As the 2024-2025 school year kicks off, many students request schedule changes from counselors, often to organize all of their extracurriculars. That being said, students are sometimes confused and intimidated by counselors, viewing them as just another administrative figure in the building. However, counselors should be seen as open-minded professionals who wants to help students excel in all avenues of life, personal and academic. While some students have had positive interactions with the counselors, some feel that there are areas where the counselors are distant from the students at the school.
“I am content with the counselors that are at our school and with my personal encounters, I have only received full support,” Jordan Flowers (11) said. “However, I have unfortunately heard from other students that their experience with our counselors are very different.”
The Clear Creek Independent School District website describes the four main duties of the districts’ counselors as follows: 
It can be difficult for students to open up to complete strangers, especially in something as personal and important as their curricular needs and mental health. However, counselors are skillfully trained and knowledgeable individuals, at Creek to be a valuable resource in navigating high school life. In hopes for the student body to become more comfortable with their counselors, it’s important to be able to speak to them with familiarity, rather than mystery. To achieve this, it can be helpful to see a personal side of the counselors, outside of just the school building.
“I really enjoy the students and staff here at Creek,” Julia Collins said. “The idea of including fun in a school day is so important, whether that be activities or chatting with students and staff.”
Collins oversees students with last names starting with D-He. Before becoming a Wildcat, Collins was a performing arts major at Texas A&M, where she was a member of the Aggie Dance Team and worked as an Assistant Dance Director for 10 years at Lee High School. As of now, she has been on the Wildcat staff for six years and is looking forward to more to come.
“I enjoyed building relationships with my students [while teaching],” Collins said. “This is when I realized I had an interest in school counseling.”
Traci Mills, who manages students with last names starting with Sb-Z, also worked as a dance teacher and dance team director for 20 years before coming to Creek.
“I love working with students to help them figure out their path in life,” Mills said.
In addition to Collins and Mills, Ebony Barnett (last names Aa-Cz), Elizabeth Lizama (Hf-Mg), and Stacey Adian (Mh-Sa) are also at school to help students with whatever issues they are facing. There are also the support counselors, Carris Hernandez and Jessika Finney. Kandyce Gailey, the Lead Counselor and Director of College Counseling is also available to help students whenever possible.
At the end of the day, counselors are at school to make it the best possible school it can be, and support students in both their school-related responsibilities and personal lives, the counselors are passionate about their work with students, and do their best every single day to achieve just that. Learning about the counselors opens a new door, one that when stepped through, helps students to foster a more interpersonal relationship with those who are here to make high school life easier.
