Next Step Magazine's Super Counselor Contest — March '08 winner

Super Counselor: Aletha Dresback, International Baccalaureate (IB) Program guidance counselor and coordinator at Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Verde, Fla.

Nominator: Student Alyssa Wang

In the eyes of her students, Aletha Dresback is not only a Super Counselor, but a superhero, too. “Maybe Mrs. Dresback really is Superwoman in disguise,” says Alyssa Wang, a student at Allen D. Nease High School. “Who else could write 101 IB senior college applications, keep track of IB schoolwork deadlines, get out information to the entire class and have a baby all at the same time?”

Dresback, the International Baccalaureate Program guidance counselor and coordinator at Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Verde, Fla., was worried at first about falling out of touch with students by leaving the classroom to become a counselor. “Boy was I wrong,” she says. “I love my job because it allows me to work with students on all aspects of their lives from academics to personal to colleges and everything in between. I feel a great sense of pride when one of my students gets accepted into their first-choice college.”

Not only does Dresback write recommendation letters for her students, sponsor an internship program and coordinate the IB program, but she is there for her students even if they just need advice. “Although she has so much work, she still takes the time to help you with whatever you need,” Wang says. “She will put aside her work for a moment just to listen to whatever problems you have.”

Nominate a Super Counselor at http://www.nextSTEPmag.com/SuperCounselor.