Prior to moving to Boise four years ago during the pandemic, Mr. Ben Chambers lived in the cozy, small town of Astoria, Oregon. In Astoria, he ran a private practice until he moved to join us at TVMSC to become our very first counselor. “Since Astoria is a really remote town, part of the reason why I moved to Boise with my family was because I wanted to place a higher priority on my kids’ education,” he explained in an interview. “Once I started working at TVMSC, I was surprised at how fulfilling it was to be back working at schools again.” In the past, he taught English in a public school system.
Mr. Chambers has a wife, who is a kindergarten teacher, and two children currently in 4th and 7th grade, attending Highlands Elementary School and North Junior High School, respectively. One of their favorite family hobbies is to go snowboarding at Bogus Basin. “We loved it so much that we went 32 times last winter,” he laughed. They also enjoy spending time with his mischievous two year old puppy, Puck.
Even though Mr. Chambers is new to TVMSC’s rich community, he without doubt noticed how welcoming the staff and students are at the school. “I left the private practice because it was a little lonely,” he remarked. “But so far, I’m really impressed by how diverse and extraordinary everyone is here.” He also prides himself in having a growth mindset and trying to learn something new every day. To him, the most rewarding part of his job is having positive influences on students, guiding them through difficult times.
Though his experience comes mostly from private counseling, Mr. Chambers’ goal is to reach out to every single student and tailor to their needs for support. “One of the ideas I particularly like to focus on is to disengage students from the idea of anxiety. When someone thinks of themself as not an anxious person, but a mentally growing person, they already feel much less anxious,” he explained. Phone bans were initiated at the beginning of the school year, but Mr. Chambers prefers a different approach. While he does agree that phones are distracting, he feels banning is not the only solution as it may make students more attached to their phones, resulting in cravings at the end of the day. Instead, he suggests a “phone attendance,” where students plug their phone into a wall charger to be counted present in class. “It makes students feel that they’re taking control of their own personal device use, not the school,” he said. It might have a longer lasting effect in the end.
In the future, Mr. Chambers would love to travel to Japan, Italy, and most of all, Australia to visit his longtime friends. He also strives to spend more time with his family and model a healthy understanding of wellness for his own children. As for his career, he hopes to help as many students as possible to cope with their emotions and stay mentally and physically healthy this school year. As he said, “I’m excited that I can be a part of TVMSC’s awesome community and I am glad I can make students’ futures brighter!”
