{"id":6654,"date":"2025-10-22T13:19:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T20:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/education\/2025\/10\/22\/casc-names-chapmans-randee-kirkemo-2026-counselor-educator-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:36:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:36:49","slug":"casc-names-chapmans-randee-kirkemo-2026-counselor-educator-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/2025\/10\/22\/casc-names-chapmans-randee-kirkemo-2026-counselor-educator-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"CASC Names Chapman\u2019s Randee Kirkemo 2026 Counselor Educator of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapman University\u2019s Attallah College of Educational Studies proudly celebrates Instructional Assistant Professor\u00a0<\/span>of School Counseling<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Randee Kirkemo<\/span><\/span><\/a>, who has been named the 2026 Counselor Educator of the Year by the California Association of School Counselors (CASC). This prestigious award recognizes one school counselor educator in California each year who <\/span>demonstrates<\/span>\u00a0exceptional leadership, mentorship, and dedication to advancing the profession.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"CASC<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing recognized by CASC as the School Counselor Educator of the Year is an incredible honor,\u201d said Kirkemo. \u201cThis award reflects the many communities\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span> had the privilege to serve,<\/span>\u00a0including<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Alternative Education, the districts\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0had the honor to work in, the colleagues who have helped me grow, and most importantly, my alma mater, Chapman University. It is a tremendous joy to accept this award on behalf of our students and the school counseling community at Chapman.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past four years,\u00a0<\/span>in her role as\u00a0<\/span>director of School Counseling,\u00a0<\/span>Kirkemo has led significant advancements in Chapman\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>program, including the integration of\u00a0<\/span>r<\/span>estorative\u00a0<\/span>j<\/span>ustice\u00a0<\/span>p<\/span>ractices.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>In partnership with the local organization\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Groundswell<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and in collaboration with Associate Professor\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Annmary Abdou<\/span><\/span><\/a>, she has introduced training certifications, embedded restorative practices into coursework, and developed a course\u00a0<\/span>required<\/span>\u00a0for all students.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI strive to model these approaches in my interactions and throughout my classes, ensuring students experience restorative practices in action,\u201d she shared.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kirkemo is also deeply proud of the program\u2019s students and alumni, many of whom have been recognized by CASC for emerging leadership, scholarships, and conference presentations.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond these recognitions, what makes me most proud is knowing our communities are supported by dedicated school counselors whose impact brings me great hope for the future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked what qualities are essential for future school counselors, Kirkemo emphasized adaptability, empathy, and a passion for positive change.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSchool counselors work to support all students in\u00a0<\/span>academics<\/span>, social-emotional, and college-career development. We do all of this with limited time and resources, with full<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and sometimes broken<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>hearts,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause of this, school counselor mental health is one of the biggest areas we need to think more carefully about.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Kirkemo envisions a future filled with hope and purpose. “In ten years\u2019 time, I will have trained 18 cohorts of school counselors; around 380 graduate students.<\/span>\u00a0The future truly rests in their hands, and I\u00a0<\/span>couldn\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0be more hopeful, inspired, and proud of our Panthers. I dedicate this award to my students, who year after year arrive as curious learners and leave as passionate, committed school counselors.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please visit our site to learn more about Chapman\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/span>School Counseling<\/span><\/span><\/a> program.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

School counseling professionals were honored for their leadership and impact on student success at the California Association of School Counselors\u2019 25th anniversary conference and awards ceremony in Riverside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4560,"featured_media":6659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,18,1047,13,16],"tags":[1481,1050,1161,1306,1307,109,1436,1309,426,297],"class_list":["post-6654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attallah-college-of-educational-studies","category-awards","category-college-news","category-faculty","category-faculty-news","category-news","tag-2026-counselor-educator-of-the-year","tag-attallah-college","tag-attallah-college-of-educational-studies","tag-california-association-of-school-counselors","tag-casc","tag-chapman-university","tag-randee-kirkemo","tag-randelle-kirkemo","tag-school-counseling","tag-school-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6979,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6654\/revisions\/6979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}