November 7, 2025 // Local

Marian Counselors Offer Safe, Supportive Environment

Todays Catholic

From helping students prepare for college to personal counseling, the faculty and staff at Marian High School in Mishawaka strive to create kind, dependable, and respectful students. Within the counseling department alone, students are encouraged and supported to become successful and faithful individuals.

The counselors at Marian are knowledgeable professionals who want to help students become the best they can be – academically, socially, and mentally. In the Counseling Department at Marian, there are three guidance counselors along with other staff members with more specific roles. Each guidance counselor has an assigned group of students, arranged alphabetically. Each counselor has approximately 400 students under their guidance, and they meet with each student at least once during the academic year for class scheduling unless a student requests to meet regularly.

Moreover, Marian has an academic coach who helps students achieve success in the classroom. Additionally, Marian has a guidance counselor who specializes in college preparation and meets with seniors who need help finding colleges that fit their needs and applying for admission. 

Many students feel that the counseling offices are decorated to look friendly and inviting, which makes the students feel safe and comfortable. According to several counselors, the decor of the offices can help students feel welcomed and not nervous about speaking about their challenges.

Besides the fact that Marian’s counselors are fun, encouraging, and caring, they are good at guiding students through mental health issues and scheduling classes. Mrs. Abbi Stratton, one of Marian’s counselors, described the counseling office as a “safe, supportive, and welcoming environment” to which students can bring their emotions and difficulties and be fully supported. To add to that, Stratton said she likes that she can involve Jesus into her social/emotional conversations with students and staff members. She mentioned that bringing the Lord into her counseling is a beautiful and important part of her job, which she said is why she applied for a job at Marian. Stratton described her role as “discipleship,” saying that she feels like she is not only supporting students as they grow to be adults but also as they grow in their faith lives.

Several in the counseling office said that they love getting to share special moments with the students and watching them grow into the people God called them to be. Stratton talked about the importance of bonding with the students and building relationships with them to further support them throughout their school careers.

Students at Marian commented that the school community helps set them up for social and emotional success in the real world. Marian’s no cellphone policy truly helps the atmosphere at the school to be less toxic and less mentally draining. Moreover, the students say the counselors are very supportive in contacting parents and working with families to best support their students.

Mental health counseling is important for students and teachers to have readily available to them. Not all of Marian’s faculty and students have resources outside of school for counseling, so it is important that we have these counselors here for us. As Stratton says, Marian “makes mental health seem less overwhelming and less stigmatized” and the school “creates a safe environment for students and staff members”. 

Not only is a counseling department needed for social and emotional support, but also for scheduling and planning. The staff within the department spends much of their time helping to guide students as they schedule classes for the following academic year. Additionally, the counselors help to provide support for students who have suffered various injuries through sports or otherwise, including students who have been diagnosed with concussions. Stratton said it can be hard for a student to have an injury, especially if it involves avoiding screens, which are often found in classrooms across the country. It is her job, as an advocate for the students, to help the injured students keep up their grades and be successful during class. 

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Marian “makes mental health seem less overwhelming and less stigmatized” and the school “creates a safe environment for students and staff members”.

Abbie Stratton

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It can be difficult for someone to earn the trust of a high school student, but several students said the counselors at Marian have done just that. The students interviewed for this article said they feel comfortable not only talking about friend issues or scheduling issues but also deep, important issues at home or school. Stratton explained that helping students through these issues, whether large or small, is the best part of her job, especially when she sees them succeed. Several students who have gone through difficult things in their lives have become better versions of themselves after working with Marian’s counselors.  

The counselors at Marian are caring people who go out of their way to support their students, acting as advocates and mentors. Without our team of counselors, our Marian family would not be whole.  

McKenna Rousseve is a sophomore at Marian High School.