Shelly Gates thrives when helping the Region’s students. Gates has been a guidance counselor at Portage High School for four years, and has spent her life working with young people.
“I’ve worked with kids for decades, whether that was through Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, or Sunday school. I’ve always loved helping people,” Gates said.
Gates decided to pursue a career in counselling after her youngest graduated high school.
“After my youngest graduated, I decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in school counseling,” Gates said. “I wanted to be there for the kids. No matter what the situation is, I wanted to the person that was there for them.”
Gates’ job as a counselor involves juggling many projects.
“What my job entails changes every month. One month, I’m helping with ISTEP testing, then the next I’m helping set up volunteering opportunities,” Gates said.
Gates recalled a humorous moment from when she was in school.
“I remember when I was in high school, I think I saw my counselor twice,” Gates said. “One was for a generic college question and the other was because I was sent to his office because I was upset in class. I sat in his office, and he wasn’t helpful at all. He just had me cry it out and sent me back to class. I look back on that and wish I had a counselor that actually cared and tried to help students.”
Gates finds joy in the one-on-one interactions with students.
“Regardless of the reason students come into my office, I want to help them succeed wherever they are struggling.”
Gates runs many programs for students as part of her job at Portage High School. One such responsibility is to make sure students that are part of the 21st Century Scholars program maintain their grades and build a strong college portfolio for students. Her hard work and dedication to the students provide a sense of structure and stability for those who may lack them.
“Whether the students need someone to talk to about their grades or something else that’s on their mind, I try my best to be a good listener and give them the best advice I can.”
Gates’ job was directly impacted by COVID-19’s derailment of the Region’s school year.
“We had to change a lot of things up this year, as we were exclusively doing e-learning throughout the first quarter of the school year,” Gates said. “Most of my meetings were through Google Meet, and with the kids coming back into school now, I still do a lot of online meetings to keep traffic around the office decently low.”
Through all of the adjustments made, Gates is keeping a positive outlook on the future of the school year.
“As long as we all do our part, this will pass.”