Meet Northwest’s Counselors
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Northwest High School has four amazing counselors this year– Mrs. Gersdorf, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Vogt, and Mrs. Walker.
Mrs. Gersdorf is Northwest’s counselor for students with last names A-B. Gersdorf loved science in high school and went to college to be a geneticist but when she got to college she realized she did not have the study skills to be in a science major. Gersdorf had a friend on her dorm floor who was an education major and, who talked about all her classes. Mrs. Gersdorf thought it sounded like a lot of fun so she switched to an education major, After college she became a special education teacher for eight years before getting her master’s in counseling and becoming a counselor at Northwest.
Gersdorf said, “Every day is different, that’s one of the things I love about the job is you come in the day and you think okay I have to do this, this and this, and then like your whole day shifts because you know, somebody’s having a crisis and you have to help them through.”
She also mentioned that what the counselors do depends on the time of year, she said October was a lot of meetings with seniors and helping them with applications, making sure they have transcripts placed and writing recommendation letters. In November, it is a lot of helping students with schedule changes.
Some fun facts about Mrs. Gersdorf are that her favorite season is summer, her favorite song is Scenes From An Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel and some hobbies she has are puzzles, reading and traveling. She is currently trying to visit all fifty states, her favorite place she has traveled to so far is Boston, Maine for her honeymoon.
Gersdorf stated, “Dont be afraid to come talk to your counselor, if you want an adult to know about something that’s going on in your life but you’re not sure what adult you should tell or get involved come see a counselor because we have seen a lot of things and we can help be an ally for you. Sometimes I think young adults think that they can handle stuff themselves or by talking to another friend about things and I wish they would come talk to us because we are older and more experienced, we’re trained in this area so we can help you navigate challenging situations that you don’t have to take on yourself.”
Mrs. Walker is Northwest High School’s counselor for students with last names J-PG. Walker said, “The highs [of counseling] are seeing kids excited about learning in classes that they’re taking and being successful learners and love being in this building. The lows are definitely some of those challenges that teenagers face that you try to help them navigate through and some of them are very heartbreaking and hard to talk about but I love being a person that kids feel like they can come and talk to about those lows with.”
Walker also said, “I would say more that we are here for them [students] in those challenging days not just to look at classes and post-secondary planning but for just the everyday challenges that students face.”
Fun Facts about Mrs. Walker are that the color of her life right now is blue because she loves our school colors, her favorite movie is Overboard with Goldie Hawn and her favorite holiday is the Fourth of July because her family gets together and has a large celebration on the lake.
Northwest counselors contribute a lot to our school, so remember that they are there to help you and they are passionate about helping you so do not forget to thank them.