Now in her second year at Stoller, Shannon Foxley came late to school counseling. Following a varied career that included six years working in a residential home for emotionally disturbed children, Foxley knew she wanted to work with young teens in a school setting. She received her Master’s in School Counseling in 2004, became a Nationally Certified Counselor, and landed at Stoller last year. And she couldn’t be happier. “I really, really love my job,” she said. “I love that it’s never the same. I never know what I’m going to walk into on any given day. I like that I have to be on my toes all
the time.”

A black belt and instructor in the Indonesian martial art of Poekoelan Tjimindie Tulen, Foxley believes her strength is an ability to listen to young teens without being
judgemental and to tap her “inner immaturity” to relate to them. A sixth grader recently sent her a note saying in part, “You speak to me fi rmly, but softly. And you always made sense,” indicating an ability to speak on the kids’ level. She taped the note to the door of her martial arts locker.

With a case load of about 400 students, Foxley meets individually with students to listen
and guide them through academic or social issues. She also teaches classroom lessons on topics like bully-proofi ng, diversity and forecasting. Of particular interest to her is working with 8th graders on the transition to high school. She teaches a lesson on grade point average, and the future consequences of failing classes at the high school level.
Having worked previously with some of society’s most emotionally traumatized kids, Foxley believes she brings valuable perspective to her job and can talk with authority to parents about what behaviors are “normal or not.”

She also appreciates working in a District that values the role of counseling, and she attributes her award to both that value and the colleagues who support her work.
“I was so surprised (about the honor), because I work in a building with amazingly
competent people,” she said. “I’m the new kid on the block. I’m good at my job, but only
because of the talented people I work with.”