Olympus counselor leads course-selection sessions for Evergreen Junior High eighth-graders

Craig Sudbury, head counselor at Olympus High School in the Granite School District, said school counselors are holding course-selection sessions this week at Evergreen Junior High to help incoming students choose high school courses and plan their academic paths.

The sessions, Sudbury said, are being held “all day today and tomorrow” for junior-high students at Evergreen, followed by two days of course selection at Olympus for students moving into upper grades. “High school is a great place to explore,” Sudbury said, describing the purpose of the meetings as helping students “know who they are and what they want to take and what they want to be.”

Sudbury, who told the interviewer he has worked at Olympus for 13 years and within Granite School District for 20 years, said counselors aim to serve both students who already know what career or coursework they want and those still exploring options. “And those that don’t know what they want to do, we want them to explore and take all of our different options and see if something kind of rings true for them,” he said.

Sudbury described his broader role as encouraging students to ask questions and to pursue long-term goals. “I want them to come to me if they have any questions, but I dream, dream big now. It’s early, your life’s in front of you, make some choices that are gonna make sense for you, and I can help you try and do that,” he said.

In the interview Sudbury also summarized his background: he spent about 10 years working in youth corrections before moving into school counseling, and he said he played professional minor-league baseball for about four years in Modesto, California, and Madison, Wisconsin.

The interview noted the timing of the segment during School Counselors Week; Sudbury and the interviewer thanked counselors for their work. No formal actions, votes or policy changes were discussed in the recorded segment.