King George HS Counseling Dept
August Newsletter
Meet The New School Counselors
We may be a new team to King George, but we come with a wealth of experiences. Ms. Coleman is returning to support letters A-E. Biographies on the new counselors can be found below.
Ms. Binion, Counseling Director (F-I)
I enjoy the excitement of the first day of school, welcoming new families and the promise that each new school year holds. This year, I am especially excited to be joining the King George school community where educational excellence and student social/emotional growth are priorities.
I began my career 27 years ago in a small rural school district in upstate New York where most of my students were the first in their family to attend college. This experience solidified my belief that counselors need to be proactive when working with students and parents on the college admissions process. I couldn't sit back and wait for questions to be asked because my families did not even know what questions to ask.
I later moved to Rochester, New York where I was the Director of Student Services in the Greece School District. In this capacity, I had the opportunity to work with multiple disciplines on the creation of a school based mental health team to better address the social/emotional needs of our students. I also created a district Family Support Center designed to provide free counseling to our 12,000 students and their families.
My family then moved to Virginia where I worked for seven years as the Supervisor of Counseling Services in Spotsylvania County where I served 24,000 families in 30 buildings. While in Spotsylvania I worked with my counseling team to create a comprehensive K-12 college and career readiness program that received national acclaim. My team and I were asked by the American School Counseling Association to share our work through a national webinar and the national conference. I also published an article in the American School Counselor magazine highlighting our work entitled “Crayons to College: A K-12 Approach to College and Career Readiness.”
I returned to New York briefly where I honed my skills in college admissions since many of my families were CEO's of major companies, entertainers, and athletes who were looking for private college consulting services in a public school. When I retired from New York my dream was to return to Virginia where I could share all that I have learned with first generation college bound students.
I have also been fortunate to serve on many state and national boards. I recently completed a three-year term as a national representative to the Guidance and Admissions Assembly (College Board) and am currently serving as a committee member on the National Association of College Admissions Counseling. I enjoy the field of school counseling and have served in other leadership roles including the White House Summit on School Counseling, the US Department of Education Healthy Students Promising Future Collaborative and I assisted the Virginia Department of Education with curriculum writing.
I am eager to bring these and other experience to the King George community. I look forward to working with all of you and the wonderful counseling team.
Ms. Clemo (K-P)
Hometown: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Educational background: I graduated from UVA with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2017, and I just graduated from William and Mary with a Master of Education in School Counseling.
What advice would you give to your teenage self? Be yourself and surround yourself with people that you trust and respect. High school is too short to be worrying about unnecessary drama and what other people think.
What advice do you have for new students? Join a club or a sports team! It's a great way to meet people and become involved in the school community.
What is something that you could do a million times? Giving my dog a belly rub. It is impossible to say no to her puppy-dog eyes.
What do you do to relax? Jogging and hiking to the gym helps me relax and keep fit.
What are you most proud of? I am most proud of running a half-marathon. I am not the most fit person, so I am proud that I stuck with it and finished the race.
What is your favorite place to visit? I love visiting Charlottesville, Virginia! I have a lot of good memories there because I went to college there.
Ms. Thweatt (Q-Z)
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia.
Educational Background: I have a B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences /Specialization - Early Childhood Education. I also have a M.S. in Counselor Education
What advice would you give to your teenage self? The advice I would give my teenage self would be to plan ahead and not procrastinate regarding school work or anything that my parents asked me to do. Not to be afraid of new experiences. Enjoy being a teenager ! Stop wishing the years away by trying to grow up too fast.
What advice do you have for new students?
I would suggest:
- Plan ahead.
- Set goals and work hard to achieve them
- Be a leader and not a follower
- Explore new activities and courses
- Enjoy being a teenager/high school student
- Do not be afraid to ask for help
- Plan and prepare for college and career exploration
What is something that you could do a million times?
Eat seafood daily and watch comedies repeatedly
Ms. Coleman, Ms. Clemo, Ms. Thweatt and Ms. Binion look forward to working with you this year!
Early Decision, Early Action, Single Choice, Restrictive Early Action. There are so many application options, but what do they mean?
Early Decision (ED) is a binding agreement in the college admissions process. If you apply Early Decision you are agreeing to attend that institution if accepted. The only way out of an Early Decision contract is insufficient financial aid and that can be difficult to prove.
Early Action (EA) is non-binding, meaning that you typically can apply to other colleges even if you have applied Early Action. Pay attention because there are "single choice" or "restrictive early action" programs that will prohibit you from applying to any other EA or ED program if you applied Early Action to their school. For example, if you apply to Harvard under their Early Action program, you can also apply at the same time to any public college/university, but you are restricted from applying to other private universities’ Early Action and Early Decision programs.
Is it in your best interest to apply Early Action or Early Decision? Juniors, it is never too early to start thinking about this. Talk with your counselor about these options. In some cases it is in your interest to apply EA instead of meeting traditional college deadlines.
Confused by the college process take a look at our interactive timeline below.