Counselors are not often idolized for the impacts they make on the lives of students. They work behind the scenes to advise students on not only academic goals, but personal goals as well. School counselors work tirelessly to help and encourage students to succeed. Without them, we would not be able to have assigned schedules, knowledge about high school requirements, or gain advice for the classes we’re interested in taking. They impact the daily lives of AHS students and AHS overall by being friendly, approachable people students can go to whenever they have concerns regarding their schedules, classes, or anything else school related. Mrs. Tammie Snaer, one of the current AHS counselors for the class of 2019, is a noteworthy example of an “Unsung Hero”.

Mrs. Tammie Snaer works daily, from Monday to Friday during operating school hours. She is available at the AHS Counselor of the Day desk for immediate access on Mondays. To be specific, Mrs. Snaer is most familiar working with students with last names from A to Lim in the class of 2019. Working long hours at AHS each day, she is clearly a dedicated counselor who puts in all her effort to help the students of AHS. One of her busiest week is programming week, when she has to guide students through program planning, inputting their classes for next year into the computer one by one. Some of her favorite things about being a counselor are “getting to know [her] students and families over 4 years, being excited when they get accepted to college, and watching them graduate”. She is also thankful for her “very supportive and fun colleagues [she gets] to see everyday”. To overcome the hardships and difficulties from her job when aspects of it are “emotionally challenging and unfortunately do not turn off when she gets outside of office hours”, she says she is fortunate to have  a very supportive family and many friends who keep her centered and grounded.

Other than working as a counselor, Mrs. Snaer is also an alternate staff member for the Arcadia School Site Council (SSC), a group of teachers, parents, and students that establish school improvement programs and budgets. She not only works to counsel students but also contributes to the society overall, since SSC works to benefit a variety of school programs.

Counselors should be more acknowledged and appreciated for all the hardships they’ve gone through to make our high school careers successful. Mrs. Snaer cares and works tirelessly for her students to ensure their success. And for all your hard work and dedication, we truly thank you.

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Photo courtesy of TAMMIE SNAER