As the midpoint of the school year approaches, counselors, Molly Norris, Scott Brown, and Jennifer Radcliffe are busy in the Student Support office. Joining the team this year, Cortney Erxleben, who has worked in the Health Office in the past, is now the Student Support administrative assistant.
In their day to day work, the counselors support students academically, emotionally and advise them on course selection and post-secondary decisions.
“Probably 80% of our time is direct student impact, either meeting with students or doing things for the students behind the scenes,” Norris said.
While the Student Support team has a variety of responsibilities, each task is centered on providing students with help to achieve success.
“When [students are] able to overcome something, whether it’s a mental health concern or an academic concern or seeing kids achieve success with their college and career plans, is by far the best part of the job,” Brown said.
Since the counselors’ jobs are built around helping students, each day looks very different. It usually looks like a combination of going to meetings and conferences, appointments with students, and scheduling and planning.
“You’re kind of just pulled in all these different directions, so you never really know what the day is going to bring, Brown said. “Of course, you have appointments and things like that, but sometimes something will happen and your day will just change completely.”
Each counselor is responsible for looking after a third of the high school’s student population. The workload is spread evenly between the three of them as students are assigned a counselor based on alphabetical order. However, extra responsibilities are now delegated to Cortney Erxleben.
“My job here is basically to make the counselors’ lives easier,” Erxleban said.
Erxleban previously worked in the health office, and through the years she has built a close relationship with the counselors. When there was a job opening in student support services, they suggested that she apply.
“I actually have worked in healthcare for most of my life, but I kind of wanted to switch things up,” Erxleban said. “Primarily I’ve been in physical healthcare but mental healthcare is a big part of that too.”
Norris’s road to school counseling was a winding one. After working in the court system, a short stint as a probation officer, and being a special education aide, she finally found her calling.
“I loved working in schools, so that was what prompted me to go back to get my master’s degree in school counseling specifically,” Norris said.
Similarly, Brown worked in different jobs in the education field before landing on school counseling.
“[I] taught at Nicolet for a couple years, and then decided that I was super interested in mental health,” Brown said. “[However], I wanted to be in schools versus becoming a therapist.”
Student Support Services are a tight-knit group, collaborating everyday to make sure all student concerns are addressed and supporting each other.
“The three of us as a team is another part that I do love about working here specifically,” Norris said. “I can’t imagine doing this job without having the two of them.”
However, the team has not been fully complete this school year with the absence of Radcliffe. While on maternity leave, Radcliffe has been off duty for the past three months of the 2025–2026 school year. Her fellow counselors have had to be slightly more alert and accommodating.
“It’s so often we have to be reactive, especially this semester with Miss. Radcliffe being out, and Mr. Brown and I are taking on her caseload,” Norris said.
Fortunately, Ms. Radcliffe will be returning to Shorewood on December 8 to reunite the team.