Sandy Hook resident Bob Schmidt was recently honored with The Samuel T. Gladding Unsung Hero Award. He received the award on March 14, during the American Counseling Association World Conference in Orlando, Fla.

The American Counseling Association is a 55,000 member organization with branches all over the world.

Mr Schmidt is a licensed professional counselor with a practice in Sandy Hook. He is an adjunct professor in the Counselor Education Department at Fairfield University. In 2013, Mr Schmidt was selected adjunct professor of the year in the Graduate Ed Program.

He retired from the Trumbull school system in 2007, after working for 18 years as a school counselor.

Mr Schmidt is past president of the Connecticut School Counselor Association, twice president of the Connecticut Counseling Association, and past chair of the ACA/North Atlantic Region. He is currently the president elect of the Connecticut Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors.

Following 12/14, Mr Schmidt chaired the Newtown Lions Foundation Sandy Hook Elementary Fund, which raised and paid out over $400,000 in counseling costs to Sandy Hook students and staff as well as their families. The fund also covered similar expenses for first responders. As there is still a great need for assistance, the fund continues to support the community.

Together with Connecticut Counseling Association Executive Director Deb DelVecchio-Scully, Mr Schmidt reached out to the surviving witness families. Ms DelVecchio-Scully and Mr Schmidt currently serve as the advocate/spokespersons for the families.

Mr Schmidt is a member of The Newtown Sandy Hook Community Foundation and The Collaborative Recovery Team.

For the past two years Mr Schmidt has been working with Dr Lori Leyden and Nick Ortner of The Tapping Solution Foundation. He has led multiple workshops on the topic to counselors, graduate students, parents and educators. He initiated a pilot program at Easton Country Day School to bring tapping into the classroom for the purpose of reducing test anxiety, stress, and developing learning readiness.

Mr Schmidt is also a published singer-songwriter. He and his wife Josie perform as a music duo throughout Connecticut.

The Schmidts have two grown children and five grandchildren.