Counselor Week celebrates staff dedication

During the week of Feb 6 to 10, student services celebrated National School Counselor Week.

To celebrate, the PTSA, administrative assistants and students at the Davis Center fed the counselors meals to express their graditude.
“Our PTSA takes such good care of us,” counselor Miriam Filvarof said. “They are so generous.”

Not only did the counselors receive meals, but students and parents alike expressed their appreciation for the counselors through notes.
“I don’t think I’ve gotten this [treatment] any other year, so I feel like either we are doing a really good job this year or people have noticed and the signs are working,” counselor Cara Engle said. “Last year everyone forgot, so we didn’t have anything. This year has been a really good year for us.”

With the addition of signs advertising the week hung up in the hallways, counselors noticed an increase in thank you letters.
“I’ve gotten super nice notes from students, I got 10 emails from parents. Teachers have been really nice,” Engle said.
Senior Kira Miller made her counselor a note that ties in their common interest of exotic food.

“I gave her a card that had a bunch of puns about sushi and other japanese food,” Miller said. “I like making puns and I love my counselor. She’s a pretty awesome person.”

Along with the cards, some counselors also received baked goods to recognize them for their dedication.

“I made my counselor cookies. She’s done so much for me,” senior Ally Thring said. “Just through all four years she’s been so amazing and wonderful with every problem I’ve had. The least I could do was bake her cookies.”

The week is a celebration of how the school community embraces the counselors and everything they do.

According to counselor Jim Rixse, the job is for those who want to give support to young people.

“In the world of education, it isn’t a profession that people get paid the most money so I think that people go into it because they want to feel like they are helping people,” Rixse said. “It’s good to hear some reinforcement that you are having a good impact.”

The week is a joined celebration by students, parents and staff to demonstrate their acknowledgment for how much the counselors work for the entire school.

“It’s nice to have reinforcement of that from time to time,” Rixse said. “Someone to say ‘hey we realize what you are doing.’