Welcome to Behind the Chalkboard, which gives readers an inside look at the educators in the community, why they do what they do and their lives outside of the classroom.
Rebecca Balistere
Counselor at Boulder City High School
Has been teaching school for 22 years and been a counselor for 15 of those years. At BCHS since 2007.
Why did you become a teacher?
I became a teacher because I truly love learning and sharing information. I’ve not only been a classroom teacher. I’ve taught Sunday school, professional development for other teachers and even was a fitness instructor back in the day. … I love working with youth and have taught at all three levels of compulsory education: elementary, middle and high school.
Why did you become a counselor?
I wasn’t really aware of the role of school counselors until I became a teacher. My senior year in high school, I discovered I had a counselor when I needed him to complete my recommendation for college admissions. Once I became a teacher and discovered a counselor’s role, I remember thinking back to high school and wishing I had known about this resource. … As I interacted with counselors at different schools, I found myself drawn to the profession, so I went back to school and earned my master’s degree in school counseling in 2001.
Although I was excited about my degree in counseling, I wasn’t quite ready to leave the classroom. … When my principal asked me to fill the counseling vacancy at my then-school, Cortney Junior High, midyear, I made the change quite reluctantly. I didn’t even apply for the job. They called me up on my prep, interviewed me and hired me within an hour. I told them I would try it, but by the end of the school year, I was convinced my admin knew me better than I knew myself. Counseling was my true calling.
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I love to be outside. I love hiking. I grew up outside of Yosemite National Park. That’s all my family ever did.