Everyone should know this by now, but Mrs. Bierden is Granby’s high school guidance counselor. On a daily basis, she does her best to make sure that each and every student is happy at school. Whether that be adjusting someone’s schedule, or helping to fix a bad situation, Mrs. Bierden is on it. She helps with everyone, from freshman to seniors, even the middle-school students sometimes.

Mrs. Beirden knew that she wanted to be a guidance counselor ever since she was in 10th grade, after a significant life event occurred.

“When I went to my guidance counselor for support, she dismissed my feelings,” says Bierden. It was from this moment on that she knew that she wanted to work with high school students and give them an opportunity for their voice to be heard in a safe and supportive environment.

Mrs. Bierden’s primary role every day is to support students with their classes. She meets daily with students, parents, and teachers, as well as administration in a supportive role, or sometimes as a sounding board. She assists students not only with their high school planning, but also with what they will do once they graduate.

“I usually come in with a plan of what I think my day is going to look like,” says Bierden, “but what I do depends on what comes through my door, and [it] can be different every day.”

For Mrs. Bierden, the first two weeks of school are the busiest. She is meeting with her seniors to discuss their post high school plans, meeting with new students, meeting her sophomores officially now that they are on her caseload, and meeting with students about their schedules. Mrs. Bierden also says that the last month of school is also extremely busy for her. She is checking to make sure her seniors are graduating. She is assisting with awards ceremonies, graduation, and she is working on the schedule for the following year and wrapping up the school year with her underclassmen.

This job would be much too difficult for one person. Fortunately, Mrs. Bierden has Ms. Justin right across the office. “Ms. Justin is my right hand gal,” says Mrs. Bierden. Ms. Justin takes care of so many things for her and makes her job a lot easier. Ms. Justin keeps track of students’ concerns and makes sure I follow up with students, teachers and parents. She keeps Mrs. Bierden organized, and she is her own personal sounding board when she needs to bounce ideas off of someone. She is instrumental in making sure all transcripts are ready for the seniors and that grades are ready for progress reports and report cards. She helps her with all of my planning for awards and student events.

“I couldn’t do my job without her.”

For Mrs. Bierden, her biggest accomplishment is when a student thanks her for all the work she did for them. “For some it was simply writing their college recommendations but for others it is being their daily cheerleader or a shoulder to lean on.” While she would still do it without the thank yous, it definitely makes her feel as though she helped in some small way to get her students across the stage on graduation.

I, on behalf of the Daily Dino, would like to extend a thank you to Mrs. Bierden for everything that she has done, not only for me, but for everyone she has helped during her career. I hope she gets her well deserved rest this summer vacation; I’m sure it can’t come soon enough.