.jpg)
Launch the media gallery 1 playerHallie Ginther Receives NWMSCA Multi-Level Counselor of the Year Award
April 13, 2023
On April 14, 2023 at the NWMSCA Spring meeting, Nodaway-Holt's own Mrs. Hallie Ginther was presented with the NWMSCA Multi-Level School Counselor of the Year award!
There aren’t enough words to express the impact that Mrs. Ginther has on the Nodaway-Holt School District, its students, staff, and the community. She is always looking for new and innovative ways to reach our students and promote success. Mrs. Ginther doesn’t allow students to settle for mediocrity and pushes them to set goals, take pride in themselves, and strive to be a better person each and every day.
Last year, Mrs. Ginther organized the first annual College & Career Readiness Day.
In the morning, students had the option of taking either the ACT or PreACT, which Mrs. Ginther paid for with money obtained through grants she had written, and seniors that were not taking the ACT went on a job shadow in their field of interest. Students not participating in those three options listened to guest speakers on the following topics:
- Mental Health Awareness with representatives from Northwest Missouri State University
- Skill & Career Assessments with Youth Alliance
- Northwest Career Services
- Cyber Security/Social Media with Deputy McDonald
- Healthy Relationships with Northwest Missouri Children’s Advocacy Task Force and North Star
Following the morning opportunities, a Career Fair was held in the high school gym where 40 different businesses and employers came to speak with Nodaway-Holt students about their career and company, the level of education they had to have to obtain their job, different educational institutions, job locations, salary range, job overview, and job outlook.
Mrs. Ginther took her knowledge of our student’s interest and tailored the fair to meet our student’s needs breaking the fair down into career clusters with multiple representatives from the Health Services, Industrial & Engineering Technology, Human Services, Natural Resources - Agriculture, Business Management & Technology, Arts & Communication, Military, and Colleges, Universities, and Tech School employment fields. Of those eight main career clusters, the clusters were broken down even further with representatives from 25 subcategories.
In addition to the College & Career Readiness Day, this year, Mrs. Ginther has been writing grants to purchase the Character Strong curriculum throughout the entire District. Mrs. Ginther has already held meetings with the Administration Team and both the elementary and high school staff regarding the implementation of the curriculum. The Character Strong initiative will be slowly introduced next school year when the daily schedules can be altered. Mrs. Ginther believes that through the utilization of the Character Strong curriculum we can ensure our students are taking pride in themselves and that we are developing strong independent individuals. A change she feels will have a trickle-down effect, improving grades, attitudes, and the student’s overall outlook on life.
Though Mrs. Ginther is only in her fourth year as a counselor, the positive impact she has had on our District is second to none. Beyond what was previously discussed, Mrs. Ginther also: holds daily counseling sessions, teaches weekly elementary class lessons, conducts routine checkups, has staff check ins on a regular basis, is in charge of the JH/HS Student Council, started an Elementary Student Council, and she organizes and distributes food on Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks to families. Mrs. Ginther's passion for helping others is contagious among the staff and she is at the forefront of innovative ideas to assist students.
Her dedication, love, and compassion for others spreads like a wildfire to those around her, the positive impact she has had on our District encourages others to do the same, and her passion for helping others is uplifting.
Congratulations, Mrs. Ginther on your accomplishment!
