A school counselor’s purpose is to support and accommodate students to achieve their full potential. School counselors determine if students are transferred to another school. This year we attained a new counselor, Ms. Altshuler.

Although Ms. Altshuler is new to being a counselor at Wilde Lake, she’s been a counselor at other high schools, totaling 25 years of experience in this position. The reasoning for her dedication to counseling has changed over the years. She didn’t always know her choice of career. Being more interested in sports, she hoped she could be a coach and a counselor. Although she had different career ideas, Ms. Altshuler “liked the idea of being in a school [and] being around students.” Even though she didn’t follow this exact path, Ms. Altshuler still loves her job and the difficulties that come with it.

Our counselors are asked to do more than their actual line of expertise. Having to juggle everyday life stressors and balance personal life and work, they continue to put in more effort. Even with all these demands, Ms. Altshuler continues to apply herself to fully support her students, “helping them and figuring out what’s going to make them feel good about coming to school and figuring out what they want to do in their life.”

Our counselors, including Ms. Altshuler, dedicate themselves to providing for the students at Wilde Lake. Ms. Altshuler wants students to know that “someone believes in them and that they can become what they want to be, even if it’s not happening right at that moment for them.” She wants to “help them kind of realize that they have potential, that the barriers and obstacles that they might see in front of them can be overcome.” 

Counselors have a special place in our school, and they continue to support students and acknowledge the diverse needs and strengths students have to advance student success in school and life.