Underdogs of FHC

“It’s ironic because you have this job where, in one sense, you don’t really want anything to happen, but then again you’re trained for whenever something does happen. We don’t really want anything crazy to happen, but that’s why we’re here.”...

“I never planned on being a school nurse at all. I like the technical side of it; I like the procedures and things like that, and I ended up here. It wasn’t my original thing. I wanted to work in OR’s. I wanted to do C-sections and deliver babies and all that kind of stuff, so I am nowhere where I originally started at. I didn’t plan this at all. I’m still working with kids, just not bab...

  “Even before I started looking into this role, there was kind-of an outdated vision of what a librarian is －which is why we are called library media specialists now because so much has changed－you kind-of have this vision of someone who’s just into books, but the job is more than that. It really is more focused on learning and always bringing in new ideas and teaching that to stu...

“My background was actually in business. I didn’t want to get into education at all, but if I’m ever going to teach, it’d be business. I started working as a clerk in a library for Fort Zumwalt schools and I thought, ‘ooo this is a great combination of things I like to do, reading and technology.’ The role of librarian from what I knew when I was in high school was completely different. W...

  “I think we just do a lot more behind-the-scenes work than most people realize. They see us sitting at the desk a lot of times, or Mrs. Head, they see her sitting in the office working but there’s just a lot more to that work; we have our hands in a lot of different programs that happen within the school, so I think there's just a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people don’t see.” ...

“[My job] is rewarding. [I] feel good that I’m able to  help students, help families. And not that I’m some great person that needs a pat on the back, but it’s just because I’ve been in the business and just kind-of know how the school works, how to support students, and how the college planning works because I do it day in and day out. I’m able to support people just because of the knowled...

  “When I was in high school, I was always in the guidance office and I really just wanted to be a counselor, so when I got to college, it just kind of re-confirmed that I wanted [to help] students dream big and never give up. I feel like it’s important for students to have that extra support.”    

  “I like helping people. When I was first going into college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I [thought], if I could just find a job where I just help people, just help people work through their problems, that would be perfect.”    

  “Everybody has a story. Being able to listen to a person’s story is important because that’s their life. People come in here when they’re teachers or students and they’re talking to you and if you don’t seem interested, it lowers their self esteem. Everybody’s story is unique, and for them to share that in here with me is a phenomenal feeling.”    

“My favorite part of my job is definitely seeing my students succeed, whether it’s getting good grades, overcoming a problem, or getting into college. It’s a really good feeling to know I had a part in them becoming a better version of themselves.”    

  “I spend a lot of time doing different things everyday, it seems like. I spend a lot of time coordinating things for students, talking to students that are either struggling in class or struggling in life. I’m actually working when you see me sitting in here, not just surfing the web.”    

“I think with counselors in general, there’s a lot of stuff that we do that nobody sees, so sometimes people say, ‘I don’t know my counselor, I’m not sure what all they’re doing,’ and that’s usually because we’re spending a lot of time with people who’re struggling, so if someone's really functioning well they probably won't know us very well because they don’t need us right now. So...