It was the Monday after Spring Break, and Horizon Middle School’s sixth graders had energy to spare. At lunch, the cafeteria was filled with students yelping and laughing and reconnecting after a week of vacation.

School counselor Abby Wilson roamed through the sea of antsy kids, matching their energy and greeting them with a big smile and a relentlessly upbeat attitude.

“Jason, did you get a haircut? It looks so nice, dude!” “Hey, I missed you last week!”

Wilson said she loves working with middle schoolers because, as she jokingly put it, “these kids are the same brand of crazy as me.”

“I think I was drawn to the chaos, which probably says something weird about me!” she said, laughing. “I just really love their zany energy.”

Since 2021, Wilson – a fourth-generation educator – has helped students grow into their best selves and survive the sometimes-challenging middle school years. Her biggest hope is that students leave Horizon with the ability to deal with conflict, be a good friend, and ask for help when they need it.

“Self-advocacy, I think, is so important,” Wilson said. “The rest can be figured out, but if people don’t know if you’re struggling, it’s hard to help!”

Every day, a handful of students visit Wilson’s office to talk about life and work through their problems. It’s a cozy space with all sorts of creature comforts – snacks, fidget toys, stuffed animals – meant to make a wide range of students feel welcome and therefore open to sharing.

“Some topics can be very scary to talk about, so making your space welcoming to all kids is important,” Wilson said. “Not every kid wants a cup of tea, but some kids might; for the most part, you’re going to catch 90% of kids with something.”

In these meetings, Wilson asks students a few guiding questions about their life to ease them into the conversation. Usually, if a student is reticent to dive into their problem, these questions may bring something to light.

Students visit Wilson for a wide variety of reasons. For example, one student explained how he was having issues with being late to class because he couldn’t remember where his classes were. After some brainstorming, Wilson came up with a solution: writing his classroom numbers on each side of a pencil.

“I’m really glad you’re being proactive and checking in with me so that we can make a plan,” Wilson told the student.

Another student, after a brief chat about spring break, vented to Wilson about a classmate who was annoying her with pranks and rude behavior. The two of them came up with some solutions for how to not let this peer ruin her mood.

“I could be wrong … but I don’t think this needs to ruin our whole day,” Wilson said to the student, as the two of them laughed. “One of the things that’s really important for us to do in life is to protect our peace, and not let other people mess that up.”

Wilson said the most rewarding part of her job is when a student she works with shows notable progress throughout the school year. She shared multiple examples of “kiddos who fight like heck”, such as one girl who started the year having frequent conflicts with her peers. By the spring, after a lot of work, she had become a different person.

“You come in one morning and see this girl, and she’s just eating breakfast by herself – and not in a sad way, but in a ‘I’m going to choose time for myself and not get involved in the drama’ kind of way,” Wilson said, beaming. “And I was like, she’s self-advocating! You’re doing the thing!”

Michelle Townsdin, Wilson’s counseling partner at Horizon, said Wilson was a natural fit for middle school counseling.

“She has a warm and bubbly personality – kids really gravitate to that,” Townsdin said. “She’s just so kind, and kids really like having a kind adult to go to.”

Horizon students also praised Wilson for helping them through some tough times and always being there to talk.

“She’s funny, she’s smart, and she’s so friendly,” said sixth grader Myla Higgins. “She’s an awesome person.”

“She always has a good opinion about how to handle situations, and that really helps me,” added eighth grader Puneet Brar. “I love Ms. Wilson!”