My School Counselor Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lindsay Pinkelman
This podcast is meant to help parents and students realize there is not one way to earn an athletic scholarship to college. We talk about the athletic journey, how to get noticed by schools, the emotions around being recruited and careers. I am a former collegiate athlete with 13 years experience as a School Counselor and I am bringing on guests and using my experience to show you everybody has their own journey!
Lincoln Pinkelman is a 9-year-old from Delta Junction Alaska and is our middle son. We sit down and talk about what hockey is like from his viewpoint and his passion for the game. Listen to find out about an awesome opportunity he was invited to try out for and the adversity he faced trying to get to it. I learned some things in this episode and I hope you do too!
Find out more about The Brick and the 2013 team here:
https://www.westernselectshockey.com/
Meet the "Real-life most interesting man", according to the Chive!
And interesting he is! Ira Edwards is a friend of mine who started his athletic career as a walk-on cross country skier at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He would go on to have multiple careers including Law Enforcement and Wildlife Biology. On this episode we talk about his journey to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, what it's like to be a college athlete, all of his many careers he explored and how a life-changing accident put life into perspective. He has since gone on to give back to the skiing world through adaptive equipment and charitable organizations and continues to raise money through his many social endeavors throughout his community in Palmer, Alaska. Ira is a great mentor to me as well as many others in the adaptive athlete world!
Amanda Walker and I go way back! We met as pre-teens and many years later she's coaching me to become the best version of myself! She is a Certified Master Performance Coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs reach their full potential! Amanda is a true “coach’s coach” and is passionate about helping coaches and online service-based business owners get their clients massive results in order to grow a profitable coaching practice. She is the host of the “Best Damn Coach Podcast” and runs the premier coaching program for coaches, Best Damn Coach.
Hailey Williams is an Alaskan-raised student-athlete from Delta Junction who was recruited by Duke Track and Field as a sprinter to continue her academic and athletic endeavors. She is a junior at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she is studying psychology and a participant in the CAPE (College Athlete Pre-Medical Experience) program. She’s a very enthusiastic and energetic individual who always looks forward to sharing stories about her experiences in Alaska. By doing so, she hopes that it will motivate others to always pursue their goals.
Instagram: @theehaileycarson
Sean Walker grew up playing youth hockey in Brampton, Ontario, Canada at the AAA level. He started training hockey players at the age of thirteen, accumulating thousands of hours of experience over the years. At twenty-two years old he started his own company, iTrain Hockey. The brand is flourished into the leader in hockey training videos online and he now runs his camps worldwide. He still has an obsession for the sport of hockey as well as helping hockey players of all ages enjoy the game and reach their fullest potential. He lives happily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with his two sons, Hanen and Reid.
Drenen Magee is a 2020 Delta/Greely Homeschool graduate from Alaska and is currently in his third year as a pre-med major at Crown College - a private Christian institution in Minnesota. He fulfilled his childhood dream of playing NCAA Men's Basketball and earned 2x Academic All-Conference honors for the Storm during his first two years in college. He has since traded in his practice jersey for research internships in preparation for medical school. Listen to his story to find out how he handled the crossroad of sports or academics.
Sal Lombardi American International College athletic department as head equipment manager in the fall of 2021. Prior to AIC Lombardi worked at the collegiate and professional levels in equipment management. He previously served in the same role at Providence College from 2000-06 and at Quinnipiac University from 2006-09. He has also worked with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers in the NHL.
I met Sal in the locker room at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. His history in the hockey world, supporting some of the world's most successful athletes is so interesting! I could talk to Sal for hours about his career as Equipment Manager! Listen for his words of wisdom for athletes.
Keely Harris just finished her last season as a collegiate athlete at Geneva College. She is excited to graduate in December, and is looking forward to the challenges ahead. Having achieved her lifelong dream of playing college softball, she is hopeful she can help others to do the same.
Tristen graduated from Bowman County High School in 2018. He started in every sport in high school his sophomore year, which included football, wrestling, and track and felid. During the middle of his senior season, he had three colleges recruiting him to play football; Dickinson State University, Valley City State University, and Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Tristen ended up choosing Dickinson because it was close to home and many of his family members went there. He began pursuing a degree in Elementary Education but ended up changing his major after three semesters to Exercise Science. Tristen plans to become an athletic trainer after graduating from Dickinson State University. He is currently applying to graduate schools.
Ebie Boykin is 20 years old and from Pensacola, Florida. She recently graduated from Coastal Alabama Community College where she was a cheerleader on a full ride scholarship and eventually became an assistant coach. Ebie has been a cheerleader since the age of four, starting in ballpark rec cheer and later moving to All Star cheerleading when she was 10. Not only does she coach for the community college, but she also coaches All-Star cheer. Cheerleading for her has been filled with many ups and downs and at one point, she didn't think it was possible for her to continue because of the many challenges she faced. Her story is filled with resilience, including not making her high school team and going on to earn a full ride scholarship in cheer.
Instagram: ebie_geebie
Facebook: Ebie Boykin
Tik Tok: ebie_boykin
Twitter: ebie_boykin
Benjamin Lee Kirk is the son of K Leslie Kirk, former post commander of Fort Greely, Alaska. He is the 4th son of 6 boys raised by Gine Kirk.
Benjamin was raised in Delta Junction, Alaska from the age of 2 till 18. He is a 3 time Alaska State Wrestling champion with only one loss in the State finals of 3A wrestling division. He was also ranked top 10 in the nation for his weight class. Ben was the recipient of the Dave Shultz award his senior year (Award given to the top pound for pound wrestler. The award is given to only 1 wrestler per state Senior year). He would go on to earn an athletic scholarship to Brigham Young University.
He is now an entrepreneur of multiple areas of services ranging from Pest control, home security, residential solar, chemical engineering, and organic cleaning products approved by the EPA.
Ben is a loving father, nostalgic Alaskan living in South Florida, &/or Sourdough at heart for life!
Facebook: Ben Kirk
Instagram: @benkrrrrk
Business: https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2020/06/17/2049699/0/en/Ethema-Signs-LOI-on-Acquisition-of-a-Majority-Interest-in-Biohazard-Health-Services-LLC.html
Zoya Timoshenko currently lives in Oklahoma City. She’s from Ukraine and grew up in Delta Junction, Alaska. Vocationally she is a Youth Director for Trinity OKC Baptist Church and a User Acceptance Testing Analyst for Heartland. In her spare time she loves to run, play soccer and be around people. From homelessness to a running scholarship for Oklahoma Baptist University, this is her story!
Kendra Pinkelman grew up in a small town about 35 minutes north of Seattle, in Lake Stevens. She started playing soccer at age 7 and it was evident from the beginning that this was going to be “her sport”. At age 10; she began playing on a select team, at age 13 she also joined the ODP (Olympic Development Program) for a season and at age 14 she joined her Highschool soccer team. Kendra received an athletic scholarship and community scholar award to attend Eastern Oregon University and play soccer. She ended up graduating from Eastern WashingtonUniversity with a B.A. in Psychology. Kendra eventually continued on to completed her M.ed in Clinical Mental Health from University of Tennessee at Martin. She currently lives back in her hometown of Lake Stevens with her husband; Chad and two children, Ember and Maia, where she operates her private practice, Solstice Healing.
facebook: Solstice healingInstagram: @solsticehealingwww.yoursolsticehealing.com
Join me and one of my best friends, Katie Knittel! Join us in the car on our road trip as we talk about advocating for a foster child. We explore the complexities of this relationship; the love and the passion that is exchanged; and what resources are available in the community and at school to support foster children. You'll find out why I love this girl so much and how God has laid this mission in her family's heart.
Erik was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska and athletics has played a huge role in his life. He first put hockey skates on at the age of 7 when his dad helped him onto the ice and always encouraged him to do his best. He played youth hockey in Fairbanks and later played junior hockey in Vail, Colorado, Dubuque and Waterloo (Iowa). These experiences prepared him for Division I Hockey and signed a scholarship with University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks at the age of 17. Erik played a total of 3 years with the Nanooks and at the age of 20, unexpectedly caught an edge with his skate during a routine practice and suffered a catastrophic injury. He is currently a C-5 quadriplegic. This moment transformed Erik's life. He was faced with overcoming new obstacles and challenges that he never could’ve imagined. The community rallied around him, as did the Colorado Avalanche team in Denver, Colorado where he did his rehabilitation at Craig Hospital. Most importantly, his family is his rock.
He returned to UAF and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Elementary Education. Erik coached high school hockey for West Valley High School from 2000-2008. After 26 years injured, he continues to stay involved with Nanook hockey. He assists with alumni outreach and for 25 seasons he has been the TV and radio color commentator for the home games of Nanook hockey. Erik and his wife (Emily) reside in Fairbanks, Alaska and enjoy the Alaskan outdoors with their two daughters (Annika & Ava).
Paige Tonz grew up in Peoria, AZ and began playing softball at 8 years old. She has competed at many levels; starting with rec ball, moving to club ball, and competing as a D1 athlete at Northwestern University. Her mission and goal is to help transform girls into strong women beyond the playing field or court. Paige has worked with 1000+ athletes in her programs and workshops. She believe girls have so much opportunity to dream bigger than they ever imagined. Because sports was and still is such a big part of Paige's life, she has had a first row ticket to see how the experiences from sports can be a vessel to success in life on and off the field. She now works with girl athletes on the mental mindset game. You can learn about her program at paigetonz.com and follow her on Instagram @paigetonz
Amy Woerth: Head volleyball coach: Northwest Missouri State
Amy is my former roommate. We met when I was in grad school and she was the assistant volleyball coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has now gone on to be a successful head coach going into her 11th year at Northwest Missouri State University. We talk about what a coach looks for in a recruit and what student athletes can be doing now to get noticed by coaches. Take a listen and I know you will gain knowledge about what it takes to play college sports.
Does your child have an interest in playing sports in college? I did and I'm telling my recruiting story to play college softball. Listen to what happened on an official visit to a school in Texas and the two offers I had to decide between!
I came across this resource on Amazon Prime Video and realized it could be great for the college exploration process. Basically it's like visiting the campus from the comfort of your chair. Four to 5 students per episode discuss their experiences working with professors, showcasing areas around campus including student hangouts, sports fields, and laboratories. It's a great way to sit down as a family and talk about what the reality of going to college will look like for your family. You can also check out www.thecollegetour.com for more resources and a really cool college tour class that they offer.
On this episode I interview Christine Kaplan of Christine Kaplan Coaching (https://christinekaplancoaching.com/).
We talk about:
- Teens and anxiety
- The difference between a coach and a therapist
- When to know which support to use
- Christine's Junior Year Journey program
It was a great conversation about connection! Follow her @christinekaplancoaching on Instagram
Melanie has over 20 years experience working in curriculum for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. We have a candid discussion about the development of curriculum, how it aligns to student learning, what do grades really mean as well as choosing the right curriculum for homeschool learning. We cover it all in this episode and I am super excited for you to hear it.
Anjilee Ferguson: Anjilee has over a decade of experience in the Online Education industry, working at both the high school and college levels. During those years, she has worked with numerous students, residential treatment centers, and curriculum providers to provide the highest quality of learning. Her passion for innovative and creative solutions for students led her to co-found Mountain Point Academy. Throughout her time in Online Education, she has seen the inner workings of many departments, working as a registrar, academic mentor, and enrollment counselor. Anjilee earned her BA in Public Relations from Utah State University and an MS in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University. In her spare time, she likes to work on writing her first book, spend time outdoors with her family, and jam out to classic rock. Sara Busalacchi: Sara has over a decade of experience in the Education field and has been in Online Education since 2010. She majored in Secondary Education Mathematics at Concordia University Wisconsin. During her time working for several notable online schools as well as a top provider for online curriculum, Sara had the opportunity to collaborate with many residential treatment centers to bring them the highest level of service for their 6-12th grade students. Her passion for helping students in need of an alternative education solution led her to co-founding Mountain Point Academy. When she is not spending time working with MPA students and staff, Sara loves playing the bass guitar, being outdoors, and raising twin daughters with her husband Jim. Social Media Accounts:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mountain-point-academy/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountainpointacademyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thempaway/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzed4rX-5Ym1xJyqvYqzK4A
Moving is common. Whether that is to another school in your area, another state or another country. On this episode, I talk about the importance of being proactive about it with your incoming school and taking your official records with you. Also, I give a tip to parents about how they can help kids through the emotions of moving.
Tabatha is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner, Life Coach, Social-Emotional Learning Consultant, Mental Health Advocate, and specializes in speech therapy.
Tabatha is fiercely committed to supporting people of all ages (parents, business leaders, adults, kids and teens) to discover coping tools to stress less, reduce stress, relieve anxiety to feel good on the inside and out.
Due to stress being at its all time high in the world, seeing numerous people struggle with anxiety, burnout, and confidence, she saw the need for practicing emotional intelligence and having more honest conversations about feeling and processing emotions, instead of pushing them away, and shifting negative thoughts into a healthy confident mindset.
She is known for her authentic, no non-sense approach model 5 steps to ROCK the “F” word…Feelings and ability to connect with and create meaningful change in people’s lives through her Emotional Wellness Mastery Program called Thrive in EQ.
Hosting one to one and group coaching, professional development training, speaking events and EQ assessments.
Drawing from her professional experience working in the field of Speech Therapy in schools and her life experience raising four children, Tabatha created a signature approach to help her clients create and enjoy sustainability, emotional freedom in business, school, parenting and in life.
Tabatha lives in Arizona, with her husband and four children.
Social Media Contacts:
Instagram @tabmarden
Website: Tabathamarden.com
Text: 602-603-4131 text word "Wellness"
Graduation Progress
Progress Reports
Report Cards
Transcripts
What are these reports and why are they important? On this episode, I talked about all of them and tell you the most important report you should audit with your school counselor! I promise if you do it early, it could save you a lot of headaches your Senior year!
Homework:
Request your transcript from your counselor or Registrar
Scheduling is a job duty that gives the largest migraine headache. I can assure you other school counselors would say the same! On this episode, I talk about the scheduling process, how it's not just the school counselor that's involved and who should choose the courses that are offered. I encourage you to be proactive in the process and communicate with your school counselor so you have the best shot of getting into the courses you need.
Homework:
- Find out your students current progress towards graduation. Some schools have this information in your child's student information system, where they check their grades online and find assignments
- Ask your school counselor for a copy of your credit check. This is a document that is used to track the type of classes you are taking and how they are being awarded credit towards the cumulative number of credits required to graduate.
In this first episode of the My School Counselor Podcast, Lindsay Pinkelman introduces her journey to this podcast and her love for School Counseling. She explains the reason she built her business and why she has a strong desire to provide families with school counseling content. Lindsay explains the roles and responsibilities of elementary, middle, and high school counselors and provides action items for how you can begin the conversation with yours.