Jessica Hadbavny was hired last year as a career and intervention counselor for the South Butler School District. She has been establishing various projects for students from kindergarten to 12th grade since arriving.

JEFFERSON TWP — From establishing a job shadowing program for high school students and helping create an illustrated career book with second graders to assisting in the creation of a mentoring program between middle and high schoolers, Jessica Hadbavny has kept busy at the South Butler School District.

Hadbavny, who was hired last year as a career and intervention counselor, dedicates her work time to career preparation, anti-bullying, mentoring and student intervention for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

It's no small task, but she enjoys the job's challenges and rewards.

“When you start something new, there's a lot of energy, adrenaline, that comes with it, which has definitely helped motivate me,” Hadbavny said.

The state Department of Education requires districts review career options with students from kindergarten through 12th grades in district guidance plans.

Hadbavny was a guidance counselor at Knoch High School for three years before she began in the newly created position.

“It's really exciting,” she said. “It's also nice to implement things and be able to see the linear effect that they have instead of just a targeted population. I get to see how that works across the district.”

The biggest part of her job has been establishing career programs. One major project has included contacting several business professionals to match with high school seniors who are interested in their respective fields.

Many of those people also will attend a career day for eighth-graders she has organized in May.

“They will have the opportunity to experience four different professional career clusters and meet with people who are part of those career fields in a presentation format,” she said.

Not only will they review what their jobs involve, but the steps it took to get there, including education and prior jobs.

She's also brought career preparation to the elementary level where she worked with Matthew Savannah's second-grade class at South Butler Primary School to create an illustrated book titled “Jobs: A to Z”.

Students thought of careers that correlated with each letter of the alphabet, from blacksmith to Xbox maker, and drew a corresponding sketch on each page. Enough hardback books were printed for each student to have a copy and for the school to keep a few copies, too.

“It's something that will be long lasting and part of the library that they can always go back and look and see the jobs that they thought of having when they were in second grade,” Hadbavny said.

David Zupsic, assistant superintendent, said Hadbavny's work, which covers all four schools, is appreciated in the district.

“I do think the work Ms. Hadbavny has been doing and the addition of those services support the district's goals of aligning students strengths and talents with activities that provide opportunities for student success,” he said.

“Making it a targeted initiative brings an intentionality to the purpose and the importance of those services. I think that's why it's important to have the position.”

From an anti-bullying and mentoring standpoint, Hadbavny has assisted building administrators to create events and clubs. A “mix it up” day was at Knoch Middle School earlier this year, where students sat with peers outside of their usual lunch crowd, finding common ground with students who aren't necessarily best buddies.

And a mentoring club kicked off in March between middle school and high school students to help with student confidence and happiness, in part as a follow-up to district survey results about testing and self-confidence.

“Part of that is also to aid in the transition to high school and making students feel like they're already a part of that community,” she said. “Research shows that near- peer relationships are much more successful for that particular age group than child to adult relationships.”

She hopes to continue those projects, among other actions, and build upon them for next school year.