Throughout the summer, counselors work hard making and finalizing schedules for students, Blaire Robinson spent her summer doing just that.
But this year was a bit different as Robinson took on the challenge of making schedules for more than 1,600 students coming from three different high schools.
The Memorial Messenger had the opportunity to speak with Robinson about the ups and downs of being a counselor at a brand new high school.
Q: What was the biggest difference in making schedules this year from last year?
A: Starting from scratch. With moving to a new building, everything had to be started so much earlier and everything had to be really carefully and intentionally planned since everything was brand new. Basically, what that looks like on our side is we have to start by building every classroom and putting it into the system and then every teacher into the system. Additionally, we have to plan out teacher schedules along with student schedules, so it’s just a lot.
Q: Was it difficult making the transition from Rider to Memorial?
A: It was difficult just because everything is new and we’re still creating so many systems, but it also went smoothly because the transition was really well thought out by our administrators. They really helped support us through all of the changes and helped us to get ahead of what we knew might be happening next.
Q: How long did it take you to make schedules and finalize them?
A: We started student scheduling last year in September, and we finished the day before school started. We’re still finalizing schedules now when students need something changed.
Q: What was the most difficult part about scheduling this year?
A: I would just have to say starting completely from scratch, and trying to figure out what would work best for all of our students. The purpose of our scheduling is to make sure that every kid gets what’s best for them. Trying to get that aligned from three different high schools with 10 different counselors was challenging.
Q: How did you deal with the stress of having to make schedules for students from all three high schools?
A: There were many long nights, but we really carried the load together as a team. We have a team of five counselors, and everybody was awesome and helpful. We worked really close with our administrators as well. The stress was real, but we got through it together.
Q: Was it nice having an additional emotional support counselor this year?
A: Yes, absolutely. Mrs. (Sarah) Lucas was an academic and social/emotional counselor last year, so she can do both things, but having her be able to focus just on social/emotional really created an outlet for students. It’s been a good start so far.
Q: What is your biggest goal you want to achieve this year as a counselor?
A: I’m really looking at what’s working this year because within this first year we have this unique opportunity to start fresh. We’re really getting the chance to create new systems, new plans and seeing what works and what doesn’t. We want to better ourselves from year to year, so that’s really what I’m focusing on this year.
