Holton serves as our Middle School Counselor

After graduating from WCS in 2011, Heidi earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a Masters of Education in Counseling. She also had several life experiences and learning opportunities that she believes have helped shape her into a more empathic person and better counselor, such as working at an orphanage in Uganda, doing a practicum as a crisis counselor at HopeNet, and participating in a research grant through WSU on Play Therapy and Trauma. Before accepting the position here at WCS, Heidi was a counselor Truesdell Middle School.

We recently visited with Heidi to find out about her passion for counseling, and about some of the favorite and most challenging aspects of her work.

How has it been being back at WCS?

I’ve always known that the Collegiate community is a caring community and feels like “family,” but it has been a sweet gift to experience such a seamless transition. The WCS community has been very welcoming towards me and treated me like a fellow colleague/professional. It brings me great joy to now have the opportunity to work alongside teachers who taught me the in the classroom.

What was the moment you knew that you wanted to be a counselor?

I don’t necessarily know if there was a specific moment, but I feel that my desire to become a counselor stems from teachers and individuals investing in my life at a young age. I experienced deep loss with the loss of my father at a young age and watched adults, especially those at school, help care not only for my academic, but also emotional well-being. This experience fueled me to want to be in the helping profession in some capacity, but specifically a school counselor. In the later years, my desire to be a school counselor grew from hearing hard stories of teens in crisis or friends who walked in challenging places—what would it have looked like for them to have a caring/supportive adult in their life?

What do you wish that students and parents knew about you?

I want students and their parents to know that my passion in being a counselor at WCS is driven by my understanding of the Collegiate experience; that I “get it.” I often tell students that I deeply know what it is like to receive a 90% on an exam and feel like a failure. I want students and their families to know that though I have great memories and experiences from WCS, the need for pairing positive mental health among academic rigor is personal to me. I strive to be vulnerable with students and families about the pressures that may come alongside a high-intensity college preparatory school, but that students are in a deeply nurturing environment that wants and believes our students can attain success. 

What’s your favorite part of your job? 

Hands down, my favorite part is spending intentional time with students to hear about their overall middle school experience, as a listening ear and agent of advocacy/change. I have made a point to sit at various lunch tables to eat with students and converse about their days. It is here where I learn the lingo, highlights, challenges, etc. I also enjoy inviting groups of students to have lunch with me. 

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

One of the most challenging, yet rewarding, parts of my job as a school counselor is the opportunity to sit with students in their pain. Especially at the middle school level when their brains are leading with their Limbic System while the Prefrontal Cortex is developing, students need time and space to process life’s challenges—whether it is a poor grade on a test, peer conflicts, family issues, grief, etc. Naturally as humans, we don’t like to see those we love in pain. I am moved by the data surrounding students who attempt to take their lives and am driven to create a more open and warmer environment for students to share their deepest challenges. While processing challenging topics or places in students’ lives is difficult, it is one of the reasons I am so passionate about what I do and how I want to invest in the lives of students.

What were your favorite things about being a student at WCS?  Do you have any special memories? Any particular teachers who made a significant impact on you or who are still near and dear to you?

One of my favorite things that impacted me as a student at WCS was the intentionality of the teachers. I just loved how they cared for me as a person, aside from what I achieved or didn’t achieve in their class. Time in tutorials, checking in about my sporting events, asking about my personal life—all of these things teachers don’t necessarily “have to do,” but they do because they care. There are too many teachers to count that I feel made an impact on me as a student, but it goes without saying that Virginia Kehoe deeply impacted my educational trajectory. 

What impact do you think WCS had on you as a person? In preparing you for college? In preparing you for life?

There is no doubt WCS challenged me academically and truly fostered my ability to write and communicate my thoughts well to others. I had the opportunity to see success when I studied and spent time with teachers to truly learn the information for what it was, not for a test. The writing and researching disciplines, specifically from 8th and beyond, made the transition to college very smooth. I remember friends in college having a difficult time writing a 5-page paper, while I had experience writing 15-page research papers and a 25-page Good Life Paper. The relationships built among teachers and classmates truly made a positive impact on me as a person. As a student who transferred in 7th grade, my class really embraced me and accepted me as part of the “WCS family.” I developed deep friendships with some classmates in my grade and surrounding grades that remain truly life-giving. 

What advice would you have for our Middle School students today?

Take a deep breath. Acknowledge what emotions you’re feeling. And keep showing up, even when it’s hard. There is courage in vulnerability and people have shortcomings along their road to achieving success. Life is a series of choices and there is a difference between feeling guilt (I made a bad choice and received a consequence) versus shame (I am innately bad and unworthy). Sometimes people make bad decisions, or we fail, but that does not mean you are a failure. Our school motto Proba Te Dignum means prove yourself worthy—and my hope is that at Collegiate, you always feel that you are worthy of being known, seen, and heard. You are valued and our school wouldn’t be the same without your presence!

Learn more about Heidi Holton’s counseling program on her blog.