Congratulations to Laura Asinger, Hillsboro High School College and Career Counselor, for being recognized as the Missouri Pathfinder of the Year at the statewide MCCA Convention in Kansas City. This prominent award is presented to high school teachers and guidance counselors for their outstanding efforts in assisting students with their college-going plans.
Laura has been a school counselor for 15 years and just finished her 8th year at Hillsboro High School in the Hillsboro R-3 District. For the last four years, Laura has been the College/Career Counselor at Hillsboro High School and has made countless improvements to the way Hillsboro prepares students for college and/or their careers. Laura has been the main point of contact for students who are taking college courses in high school, students who are taking career/technical classes at the °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø Area Technical School, and students who are working on determining their plans for after high school. Laura has learned so much about college admissions requirements, financial aid, and degree plans/audits, and she is great at explaining these often-complicated guidelines and rules to students at all levels. She is a true asset in her role and has made college much less intimidating and more attainable to students with her laidback and empathetic approach.
In addition to being a champion for her students, Laura has been a champion for °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø. She has supported the College’s partnership diligently and has been a voice of support for °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø not only across her school district but our entire community through her roles in the Jefferson County School Counselors Association and as an experienced counselor in the college/career position. Because of her creativity, patience, and determination, Laura has been able to expand access to early college students by creating new opportunities at Hillsboro and advocating for additional funding to expand these programs. Laura has worked very hard to move as many early college classes as possible to °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø to streamline her students’ transcripts but also to support the local community college and our staff. Laura also supports °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø as a destination for her students after high school. She explains the advantages of the transferability of °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø classes as part of the Missouri Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum (CORE 42) and the affordability of a community college for Pell students and A+ scholarship recipients. She has partnered with Admissions staff to pilot some new registration events for graduating seniors and presented with °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø staff at a Board of Trustees meeting. Because of these contributions and countless other reasons listed by her colleagues and students, Laura was nominated and recognized as the High School Counselor of the Year by the Jefferson County School Counselors Association this year.
Pictured: Dr. Kim Harvey-Manus, Vice President of Student Services/Title IX Coordinator; Laura Asinger, Missouri Pathfinder of the Year; Dr. Dena McCaffrey, °Ä²Ê¿ª½±Íø President.
