Entering her fourth year, Jamie Mullenhour at Knapp Elementary School is looking forward to supporting her students through another school year. As a counselor, being there for each and every student has always been her priority.
“It’s vital for me to be there and support them as soon as they come into the building,'' Mullenhour said.
With years of experience in social services and private practice, Mullenhour did not initially think about counseling as a career path, but after going through the application process with her collegues' support, she decided to take the leap.
“The opportunity to become a school counselor came up, and they took a chance on me,” she said.
As a counselor at Knapp, Mullenhour gets to start every day with a smile on her face.
“Every morning, I get to greet the kids at the front door, which is so important,” she said. “And if there are any kids that need things in the morning, I can help them.”
If any students need anything whether that is a change of clothes or someone to talk to, Mullenhour welcomes them into her office at any time.
“If needed, I can take kids to my office, and I can spend a few moments with them and assist them in any way,” she said.
Mullenhour’s other responsibilities include visiting classrooms once a week to provide students with social-emotional learning skills through lessons.
“Lessons can include empathy, making friends, or how to handle bullying,” she said. “I spend a large portion of my time in the classroom.”
Mullenhour also supports students by making plans to help them reach their goals.
“We want to make goals for the students that are attainable and start a plan for that goal. I will also work with teachers to see if students reach that goal and see their progress.”
One of Mullenhour’s most notable contributions to Knapp Elementary School has been her hand in guiding students through the transition from elementary school to middle school. Because of the pandemic, the transition for last year’s students was far from traditional, but Mullenhour did not let that get in her way.
“After receiving a grant, I found some books online to do a book study specifically about middle school for our sixth graders, and I reached out to one author to see if we could get a few more books for our students,” she said.
“I spoke to the author about my mission and my grant, and he asked me, ‘How many books do you need?’ and he met the needs of every student and teacher through his foundation.”
Mullenhour said the author ended up donating 90 books to Knapp and will continue to donate for years to come.
Outside of Knapp, Mullenhour is very involved at Purdue University Northwest to speak to psychology students and also to receive interns at the elementary school.
“That has been a very fulfilling experience for me professionally. I’ve always wanted to be an educator in a sense and kind of guide the next generation of people who work in the social science field."