From writing recommendation letters and sending transcripts for seniors, to crafting introductory college presentations for freshman, Director of College and Career Jeannie Walls is a highly sought after person on campus. Previously the only college counselor, Walls has an infinite number of tasks to be completed on any given day.
“Lots and lots of emails. I read essays, [send] secondary school reports, letters of recommendation, scholarships, financial aid, SAT, ACT, graduation, AP exams, I order all of them,” Walls said.
While her office in the library is filled with binders to organize the multiple tasks she is responsible for, the job itself is challenging.
“Here, it is a demanding clientele, there are high expectations and high aspirations,” Walls said. “Students here are looking at elite schools that require very specific and specialized documents.”
Not to mention that students are, on average, applying to more schools now than ever, with ten or more applications far from uncommon.
However, Walls’ workload is about to change. With winter break over and students back into the school routine, there is a new face in the college counseling office. The school has hired another counselor to aid Walls, previously the only staff member specializing in helping students with their collegiate aspirations.
“We’re hiring a new person because the first graduating class was 170, now we’re at 280 and expanding,” Walls said. “I offered many services at a high quality with 170 kids, now I’m doing good to get through my emails.”
But while the school’s enrollment has increased, Walls’ ability to offer a high level of college counseling has been put in jeopardy. It’s a possibility the school does not want to see come to fruition.
“The pure numbers require an additional staff person to help with college counseling; it’s a lot for her [Walls],” Principal Gavan Goodrich said. “The bottom line is, we need another person to maintain the quality of college counseling our students require.”
That is where Clark Mitchell comes in. The newest addition to the college counseling team, Mitchell was previously a representative at Texas State University and Texas A&M Commerce. Here on campus, he brings experience on the other side of the college admissions process and hopes it will serves students here.
“Taking what I’ve learned on the college side, and making sure I can help the students here at Lovejoy see and ask those extra questions to help them stand in front of other students when they’re looking to attend a university,” Mitchell said.
His work at the college level is what made Mitchell a natural fit here.
“He comes to us with nine years of experience working at small private schools and large public schools,” Goodrich said.
Mitchell will have a similar role to Walls, but the dual effort will ideally allow a counselor to be in the office at all times for assistance.
“He is really going to focus on helping to grow the program, (I’m out of my office two to three weeks at a time) to do a lot of stuff with the seniors and get them ready. The college application process will be his main function,” Walls said.
Walls is enthusiastic about college counseling becoming a tag team effort.
“I am very excited, he and I work wonderfully together,” Walls said. “He is extremely involved in state and national college associations, and he brings an expertise because he’s worked on the other side.”
“I’m really looking forward to working with the students on their future endeavors with application process, looking at different schools, seeing what they would like to do, and what school might be the best fit for them,” Mitchell said
