La Grande Pride
www.lagrandesd.org • March 2020
11
DISTINGUISHED FACULTY
LGSD honors School Counselor Teresa Dowdy
By Trish Yerges
advocate for
also praised
kids, creating
Dowdy’s per-
Few school counselors
programs that
formance as a
can say that they have
are highly valu-
counselor. “Te-
been nationally recog-
able for them.”
resa is one of
nized for their exemplary
In the coun-
the key persons
work as a professional
seling role, Bax-
that makes the
school counselor, but
ter observed
machine go,” he
that’s true of the La
how tenacious
said. “She has
Grande High School’s
and unrelent-
a great atten-
Dowdy
Teresa Dowdy, who was
ing Dowdy has
tion to detail
one of three counselors in been in advo-
and to doing
Oregon to win this na-
cating for the students.
what’s right for kids.”
tional honor.
“Behind closed doors she
But Dowdy’s impact at
She was honored with
spends literally hours
school goes beyond the
the 2019-20 College
with kids who are having student body. “She does
Board Counselor Recog-
troubles or even to the
our staff wellness and
nition Award during the
extent where they may
college career night, and
National School Counsel- be in crisis,” he said.
she’s the first one to hop
ing Week, February 3-7.
The mental health
in when a staff member
The award recognized
aspect has become such
has a loss or when we’re
Dowdy as an exemplary
a big part of what coun-
doing a lunch or any kind
school counseling profes- selors do every day and
of staff culture climate,
sional, who has proven
Dowdy has become a
making the school feel
to be a lifelong learner,
really reliable support to good,” Smith said.
collaborator, advocate, in- the students. In terms of
Dowdy is quick to vol-
novator and results-ori-
academic guidance, she
unteer, and she does that
ented counselor, commit- has been tracking their
out of the goodness of her
ted to student success
credits, helping them
heart, he added.
and opportunity.
remain on track for grad-
“She has a gift for tak-
Dowdy has been work- uation and making sure
ing care of people, staff
ing for the La Grande
they get scholarships
members,” said Smith.
School District for about
toward their next step of “It has made her suc-
27 years, teaching jour-
education.
cessful at the high school
nalism, business and
Dowdy is the counselor with what she’s done.
yearbook, but also as a
for both the freshman
She has a huge heart and
volleyball coach for years, and junior classes, abou
wants to help.”
and since 2007 as a coun- 350 students. She will
Dowdy has remains
selor. LHS Principal
follow them so that next
connected with the stu-
Brett Baxter has worked year she’ll have sopho-
dents through volleyball
with her for about 18 of
mores and seniors. Stay- and in her office. “The
those years.
ing with the same stu-
kids know she will lis-
“She is absolutely stu-
dents so she really knows ten to them and help
dent centered,” said Bax- them.
them with whatever
ter. “I’ve always known
LHS Assistant Prin-
they need,” Smith added.
her to be an outstanding cipal Brett Smith
“They also know that she
will hold them account-
able, yet love them and
do whatever she can for
them. It’s a really good
gift that she’s got.”
One of her counseling
colleagues, Chelsee Ro-
han, has known Dowdy
for over 20 years.
“Teresa is an excep-
tionally hard worker,”
she said. “She spends
many hours at school
working for kids, families
and fellow teachers, and
she goes to lots of differ-
ent conferences outside
the walls of school to find
helpful things for stu-
dents at our school, ways
to support them.”
Her dedication to the
kids and their families
is a top priority. It’s not
unusual to find Dowdy
working from 7:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. and at lots
of evening activities and
events at the school.
“She is a great ad-
vocate for people who
maybe are marginalized
in our world in some
ways,” said Rohan. “She
really advocates for stu-
dents, families and her
colleagues when she feels
they need someone in
their corner.”
Dowdy is a life-long
learner and is constantly
getting trained through
reading and learning
new methods and then
utilizing those methods
as a counselor at LHS.
Rohan said that Dowdy
really cares about people,
what happens to them
and how she can help
them.
Consequently, step-
ping into the role of Staff
Wellness Coordinator
comes as no surprise to
her colleagues. “With the
district’s Wellness grant
that they received last
year, she’s on the Well-
ness committee for the
district and then also for
LHS, she’s the coordina-
tor,” said Rohan. “She has
a lot of fun organizing
events like our (current)
weight loss challenge.”
Though Dowdy is very
modest about her rec-
ognition awards, Rohan
said that she’s also won
a “Leadership in Coun-
seling” award in 2018
through the Oregon
School Counselor Asso-
ciation. In addition, she
has won an award from
the La Grande Cham-
ber of Commerce for her
amazing work of raising
thousands of dollars for
the LHS athletic depart-
ment and their activities.
Dowdy’s colleagues
and other LHS staff find
it a pleasure to work
with her, and they share
Smith’s sentiments. “Peo-
ple like Teresa are in-
valuable and sometimes
few and far between,” he
said. “She’s awesome.”