Passion, Purpose, and Advocacy: An Interview with Ms. Elie, School Social 

By Gabriella Shalmiyev

What do you like about your job?

“What I like about my job is the various areas I can work in.  A social worker can work in  the medical field, the legal field, 

and the educational field. We have so many options. So for me that's why chose it because I like having options and I like working close to people and in this school I can do that.”

What made you want to apply for this job?

“What made me want to work for it was before being a social worker I used to work as a paraprofessional in DOE at a different school and while I was working there,I was on the path to be a teacher but I realized I didn't want to be a teacher. That's not what my gift is. My gift was connecting to people having a person-centered approach.So I started looking into different roles in the DOE that fit what I wanted to do and when I saw a social worker,I connected to a social worker that was working at my school and we bonded. She kind of motivated me to go forward with this career.”

Do you think you're still going to work here for the next 10 years?

“I hope so, that's the goal! If not, you know I would still be in the DOE but things happen so you never know but the  plan is to stay here.”

Out of all the jobs you listed, 

which one is your favorite?

“I like this one better, being a school social worker. Then the second one would be a therapist because that's really hands-on and you're working with people who really depend on you to help them get through whatever they're dealing with and then the third one will be the legal advocate for people. I love advocating for people.”

When you had to coach for the volleyball team do you like that as one of your jobs?

“Yes, it was so much fun cause I learned how to be a coach from Ms.K. Ms.K was the one that taught me and Ms.Mohamed what to do and pretty much approached us for it.”

Is volleyball coming back?

“Lets see we would like to bring it back next year and we're gonna bring it back in a way where we have an actual season planned out. Have games planned out. It's gonna be more structured.”