Mrs. Hawkins was interviewed by the Sting on September 12th to answer questions about her role as our new guidance counselor. She started as an English teacher in the town of Sesser before getting her masters and deciding to be a guidance counselor. She worked in Ava and spent twenty years working in Trico. She came here on recommendation after being retired for one year, making this her twenty-eighth year of working in the education system.
Her goals for this year are to help the seniors with their college/future plans, get transcripts up to date, complete next year’s schedules before summer starts, and, most importantly, meet all of the students. When asked about a part of the job that no one really thinks about, she mentioned mental health. A nice thing to know about Mrs. Hawkins is that she is clinically trained to work with at-risk students due to her previous years of working with Comwell. She also has a history of working with foster children.
Her favorite part of the job is seeing students grow and progress as people and she loves to help them accomplish all that they can. Standardized testing was her answer for her least favorite part of the job. She is passionate about advocating for students and believes that test scores do not actually show how smart someone is.
Mrs. Hawkins is a mother of four and a grandmother of two. She loves the Blues and is determined to love being our guidance counselor. She has stated, “I feel very welcome here,” and wants to return that welcoming nature to the students and get to know us the best she can.