If a student ever needs a schedule change, college help, social or mental guidance, graduation preparation, or everything in between, the guidance counselors are here to help.

Counselor Ami Marcinek has been working at Crown Point High School since 2009, and has ensured countless students have all of their needs throughout high school.

“I worked at a school in Hammond for my first job,” Marcinek said. “But we moved to Crown Point, so I guess working at Crown Point was just natural. My husband works here, so it was nice that we worked in the same place, and I knew eventually my kids would go through here.”

Before Marcinek was a counselor, she was a speech teacher, but inevitably switched over after the rule of having to be a teacher before becoming a counselor changed.

“When I was in high school, I was very intrigued by counseling, but at the time you had to be a teacher first and I did not originally want to be a teacher,” Marcinek said. “But then after several years, they changed the rule.”

With a school so large, it can be difficult for the counselors to manage everyone and ensure all students are on the path to graduate.

“The amount of kids that need assistance can be challenging,” Marcinek said. “It’s so hard to meet everybody’s needs efficiently. I feel like there’s just so many kids, you have more on your plate than you feel like you can handle, but we do it. The kids are worth it.”

Marcinek, despite her full plate, works with students daily to help them with their academic, social, mental, and emotional needs.