Colin Mogé, a West Springfield Education Association member, reflects on being named Massachusetts School Counselor of the Year
Colin Mogé, a West Springfield Education Association member, reflects on being named Massachusetts School Counselor of the Year
When Colin Mogé talks with students, he understands all too well how quickly a teen can become sidetracked by academic or personal challenges. A school counselor at West Springfield High School, Mogé recently was named 2024 Massachusetts School Counselor of the Year. The honor was awarded by the Massachusetts School Counselor Association.
He almost dropped out himself, as a teenager, and started college at a nontraditional age, after working for several years. The candid advice he received from a school counselor was one of the reasons he didn’t drop out. Instead, he took summer classes and night classes and pushed himself to graduate.
Now, his workdays as a professional are spent talking individually with students about what their plans are, what they hope to do after leaving school. He often shares his own story.
The job of school counselor has changed significantly since the pandemic. Along with class schedules and talking about post-graduate plans, Mogé tries to reach students who are missing from school. West Springfield counselors recently started making more home visits, to try to meet students where they are and help them find the help they need.
Mogé, a Chicopee native, said by the time he was a junior in high school he was failing many classes and in danger of dropping out. Mogé was in a few bands, and focused on other things, he said. “I was more interested in being social with my friends,” he said.
Reflecting on familial experiences with educational struggles, which had greatly impacted his family, was one of the reasons he tried to push himself and stay through graduation. It meant evening classes, all through his senior year, just to get across the finish line.
“I like to think I’m giving back in that way. I eventually came to terms with the fact that I wanted to find a purpose, a greater sense of self, by helping others. And giving back and giving what other people have given to me.”
Once he graduated, he told his parents he wanted to take a semester off before beginning college. A few months turned into two and a half years.
He entered Holyoke Community College at 21 and developed an interest in therapy and counseling. Once he became focused on school counseling, he went on to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Westfield State University. A member of the West Springfield Education Association, Mogé has worked at West Springfield High School since August 2018, initially as a graduate intern.
The job is multifaceted. “School counselors now focus not just on core academic advising and course selection,” he said. “There’s a significant social and emotional component that we’re providing for our students. There is, of course, post-secondary support, whether that is college applications, workforce development, career readiness, military enlistment, anything you can think of.”
More so now than in previous years, students are interested in the trades, such as carpentry, welding and electrical apprenticeships.
The interaction and relationships he’s built with students are his favorite part of the job. He had a counselor help him find his focus when he was a teen, and now he’s hoping to do the same for others who need it.
“I like to think I’m giving back in that way. I eventually came to terms with the fact that I wanted to find a purpose, a greater sense of self, by helping others. And giving back and giving what other people have given to me. That’s what draws me to this work and what keeps me as enthusiastic as I am every day.”