Many people may know a school psychologist is a person whose job is to help students, but what exactly does a psychologist do at LZ?

Jennifer Hilger, psychologist, can answer that question.

“That’s the million-dollar question everyone’s like ‘what do you do every day?’ It’s a lot of different things. Part of my job is really just special education, so it’s related to doing evaluations for that and helping students to know what their strengths and weaknesses are. I also do individual counseling or group counseling with students as well. I’m available for any sort of crisis intervention for students in the same way that the social workers are. I consult with counselors and teachers,” Hilger said.

 Hilger has been working at the High School for one year now and decided to pursue psychology because of her interest in working with kids.

 “I loved the idea of working in schools because it means that you can work with all students…[and] the idea that you can make an impact with all students, and have some individual counseling, and then also have a lot of just preventative services for students,” Hilger said.

 The interactions with students is not only what Hilger found interesting about psychology, but her favorite part about her job. 

“I originally wanted to work more in the elementary setting, but then I came to [the] high school setting and absolutely loved it. The thing that I love seeing every day is the way that students are able to reflect on the progress that they’ve made and how far they’ve come especially with their mental health needs,” Hilger said.