Chit Chat with Ms. Olechowski

Ms. Jaime Olechowski is one of our school's many great guidance counselors. She is currently a guidance counselor for Humanities Honor Academy. She attended Persons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School while growing up in Flushing, Queens. She chose to teach math for a year at her junior high school because she wasn't sure and wanted to experiment with her career after college. She was told by a cousin who worked at Hillcrest High School that she would prefer high school to middle school. 

She worked as a substitute teacher from 1999 to 2002 prior to that. One of the counselors here became friends with her, and she advised her that she might enjoy being a counselor more than a substitute teacher. She took her friend's advice, and earned a degree as a counselor in 2006, and came back to work as one. Although she has worked at Hillcrest High School for 18 years, her total tenure is 20 years. Developing a close relationship with the children is Ms. Olechowski's favorite aspect of her job; on the other hand, the amount of paperwork she must complete is the most challenging part of her job. Upon asked if she had ever considered quitting her job or the school, she replied that she had considered leaving the school on occasion, but never her career because she enjoyed working with other children. She was invited to express any final thoughts with the reader and audience before the interview ended. Thus, her message was, "I hope the students do the same. The staff is working very hard to change how the students of this school are being portrayed in the media. I'm very sad about that." 

All of the students at the school respect and admire Ms. Olechowski, who has a fantastic reputation. A student who wishes to remain anonymous claimed that her schedule was the reason she was having the worst school year, but Ms. Olechowski was kind and accommodating. The student saw her multiple times a day and she never once sent her away. Her school year went considerably better as a result of her patience. During our interview, she mentioned how much she appreciated and connected with the students. She is also a really thoughtful individual. She always takes time out of her day to help the students.