GARDEN GROVE : School Psychologist Is Counselor of Year

Mary Honer, a psychologist for the Garden Grove Unified School District, has been named the state’s School Counselor of the Year by the California Assn. of Counseling and Development.

Honer, 58, was honored Sunday at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott for her work in improving attendance and decreasing tardiness of students, as well as for her unusual efforts in group counseling for elementary school children.

“What I’m most proud of is the knowledge that there are some children in this world who are living more fruitful and productive lives because of intervention taken by a school counselor. I accept this as an honor for all my colleagues,” Honer said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Honer said she plans to devote more attention to pressing for legislation mandating counseling programs for all schools in the state.

“I think we would have far less students struggling with personal and emotional problems, and I believe that our students would definitely benefit academically and be better adjusted students” with counseling, she said. “A student with a screwed-up life is not going to be able to study.”

Honer, a psychologist with a degree from Brigham Young University, began her career in education as a teacher in 1958 and began counseling in 1971. She now travels each week to three elementary schools and one high school in the district to evaluate students weekly for special education programs, said district spokesman Alan Trudell.