Monica Sanchez began her role as the new L-Z counselor at MSHS at the beginning of the school year. Sanchez replaced Alicia Strupp, who left at the end of last school year.
Sanchez has always enjoyed working with kids, and previously worked within the Woodland Park school district as a Project Respect facilitator for K-12. When that position ended, she knew she still wanted to work in schools. “I found that I really enjoyed working with the high schoolers, and I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher,” Sanchez said. “So I wondered what I could do while still working with kids in the same capacity, and that led me to counseling.”
After Sanchez’s time in Woodland Park School District, she went back to school in order to obtain her Masters in School Counseling. She then moved to Cripple Creek School District for three years. “I really enjoyed my role there, which was more of a mental health professional position; and I wanted to learn a little bit more about school counseling, so that’s how I ended up here,” Sanchez said.
While Sanchez came to MSHS to learn more about the school counseling side of her career, she also specifically liked how MSHS is a smaller school. “I wanted to still be in a smaller school because relationships are really important to me, and I wanted to be somewhere where I felt like I would be able to see the kids and know who they are,” Sanchez said.
Keerin Wilcox (12), a student who has Sanchez as his counselor, says that he thinks it is important for school counselors to have good relationships with their students. “If you make a good connection with students, they will feel comfortable enough with you to open up to you,” Wilcox said. “That’s a very big part of being a counselor.”
Sanchez believes that it is important for school counselors to be open, inviting and good listeners. “I think it’s important to be non-judgmental because everyone is so different, and confidentiality is huge,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez wants students to know that she is a kind and safe person to talk to. “I’m a quiet person until you get to know me,” Sanchez said. “I’m calm, and you can feel safe and know that you can come in. Confidentiality is also something that is big to me.”
Christopher Lewis, the MSHS A-K counselor, describes Sanchez as a soft spoken person with a good mental health background. He feels that her past experiences and jobs within schools has helped her succeed at MSHS. “She is used to working at a small school district like Manitou because she worked at Cripple Creek,” Lewis said, “so she has actually acclimated very well.”
Lewis’s best advice for Sanchez is to maintain a willingness to learn and grow within new responsibilities and opportunities. “Stay as long as you can, but also have a willingness to grow,” Lewis said.
Sanchez feels that she has enjoyed being at MSHS so far, and that she is excited to grow in role at this school. “I am just getting to know everyone and learning so much because every position is so different,” Sanchez said. “There’s a lot to learn here.”
