The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

The Student News Site of Westborough High School

The Lobby Observer

Countdown to April Break!
Have a Wonderful Break!

WHS’s Own Crisis Manager: Mrs. Pellegrino

Hannah Artner

Past the guidance secretaries, down the hall, and into the depths of the Westborough Administration, is the office of Guidance Counselor Mrs. Pellegrino.

 Her bookshelves are lined with every book ever printed about college. Her walls are lined with papers including a full-size map of the United States showing where each of the 4,000 colleges and universities are located. It’s a one-stop shop for any college information, but her road to college expert extraordinaire has been anything but ordinary.

 Growing up in West Islip, Long Island, her career actually began in teaching. During her senior year at Franklin Pierce College, she worked at a high school in New Hampshire. She taught during the day and had teachers over to her home for dinner at night to discuss their teaching styles. It was a complete emersion. She was employed by the high school for two year which she spent both teaching and traveling around the country, from San Diego to Dover to Milwaukee, to speak to other teachers.

She then went on to attend Boston College where she earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling. Throughout this time she taught in an inner-city high school. It was then a series of moves from middle school counseling to high school. She has truly experienced a range in the educational spectrum.

Most students are aware of the counselors only through the college process. Mrs. Pellegrino’s job was once described by a parent as “project manager.” She helps the students present themselves as best as possible to their colleges. She gets to know every detail about her students, so she can make sure that their applications reflect their strongest attributes.

The other half of her time is spent managing the crises that come up.

 “I put the supports in place,” she remarks casually. While she makes her job sound commonplace, for students who have come to her, she has proven to be irreplaceable.

When asked if she is able to get to know all her students by the time they graduate, she replies without hesitation “yes.” She loves the one-on-one interactions with students that she is able to have. And she strives to get to know each one of her students individually.

Her favorite moments without a doubt are the graduations. She loves watching the students succeed in high school and in their lives.

“Not just the regular graduations,” she says, “but the unusual ones too, a year or two later.”

 A word of advice to Westborough students: you have an ally in Mrs. Pellegrino.

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