LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

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Lori Hartman

Position: Retiring School Counselor
School: Whitehall Middle School
School District: Whitehall School District
City, State: Whitehall, MI

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Lori Hartman was nominated by an anonymous colleague.

Ms. Hartman regularly advocates at the local level by working to increase the number of school counselors in her district, particularly at the often forgotten elementary level. Her knowledge and data-driven approach is inspirational. In addition, Ms. Hartman advocates for the profession at the state level through her involvement in lobbying work. She's also helping to write a proposal that would increase the number of counselors state-wide. This will impact thousands of students across the state of Michigan in their ability to graduate college and career ready. It will provide these students with the social-emotional skills to find success in their future endeavors.

In addition, Ms. Hartman is always willing to develop and lead meaningful professional development. She regularly uses her experience and knowledge to help others implement comprehensive school counseling programs. While some may aim to do their job and head home, Ms. Hartman is a passionate advocate for students, and she's willing to use her wisdom to help others.

"I have learned so much from Lori’s strong leadership and dedication to the profession of school counseling," said her nominator. "While we will truly miss her in her well-deserved retirement, I know she will continue to make an impact on those who are in her circle of influence and will leave every person better than she found them."

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Comments (2)

Susan Tate Posted over a year ago

What a blessing to have worked with Lori for the last 23 years of my middle school career! I consider Lori a role model in building relationships with and advocating for adolescents. Whenever I have been stymied in my interactions with students in class, I have gone to Lori to seek out her perspective. In her career as our counselor at Whitehall Middle School, she has consistently centered her work around creating opportunities for all students to be successful. As one of our WEB advisors, she has guided our 8th grade students to become mentors for our 6th graders, which has shifted the culture of our school and created a better system of support for all of our students. I have also had the privilege of working with Lori to create and deliver career education instruction to all of our students. Whether we call it "Spark" or "Ikigai", Lori is passionate about helping students discover their sense of purpose. As a classroom teacher, I am grateful for the top-quality curriculum resources that Lori provides so that I can jump right into delivering this lesson. Student really appreciate the resources that she provides that link Xello activities to real-life career opportunities. Receiving this award would be so appropriate considering how many lives Lori has changed for the better at our school. I am thrilled to see Lori nominated for this award, and she is truly deserving of being chosen as the Lifechanger of the Year.

Tonia Lans Posted over a year ago

I have had the pleasure of working with Lori as both a college counselor at Muskegon Community College and as a Grand Valley University supervisor for school counseling interns. Lori is a hard working, knowledgeable professional that always strives to help students. Our college students enjoy working with her and often comment how friendly, nice and helpful she is. We feel very lucky to have her as part of our team. This least semester Lori worked with one of my school counseling interns. Lori spent valuable time training this young lady, implementing professional practices that mirror the American School Counseling Association ethics and standards, and implementing programming and services for students. Lori uses data to inform her practices and is a true advocate for the profession for students and other counselor.