MURRAY, Neb – The week of February 6th through the 10th is National School Counseling Week. National School Counseling Week is celebrated the first full week of February and it is a time where we take a week to appreciate our school counselors and what they do for the students. Conestoga’s Laurel Kreifels has been the school counselor at Conestoga for nine years and has done a lot to help the students.

Many students throughout the school year go through something that takes a toll on their mental health. School counselors offer individual counseling and help to each student. Kreifels says her proudest accomplishments are “seeing students grow and being able to advocate for themselves.”

Kreifels also says that in her nine years of counseling, she is very proud of the new systems and events put into place to help with the college and career readiness of the students. She says it is very important to her that students know that she is here for the student whether it be academic, college, career, or mental health. Throughout school counselor week Kreifels announced to students over the intercom that she is free to talk about the students’ futures and if they had any questions. Kreifels would also like to share that not everyday is the same, she says it’s nice to have variety and flexibility.

It is important for students to know that they have counselors that promote success for their future and are open to talk about their mental health. Talking to a counselor is a great opportunity to open up about future plans and opportunities. Counselors help students more than they could ever imagine and you can almost all of the time rely on them.