Watauga County Schools funds continued support of Appalachian ASC Center

View larger image — Dr. Kurt Michael, third from left, listens as Jennifer Wandler, Watauga High School social worker and ASC coordinator, discusses a student’s case in fall 2018. Photo by Marie Freeman

Edited by Jessica Stump

Posted Jan. 18, 2019 at 3:47 p.m.

BOONE, N.C. — A $30,000 grant awarded to Appalachian State University by Watauga County Schools has ensured students in the school district’s Watauga High School will continue to have access to high-quality mental health services offered through Appalachian’s Assessment, Support, and Counseling (ASC) Center.

This is the 13th consecutive year of renewed funding for the Watauga ASC Center.

Other project collaborators

Arina Cotuna, a psychology graduate student from Winston-Salem.
Jamie Kirkpatrick ’16, a psychology graduate student from New Bern.
Brittany Kirschner ’14 ’17, a staff clinician in Appalachian’s Psychology Clinic from Wake Forest.
Tommy McConnell ’17, a social work graduate student from Clemmons.
Summer Parkins ’18, a social work graduate student from Nebo.
Lindsay Rowell ’17, a marriage and family therapy graduate student from Greensboro.
Rebekah Smith ’16, a psychology graduate student from Walnut Cove.
Kasey Sulovski, a psychology graduate student from Newton Grove.

Dr. Kurt Michael, assistant chair of Appalachian’s Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology and the Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology, is the grant recipient. The grant covers the center’s operation from July 2018 to June 2019.

His collaborators for the project include Dr. John Paul Jameson, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Jon Winek, professor in Appalachian’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling and director of the department’s marriage and family therapy program.

“The ASC Center is a major training site for graduate students learning how to serve as school mental health clinicians in clinical psychology, social work, and marriage and family therapy,” Michael said.

The ASC Center in Watauga High School was formed in 2006 by then-principal Angela Quick, along with Dr. Lauren Renkert, associate professor in and chair of Appalachian’s Department of Social Work, Michael and Winek.

Other project collaborators

Arina Cotuna, a psychology graduate student from Winston-Salem.
Jamie Kirkpatrick ’16, a psychology graduate student from New Bern.
Brittany Kirschner ’14 ’17, a staff clinician in Appalachian’s Psychology Clinic from Wake Forest.
Tommy McConnell ’17, a social work graduate student from Clemmons.
Summer Parkins ’18, a social work graduate student from Nebo.
Lindsay Rowell ’17, a marriage and family therapy graduate student from Greensboro.
Rebekah Smith ’16, a psychology graduate student from Walnut Cove.
Kasey Sulovski, a psychology graduate student from Newton Grove.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Watauga County Schools supports Appalachian’s ASC Center for 12th year

March 21, 2018

Watauga County Schools provides $30,000 in funding for the 12th year of Appalachian’s Assessment, Support, and Counseling Center at Watauga High School.

Read the story

Teens and mental health

A school-based intervention program developed by Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael lowers rural teens’ suicide attempts and boosts their well-being

Nov. 29, 2018

Appalachian’s Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology shows his passion for teens’ mental health through the ASC school-based treatment program he founded in 2006.

Read the story

About the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling

The Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling in Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education is responsible for organizing and providing instructional programs in counseling and other human development functions for public schools, colleges and universities and various agencies. The department offers Master of Arts degrees in clinical mental health counseling, professional school counseling, student affairs administration and marriage and family therapy. Learn more at https://hpc.appstate.edu.

About the Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology

Appalachian’s Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology serves more than 1,000 undergraduate majors seeking the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, as well as 80 graduate students in three master’s programs (experimental psychology, school psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology and human resource management) and the clinical psychology (Psy.D.) doctoral program. Learn more at https://psych.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,400 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 20,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.