Super Counselor: Lori Minamyer

Super Counselor: Lori Minamyer, La Sierra High School, Riverside, CA

Nominator: Hollie Dunn, student

La Sierra High School Guidance Counselor Lori Minamyer never turns down a student in need.  When student Hollie Dunn was feeling overwhelmed by the college admissions process her senior year, Minamyer was there to help.

 “My counselor always had it under control,” Dunn said.

For Minamyer, part of having things ‘under control’ means making sure every student has the guidance they require, no matter how many students there are.

“I had so many questions and deadlines that I had to meet [senior year],” Dunn said, “and my counselor, who has at least 500 other kids to be concerned with as well, always had time for me.”

Minamyer is also more than willing to step in for counselors who are unavailable and to help students to whom she is not technically assigned, Dunn said.

And she doesn’t stop with students.

When Dunn’s family was considering the financial cost of college, “my counselor was there not only for me, but for my mom as well,” Dunn said. “She helped us find scholarship programs and also called the schools I was interested in [to see] what they could do for me.”

Minamyer’s super-human ability to juggle the needs of many students with poise and determination is why she is our Super Counselor.