Caledonia — Caledonia High School students venture into counselor Andrea Hilaski’s office for scheduling questions, seeking advice for future plans — or when they need to punch something.
Hilaski’s desktop punching bag provides students the opportunity to let off some steam and physically work through what they’re dealing with. A nearby feelings wheel — a pie chart breaking down seven categories of common emotions — taped to the wall helps students better understand complex feelings.
“Teenagers carry so much on their shoulders and don’t have the training (of a counselor), so I tell them to hand things over to me to hold,” she said. “Students need a space they know they can come in and fall apart and I’m not going to judge them.”
Thinking back to her college years at Central Michigan University, Hilaski recalled a time when, like her students, she needed some guidance.
“I went to college not knowing at all what I wanted to do. I originally thought about medical, maybe even business,” she said. “I went to my advisor, and said, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ and that it felt like everyone around me did.”
Hilaski said she was always helping people. She tutored, edited friends’ papers and eventually realized how she could pursue a career path dedicated to helping people. She completed her bachelor’s degree in education and later, earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Grand Valley State University.
‘Gritty, Steely and Tough’ Advocate for Students
Over more than 20 years in education, Hilaski spent the first five in Wayland Union Schools, and the past 18 in Caledonia Community Schools. She worked to establish the STEM program at Duncan Lake Middle School and taught while completing her master’s and starting a family.
She forged bonds with her eighth-graders through times of joy and grief.
“During one of my eighth-grade years, my students experienced a devastating loss of their classmate,” she said. “Two weeks into their freshman year, some of the same kiddos were reaching out to me. It’s hard to teach when you want to be there for your students (who are) going through it.”
By “God’s grace,” Hilaski said a counseling position opened up at the high school in fall of 2018 and she transitioned into a new role with former students walking the halls.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit after Hilaski’s first full year at CHS and she credited the strength of her department and students for getting her through that difficult time.
“I’m here for the students; they keep me going … I’m so thankful to have such good and experienced people in my department,” she said.
Hilaski’s fellow CHS counselors Cara Burk and Kurtis Hoffman surprised her at the West Michigan Counseling Association‘s spring banquet this past April with the the Counselor of the Year Award for her outstanding work in the field.
In her dedication speech, Burk described Hilaski’s listening skills as “next level. “She is tuned in and makes everyone feel heard and valued.”
Hoffman added: “Andrea Hilaski can be gritty, steely and tough on behalf of those she loves and is not shy about saying what needs to be said. It has been my joy to call her a colleague and a friend and she’s an integral part of the best team I’ve ever worked with.”
After receiving the award and a surprise visit from her husband and three kids, Hilaski said she was “overwhelmed with gratitude.”
“Sometimes, this is a thankless job and a lot of people don’t understand the realm of what we do and the number of students we’re trying to help,” she said. “It was such a blessing to feel recognized.”
Cheering Her Students On
Beyond her counseling role, Hilaski presents on mental health and suicide prevention in high school health classes. She shares her personal experiences and said students tell her she “saved them” because they had access to resources and support.
“That makes it all worth it,” Hilaski said. “You do everything you can and reassure yourself that when you go home, ‘I did the best I could with the resources I had at the time.’”
Hilaski said her students are the reason she wakes up excited to come to work everyday.
“To see them grow and figure out who they are, I feel honored to help them through troubling times (and) the exciting steps,” she said. “They tell me their hopes and dreams and I meet them where they’re at … I’m here to be their biggest cheerleader.”
Read more from Caledonia:
• Peer listeners, other mental health supports, key to school safety
• ‘Every child has their story’
