Nicholson receives Gold Star Award

An awards ceremony will take place Friday, Nov. 15 at the Indiana School Counselors Fall Conference in Indianapolis where former Nicholson school counselor, Mary Scheidler, and current school counselor Sheridan Pool will receive the award. 

Superintendent Dr. Rex Ryker said, “We are incredibly proud of Nicholson Elementary School for achieving the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Award! This honor reflects the hard work, dedication, and commitment to student well-being demonstrated every day by our outstanding office team and staff. A special acknowledgment goes to Mrs. Scheidler, Nicholson’s former counselor, whose vision paved the way for this award. Congratulations to everyone involved in making this achievement possible!”

This program gives school counselors in Indiana the opportunity to develop a comprehensive school counseling program using the platform offered by Inspire Success. Each school counselor can choose to participate in various levels to meet requirements for Carrying The Torch, which include bronze, silver, or gold star levels. The gold star level is a two-year process to complete, which is what Nicholson has successfully completed under former counselor Scheidler. 

“I am very proud and honored that our school counseling program has been recognized as a model program in the state of Indiana. This recognition is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team, especially our advisory council.  It motivates us to continue striving for excellence in supporting academic, career and social emotional development through programs that we offer for our students,” Scheidler said.

The process requires assigned tasks and modules that must be approved as well as an application process submitted to IDoE/Inspire Success for final approval of the gold star level.

The gold level status demonstrates the comprehensive counseling and guidance program meeting the highest standards which implements a program vision and mission, data-based accountability, standards-driven guidance activities, counseling and advocacy, program management, alignment of resources, and an annual improvement plan.

Scheidler, now a school counselor at Crawfordsville High School, has enrolled CHS in the Carrying the Torch process with anticipated completion of gold level status in 2026.