An Austintown schools employee is heading to Washington, D.C., this week to be honored at the White House.
Austintown Elementary School Counselor Kelley Mills is one of 50 school counselors from around the country who will be recognized for her work, on the three-day trip that begins Wednesday.
After Mills was selected as Ohio’s Elementary School Counselor of the Year and the overall School Counselor of the Year for 2016 by the Ohio School Counselor Association, she was entered in a national competition, for which she was a semi-finalist. That distinction made her the 2017 Counselor of the Year State Representative for Ohio.
In D.C., Mills will attend an awards ceremony at the White House hosted by first lady Michelle Obama; attend a black-tie gala at Union Station; take an exclusive White House tour; and attend a meeting with the leader of the “Better Make Room” campaign that encourages children to attend college.
“This is a great opportunity to collaborate with fellow counselors from all over the nation. It’s exciting for me to be able to participate in some things that will go on in the White House,” said Mills.
She said she is excited to meet the first lady.
“She’s done so much for education, and she seems like a genuine, caring person,” Mills said.
In a statement, Superintendent Vincent Colaluca lauded Mills and her work.
“Kelley brings so many programs and opportunities to benefit our students at AES, and we are so proud to have her represent the Austintown Local Schools in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Mills credited other school counselors for their work as well.
“This is an award that I share with all counselors, especially in the Mahoning Valley,” she said. “We all work very closely together.”
Mills has been a counselor at AES for seven years. After starting her career in the community mental health field, she decided to make a change.
“I decided to make the move into the school, especially at the elementary level, because there are so many little ones who can’t advocate for themselves, so that was something I wanted to do for them,” she said.
Her favorite part of the job, she said, is her interactions with the kids.
“You feel like a rock star in an elementary setting,” she said. “That is very fulfilling, every day, to feel so wanted and needed.”
Mills will be accompanied on her trip by fellow counselor Penny Callahan, who nominated Mills for the award.