Michelle Obama surprises woman named school counselor of the year with special message
When Kirsten Perry was named 2018 School Counselor of the Year, she probably wasn’t expecting that congratulations would come from as high up as Michelle Obama.
Perry, who is a counselor at Lawndale Community Academy on the West Side, had been expecting a call from the American School Counselor Association, which awarded her the honor in the first place.
Instead, she got a call from the former First Lady of the United States.
“Hi, Kirsten. This is Michelle Obama. How are you?” Obama asked, shocking Perry.
Michelle Obama shared a video on social media of the surprise call, writing, “It’s because of school counselors like Kirsten Perry that our young people dream a little bigger, and reach a little higher. Kirsten, I can’t wait to honor you and your colleagues from across the country at the School Counselor of the Year Ceremony next week. #ReachHigher”
“I’m calling you just to say congratulations on being the 2018 School Counselor of the Year,” Michelle Obama says in the video. “You guys, isn’t that exciting?”
Perry, and five of her students, is visibly surprised by the call, saying, “This is amazing.”
Outstanding work
Perry was chosen for the counselor of the year honor because of her tireless efforts to help kids in her Chicago school build better relationships with themselves, each other, and their community.
And as a long-time education advocate, Michelle Obama was the perfect choice to celebrate Perry’s groundbreaking work.
Lawndale Principal Willard Willette credited Perry with helping to improve the school’s bad academic rating. Former student Kyla Evans described how Perry would host peace circles, which helped to put an end to fights.
“Ms. Perry helped us to work on ourselves,” Evans said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “She makes all the kids at Lawndale feel loved and like we can do anything we dream of.”
Here’s the video of Mrs. Obama’s surprise phone call to Perry congratulating her on becoming the 2018 School Counselor of the Year.
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