Quitman High School is proud to have a new counselor, Emma Kate Williams, this year.
Emma Kate already has a strong history with the school district. She attended school at Quitman while growing up and eventually graduated from Quitman High School. Once she graduated from college with her teaching degree, she returned to Quitman to provide the best education she could to its many great students.
“I’m working in my tenth year with Quitman School District now. For nine years, I’ve been at Quitman Lower Elementary,” stated Emma Kate. “Two of those years, I taught second grade. For the past seven years, I’ve been the music teacher because they needed someone for that position.”
A few years ago, she chose to continue her education and add a new field to her license. Although she had a few obstacles in her way thanks to the pandemic, she eventually saw an opportunity and took it. Now, she is excited to be in a new position and is thrilled to see where she has come full circle in the field of education.
“A few years ago, I decided to go back to school and get my masters in school counseling because it’s something I always wanted to pursue. I had just never taken the time to do it before. Being a school counselor was always my goal. Covid hit, and I couldn’t really apply anywhere when I graduated. This year, the counselor position at the high school came open, and I decided I would apply. I’m the freshman and sophomore counselor now,” explained Emma Kate. “What is really neat is the freshmen and sophomores are the first group of kids I had when I first started teaching, so it’s like I’ve made it a full circle. I get to have them all over again.”
Her new position has been a big adjustment for her, but she truly loves her job and everything she does. She enjoys being able to work with the students and make a difference in their lives in a whole new way.
“Going from the little ones at the elementary over to the high school has been a whole new world, but it has been an awesome change. I’ve loved working with the different age groups. I mainly help with academics and mentor student behavior,” informed Emma Kate. “My favorite thing about it is that I get to meet all these new faces every day, and every day is completely different. There’s never a dull moment. There are always students standing at my door ready to greet me every morning, and that’s exciting. It’s been fun. I’m getting to meet with my kids individually now. I’m getting to have a part in their future and the next step in their lives. It’s just been really empowering getting to help them plan for their future. I just love my job. There’s honestly not anything bad I could say about it. I just enjoy everything about it.”
While she does love her job, she does have a few challenges. She remains optimistic and knows that the challenges are simply from her being new to the position, and she knows that there is a way to overcome each one.
“The most challenging thing I have to do is just juggling all the different duties. Some days there are so many things to do that you just have to find what’s most important and start there,” said Emma Kate. “When I first started, scheduling classes was very tedious because it took me a while really grasp it.”
She is not alone as counselor, though. Emma Kate works alongside the junior and senior counselor and is grateful to have someone who already has experience in counseling to help guide and mentor her.
“I’ve had Ms. Daniels, the junior and senior counselor, and she’s been a great mentor for me,” explained Emma Kate. “She’s been with me to answer any questions I have. It’s been nice to have someone who’s had experience there to help me.”
She is very excited to be in this new role, and she truly loves each student that she works with. She has a desire to see all of her students be successful and does everything that she can to encourage and support them so that they can achieve their dreams in life. Other than the general work she is required to do each day, Emma Kate has one main goal when she goes to work each day:
“I just want to make kids feel like they are capable of whatever they want to do and be whatever they want to be,” emphasized Emma Kate.
