Today our guest is Kelly Mountjoy, Professional School Counselor at Parkhill Junior High in Richardson ISD in TX. And Kelly is also the 2023 Lone Star School Counselor of the Year. We talk to Kelly about a collaborative system they have implemented to identify and support underrepresented student populations to take advanced level classes. Kelly explains the heart behind the program, some of the roadblocks that students were experiencing, and how they help to support students to overcome these roadblocks. She shares how this has impacted student confidence, and the culture across the district. Kelly also talks about how the program has increased advance class sign ups overall and advanced science class participation by 1800%.

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Kelly Mountjoy is a school counselor at Parkhill Junior High in Richardson ISD. She has 20 years of experience in education, 10 of which have been spent as a school counselor. Inspired by her high school math teacher, Kelly attended Texas A&M University where she received her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Mathematics. Kelly began her teaching career at Parkhill Junior High as a mathematics teacher/coach and then taught mathematics at Berkner High School where she was also a softball coach and Bell Guard sponsor. In 2011, Kelly was awarded the Innovations in STEM Teaching Award from Texas Instruments Foundation.  Passionate about helping students academically, socially and emotionally, Kelly attended Lamar University and received her master's degree in School Counseling. Kelly returned to Parkhill Junior High where she has been a school counselor to 7th and 8th grade students for the past 10 years. She was named the Secondary School Counselor of the Year for Richardson ISD in 2022 and Texas School Counselor of the Year in 2023. Kelly attended Kindergarten through high school in Richardson ISD schools. She has been married to her husband, Bart, for 11 years and they have four children together, Sloane (7), Reese (5), Bear (3), and Sawyer (1).