As the new school year gets started, Silver Creek welcomes several new students and staff members, including a new school interventionist, Kristi Ehle-Parker. She is replacing Ashlee Gerner, who has moved to the Universal High School program. Although Ms. Ehle-Parker is new to the position, she is most certainly not new to the school!

Ehle-Parker has been working in education for fifteen years. She earned her masters degree in counseling and worked her first counseling job at Silver Creek in 2016, where she was one of the alphabet counselors that help students with their schedules and high school lives.

Although she loved her job, Ehle-Parker was also growing her family, which led to her working part-time as a counselor at Hygiene Elementary.

However, when Ehle-Parker saw that a part-time position had opened up at Silver Creek, she knew it was the best of both worlds. “I absolutely love this school, I love the students, I love the staff. It’s a really good school!” she said.

Her role as an interventionist is very important to students. Ehle-Parker works to reduce harm, increase overall wellness for students, and provide help for all students, whether it’s for those who are in a crisis or not.

“What I would like students to know is that you don’t have to be in crisis or be having severe mental health concerns to come see the interventionist,” she says.

Ehle-Parker is extremely passionate about motivating students to go to school and preventing student dropout rates. She wants to give the students who have no support someone to rely on, a team of supporters made from teachers and faculty who will help keep a student on track and achieve their goals.

“There’s so many awesome teachers in this school… if I can help rally a team around a student who is struggling to graduate, and get them across the line? That’s a passion of mine,”

Another interest of Ehle-Parker’s is self-care. She claims that without taking time for herself on a daily basis, her job would be disheartening. She is a big advocate of taking time to care for physical and mental health. Ehle-Parker encourages students to find what works best for them. She herself does gardening and running as forms of self-care, as well as spending time with the ones she loves and those who support her.

Ehle-Parker wants to provide a place for students to go whenever they just need someone to talk to, whether it be serious or not. She hopes that by building a relationship with the Silver Creek students, she can help them in the future and potentially prevent serious interventions.

Located with the other counselor’s offices, students are invited to walk right into Ehle-Parker’s office whenever they need to. Although they don’t need to schedule an appointment, it’s also important to remember that the school only has one interventionist, who is also part time, so she might not always be available.

Welcoming Kristi Elle-Parker back to Silver Creek is exciting for everyone, old friends and new. With Elle-Parker’s commitment and passion to the Silver Creek community, she will surely make a huge impact on everyone- the students, the staff, and whoever else she may inspire.