10 Reasons Why We Love Working in a High School
Often times, people cringe when we say we are SLPs in a high school. We are here to tell you that high school is actually one of the best experiences you can have as an SLP. Here are our top 10 reasons why we love it!
Reason #1: You can get real with your students.
Gone are the days of sugarcoating your activities to make them appealing. Telling high schoolers what they’re working on, why they’re working on it, and how it can help them is crucial to speech and language success in high schools. High schoolers are old enough to take ownership over their speech and language goals. In fact, we always review their goals at the beginning of the year so they know exactly what they are going to be working on. This allows them to understand how speech and language can help them in their classes. The more they understand – the more they show up!
Reason #2: They’re actually quite funny!
There is not a day that goes by where we don’t get to joke around with our students. At this age, most of them understand sarcasm and humor, which is ideal if you’re a super snarky SLP 🙂 There is really never a dull moment in our speech and language room.
Reason #3: You’re always up on the new slang and trends.
Words like “tight,” “woke,” and “cringy” hold new meanings when you’re in a high school. Apparently when a student tell you their relationship “went left,” this means “the relationship didn’t work out.” These can totally come in useful one day!
Reason #4: You benefit from their fundraising efforts.
High schoolers are ALWAYS fundraising for a club, sports team, or activity. Having a bad day and need chocolate? There’s a student selling jumbo Reeses and Snickers bars. Need a quick salty treat? A student is almost always selling salty pretzels and chips. Need a last minute Mother’s Day gift? Head over to the Gardening Club’s plant sale and grab a quick present for mom! So convenient!
Reason #5: They’re independent, but still need you.
These days, our students are responsible for so much. Many travel to and from school using public transportation. They’re responsible for handing in homework and projects, completing quizzes online, and remembering their testing schedules. For the students who are not so organized (i.e. many of our students), why not spend a session working on executive function skills? For the students who say they never learned how to study in middle school (spoiler alert: most of them), why not spend some time working on study skills? And for those students who really haven’t learned to navigate city buses and the crowded hallways of a large high school, why not spend a session working on functional map skills? Although our students want to believe they’re totally independent, the truth is – they still need our help!
Reason #6: SPIRIT WEEK
Spirit week is just fun, plain and simple. Twice a year, you have an excuse to wear pj’s, crazy costumes, and themed t-shirts to work. What’s better than that?
Reason #7: You get to help them decide their future plans.
As our students reach junior and senior year, many are focused on their future plans and goals. For some, they know college is where they want to go. For others, college might not be the best fit. We have the ability to start these discussions with students as they figure out their lives. We’ve spent sessions working on college essays, job applications, and work skills, and other sessions just talking. You’d be surprised how misconstrued our students’ perception is about college.
Reason #8: You watch them turn into adults.
Our students come back to visit and we get to see their maturity and growth since they graduated from High School. There is nothing better than having a student come back and visit the school, and make their way to your room, looking (and acting) like an adult. It’s so fun to hear from them whenever they check in.
Reason #9: You will always be one step ahead of your own children when they are in High School.
When our own kids become High School students they will not be able to pull a fast one on us since we will know the real deal. Plus, we will know the latest trends to make sure our kids are High School ready! We will also bombard our kids with strategies! “Oh that’s what you’re working on in class…I’ve got a strategy for that!”
Reason #10: You’re an SLP, social worker, teacher, psychologist, and friend all rolled into one.
In every setting, SLPs wear a lot of hats, but no more than we do in high school. Building relationships with our students is one of the best parts of our job. Helping our students realize they have an adult in the building that they can trust and open up to is something that a lot of students need. Especially since we work in such large high schools, students need one adult they can come and talk to. So many sessions evolve from “planned” lessons to advice sessions, and that’s OKAY. In High School, more than any other setting, you develop real, trusting relationships with your students, ones that keep them coming back to your therapy room. And, regardless of what their goals are on their IEPs, our primary goal is always to establish a trusting, reliable relationship with our students. We want them to know we are always there for them!
As you can see, there are SO many reasons not to rule out High Schools as a place to work. Although stress accompanies an SLP’s role at any grade level, we truly come to work every day excited to see our teens!
