Notre Dame's Ruth Ann Hester named Secondary School Counselor of the Year by SEMOSCA

Notre Dame Regional High School counselor Ruth Ann Hester recently was named Secondary School Counselor of the Year by the Southeast Missouri School Counselor Association (SEMOSCA).

Hester was recognized during SEMOSCA’s March meeting, when the organization holds an award ceremony. She didn’t know she was being recognized until the ceremony and was unexpectedly joined on stage by her family, who were hiding offstage, during her acceptance of the award.

“I felt very appreciative and very humbled,” Hester said. “I know it takes a lot of work to nominate someone for that award, so my thoughts, honestly, at the time were that I knew it took a lot of time for my co-workers to put in this nomination and I felt very appreciative of their time and effort with that. I just think school counseling is such a need and I’m very happy to be able to do that and very honored to work at Notre Dame.”

Hester is a 1986 graduate of Notre Dame and has been working at the high school for the past nine years. Before beginning her employment at Notre Dame, she spent 23 years working full time at Cape Girardeau’s Community Counseling Center. Hester still works with CCC on a part-time basis, and schedules meetings with clients around her school schedule.

“When I made the switch to school counseling, I continued to do evening contract work as an outpatient therapist. I work some evenings, and that’s how I’m able to do both,” Hester said. “There are some long days where I leave school and I go over there, but I love mental health counseling, as well, and wanted to continue that. It’s very nice to have that connection to the local community mental health center for a school, and it’s provided us with resources, training opportunities and other things that I can pull from that mental health connection.”

In addition to her counseling work, Hester is heavily involved with the school and community. At Notre Dame, Hester helps with multiple clubs and assists with the many events the school holds. Outside of her work at the school, Hester is very involved with her parish, Immaculate Conception in Jackson, where she serves as the president of the St. Ann’s Ladies Sodality. She is also a member of Heartland Pops Chorus.

Hester’s passion for counseling is clear, and she made sure to emphasize its importance.

“To all those who are counselors, school counselors or mental health counselors, your work is very important,” Hester said. “Look for the small achievements, because sometimes progress is gradual. When we look for those baby steps, we can really see people grow and change.”