivate them to commit themselves to education,” Barnes said.
Ironically, for Barnes, his career choice didn’t come until his junior year at the University of Mississippi. Like a lot of his friends, he took the pre-med route at Ole Miss. Barnes shared that his chemistry class was a game-changer.
“Chemistry and going to too many ballgames did me in,” he recalled about the pre-med route.
Barnes changed his major to psychology and became interesting in working as a school counselor. After graduation, he landed his first job as a counselor in 2006. He worked at the Desoto County schools for several years before coming to Water Valley in 2017.
Barnes said his love of Ole Miss sports that helped derail his first career choice is what lured him back closer to the Oxford area after working in the Desoto County schools for several years.
“I was going to all the Ole Miss games. One day I looked and here was an opening at Water Valley. I interviewed and got the job and I love it. It is a lot like where I grew up in Walnut, a smaller town and you get to know the kids more than a larger school,” Barnes said.
Barnes may have initially taken the job to be closer to Ole Miss, but it is his love of the job, students and co-workers that kept him here and ultimately propelled him as a contender for the national award for counselor of the year that will be presented this fall.
“I will be surprised if he doesn’t win the national award,” Pitcock said. “He is definitely in the running for it. In my opinion, he is the best counselor I have ever seen.”
