Holden Middle School has enjoyed positive outcomes during the 2020-21 school year. A stroke of luck bounced our way after we had a sudden counselor opening in August. In education, hiring anyone in August is always a gamble. Yet, somehow, we managed to hire a quality counselor from Indiana. Her name is Kerri Hanneken, and as 6th grade counselor, she has made an impact at HMS. Coupled with Kerri, Dan Conner, our other counselor, is now full time at the middle school. Previously, Dan split time between middle and high school, yet now he has evolved into a building leader and makes a strong impact on 7th and 8th grade students and teachers, Dan also serves on the building leadership team and.recently earned an award from the staff. I told him last week, “No one deserves it more than you do!”
Our luck didn’t end with the counselor as we also hired a nurse over the summer. Ashley Tevis has been a great hire, and she runs the new nurse’s office each day with a great work ethic. She’s a team player and blends in with our office personalities just the right way. Let’s not forget Nancy McConville and Arline Aldrich, our two seasoned pros who have been at HMS for a very long time. We lean on them very heavily each and every day, and the building sort of runs itself with those two at the helm. When you throw Kerri, Dan, Ashley, Nancy, and Arline in the mix, I’d say HMS is very lucky indeed to have such a strong front office team. Many talk of 2020 and how unlucky things can be, but for me, there’s been plenty of good outcomes at HMS this school year.
