Hello!
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Christina Walker, and I am the new Career & Academic Advisor for MCC High School. I’m thrilled to be in this new role to support our students. I graduated from MCC in 2005. I moved to Storm Lake, Iowa to finish my teaching degree at Buena Vista University and later completed a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Iowa. I spent the first several years of my career teaching in southeast Iowa, but was able to “move home” to Slayton five years ago. My husband, Jason, works at SRDC as Community Development Director, and my son, Camden, is now in 5th grade. We also have a baby girl on the way soon! After teaching junior high and high school English here at MCC for the past five years, I have had the privilege of getting to know many of the students in the high school. I am so thankful for the opportunity to provide support now in a different way. Finalizing schedules, sharing scholarship information, and helping to prepare students for college and careers beyond high school are all part of this new role. I will also be overseeing our online learning opportunities and district assessments.
In the counseling center, we are also able to provide support for students in other areas. We have Greg Scheitel from SWWC Service Cooperative here three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) to meet with students for mental health support. Chelsey Parrie from Western Mental Health is here on Mondays and Crystal Giffen, a substance abuse counselor, is available to meet with students Wednesday mornings. We are fortunate to have these supports in place for our students, as this position has transitioned to focus more on academic areas.
We recently hosted New Student & 7th Grade Orientation, and we are so excited about all the new faces here at the high school! We hope the first few days of school have gone smoothly for all of you, and we are here to answer any questions you have! Over the summer and the first week of school, we have wrapped up student schedules for the year. If there are questions or concerns about student schedules, especially for the second semester, please, don’t hesitate to reach out.
In the coming weeks, I will be meeting with seniors to talk through current classes and plans for after graduation. Parents will be invited to attend if their schedules allow and we can discuss graduation requirements and progress. We will also be hosting a Financial Aid Night this fall to review the process for applying for financial aid and the different options available to seniors. In October and November, MCC will also have the ASVAB and PSAT assessments for juniors. The Career Expo is coming up at Minnesota West in just a few weeks for our students in Careers class, and there will be lots of information coming out soon about representatives visiting from colleges and the military.
There are so many great things happening at MCC, and I am excited to be here for it! Thank you for your on-going support and the daily support you provide for our students.