LSU Alum Named Louisiana's School Counselor of the Year
January 26, 2022
BATON ROUGE, LA - Ashley Churbock Rogillio, EdS, LPC-S graduated from LSU’s counseling program and was recently named Louisiana’s School Counselor of the Year. Rogillio currently
serves as the school counselor at Lowery Elementary School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
She has been working in schools for 11 years and is currently in her 6th year at Lowery
Elementary.
How did LSU prepare you for your future career and professional endeavors?
“I feel like the LSU counseling program really prepared me to work with students and
parents. I felt like LSU and the faculty did a great job helping me grow as an individual
first and then a professional. I valued the relationships they built with us as professors
and mentors. They provided us with a safe space to grow. They challenged us and pushed
us to meet our full potential. I felt that I was provided with a well-rounded curriculum
that supported me as a school counselor. Working with students really is about addressing
the children’s needs at school but also looking at how to work with parents and caregivers,
how their home life may have affected them at school, and how mental health and other
diagnoses may be playing a role in how the student is functioning. I am able to address
the whole child and feel comfortable dealing with many different issues that I see
at the school level to help support my students as best as possible.”
What can you say about the impact of your professors at LSU?
“All my professors each had an impact on me in different ways. Dr. Gintner is brilliant and funny and always had me laughing in class. I felt I learned so much
about diagnosis and best practices from him. He truly represents the counseling profession
to me. Dr. Choate’s passion for girls and women's issues was really admirable. I know she really helped
me better understand and appreciate working with my female students and I loved how
hard she worked to help other women. Dr. Curry always vocalized her belief in me and pushed me to do my best. I always felt like
she knew I could be better and do better and expected better. She makes you rise to
your best! Dr. Csaszar was always so positive and optimistic and really showed me sincerity and genuineness.
I loved his class and how calming, supportive, and safe he made the class feel. Although
I didn't have classes with Dr. Eberts, I have worked with her for the past few years with the interns she has placed at
my school and she has truly been so supportive and trusting in me. I appreciate that
she always trusts me to provide a good experience for interns and continues to show
me what a great mentor and leader looks like.”
Any advice for aspiring counseling students and future counselors? What is the one
piece of advice you wish you would’ve known?
“Trust the process! Counseling can feel hard and can make you look at yourself in
really deep ways. You must learn confidence in yourself and your skills. You will
grow in leaps and bounds but it does take time. Keep with it and keep working on yourself
and your skills. The most important thing is your relationship with the client. Being
genuine and authentic and truly making the student (or client) feel heard is the most
important part of the counseling relationship.”
Why should someone be a school counselor?
“Mental health needs of students have become increasingly more important and substantial
over the 11 years that I’ve been in schools. I notice that students really are coming
in with more complex concerns that are really hindering them from truly engaging in
school. I find that students are having a harder time coping with life stressors,
probably because there are more now than ever, and students are feeling more alone
and isolated. I think social media and students having access to phones and computers
more has created distance in face-to-face relationships and communication. So, when
students are faced with inevitable conflicts with friends or peers, they are having
a harder time problem solving and working through it because they don’t feel as connected
with others. I think the school setting allows school counselors to see more day-to-day
functioning and interactions and truly help students in a meaningful way. We also
want to encourage students to be self-aware and truly understand themselves and what
they want for their futures. We want to help students meet their goals and enjoy their
lives to the fullest. I love watching students grow over the years that they are here
at Lowery and watching students go from 3rd to 5th grade students and all the changes
and growth they make in those few years. I love that I’m able to be a piece of the
puzzle. I am part of their educational journey and I want them to know they are valued,
loved, and supported here. I really enjoy meeting all different kinds of students
who have so much potential and listening to their hopes and dreams. I want to be able
to help them understand how to reach those dreams by using the skills they already
have and learning new ones that will help them along the way. I truly feel blessed
to work with such amazing students who have such bright futures ahead of them.”