Mid-day, stressed students hail from classrooms across the building to the counseling office, eager for advice and comfort from their counselors. Due to having hundreds of students to care for, school counselors tend to be busy with meetings or one-on-ones. With the swivel of her chair, counseling secretary Amy Smith brightens the day of waiting students with her bubbly and humorous personality.
Though you could never tell when she greets you with a smile, Smith has only been working at this school for a little over a year. Her job title is counseling secretary, but it goes farther than the seemingly simple description entails.
In terms of her help toward this school’s counseling department, Smith plans meetings for counselors with their fellow counselors or students. She ensures that the eight school-wide counselors’ schedules are well organized and aligned. As hard as it seems to balance out multiple counselors’ schedules for their daily, jam-packed days, Smith has prior experience that helps her excel in planning. “Before I started with MCPS I was an event planner and a conference vice president for a telecommunications association in D.C.,” Smith said.
Smith grew up in Redding, PA, and attended Gettysburg College as a theater major. At Gettysburg, a mentor mentioned an internship at the Kennedy Center, which Smith took, bringing her to the area. Since then, she was a paraeducator at elementary schools in the county, the most recent being Cashell Elementary School, before stepping into her role at this school.
With experience as a paraeducator and having a high schooler of her own, Smith enjoys conversing and getting to know the most students she can. “I hope they can come and chat with me about anything, school-related things or personal things, or shows they’re watching. I like to relate to the kids that way,” Smith said.
If a student is in the counseling office, it is likely that they are either dealing with strong emotion or confusion and are in need of comfort or help. Smith provides both, eager to tend to any student, even if they are simply in the counseling office as a break from class. “I like to think that I’m a safe, comfortable place for the kids to come and just chat and talk,” Smith said.
When it comes to students in need of their counselor support, Smith works to make sure students do not have to wait long to see their counselor. She prioritizes the students and uses her organizational and planning skills to make sure each student can fit into their counselor’s busy schedule.
Whether it’s putting a smile on their face through a meaningful chat or helping them to understand uncertainty, Smith’s effort and kindness toward students is immense. With a superhero of a counseling secretary, it is not surprising that the counseling office is always full of students swarming Smith’s desk.
