Get to Know Mrs. Smith

By Rose Carlie-Pierre and Orli Trumbull (Freshmen)

Has your schedule ever had a missing period? Or maybe you needed a recommendation for an application. If so, then you have likely met Ms. Smith, Obama’s high school counselor.

School counselors are usually seen as people who lead you through the college application process or mediate your feelings. However at Obama Academy, our counselors take on both roles and more.

Ms. Smith’s interest in being a high school counselor sparked while helping her kids with the college application process. She made the switch from working in the early childhood department and took a position at Arlington Elementary School. Being switched to Obama excited her because she wanted to be in a highschool and help students with college and career readiness. However, Ms. Smith describes most of the work she does as “student services” and says that college and career readiness is not a large part of her job.

Her position at Obama requires her to meet deadlines set by the vice principals, principal, guidance counselor director, and assistant superintendents. She also has to juggle student mediation, looking at transcripts and writing recommendations. When asked what a typical day at work looks like for her, Ms. Smith replies, “it depends on how many fires you have to put out throughout the day” 

When asked if she wanted to say something to the student body, Ms. Smith said “I would suggest that they get acclimated to Schoology. Because I am a highschool counselor and I have nine through twelve, that one-on-one time is slim to none, so I put a lot of information in schoology.” Within her schoology page is a treasure of information on how to prepare yourself for the future. She hopes that grades 9-12 will check out this resource and make sure that they are taking advantage of it.