{"id":19403,"date":"2026-04-15T10:20:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=19403"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:21:23","slug":"2026-staff-spotlight-erin-henderson-kohala-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/2026-staff-spotlight-erin-henderson-kohala-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Staff Spotlight: Erin Henderson (Kohala High)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erin Henderson<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

T\u00edtulo: <\/strong>Counselor
Lugar de trabajo:<\/strong> Escuela secundaria Kohala
A\u00f1os en el HIDOE:<\/strong> 20
A\u00f1os en el puesto:<\/strong> 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P: Describa brevemente su trayectoria profesional.<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>My college journey started at Windward Community College and meandered through \u00a0the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa, Hawai\u2018i Community College and finally UH Hilo. I majored in environmental studies with an emphasis in resource management and conservation in Hawaiian ecosystems. I could not get a job, so I decided to go back to school for elementary education. I taught elementary school for seven years, transitioned to a student services coordinator for four years, and was an elementary school counselor for four years. In 2020, I transferred to Kohala High School to be a counselor at the secondary level and I absolutely love working with teens planning for their futures.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How did you get into this field?<\/strong>
A: <\/strong>I started as a Primary School Adjustment Program counselor, then became a full-time elementary counselor focused on mental health. When the position opened up at Kohala High School, I applied and was offered the job. At a small school like Kohala High, I support both college and career counseling and mental health. The former is something I had to learn through on-the-job training. Attending national and local conferences, as well as completing numerous professional development courses at the HIDOE and college level, has given me a solid foundation necessary to support my students. I have also had amazing support from our district college and career specialist, Alana Haitsuka-Fernandez, as well as critical support from my principal and vice principal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

P: \u00bfCu\u00e1les son sus principales funciones?<\/strong>
A<\/strong>: I help many different areas including, but not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Individual and group mental health counseling <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Supporting teachers with tier 1 and 2 classroom interventions <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 504 care coordinator for my caseload of students<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Organizing school-wide opportunities for college and career exposure<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Organizing and scheduling college representative presentations in our senior college and career readiness classes <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Member of the KHS Attendance Alliance team<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • CTE academy lead team member <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Behavior learning team member<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Gear Up grant coordinator<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Q: How does your job support students?<\/strong>
    A:<\/strong> My job supports students in many aspects of their high school journey as well as in post-secondary planning. I provide a safe space for them to discuss life’s challenges as well as their college and career aspirations. I have a lot of inspirational conversations, and sometimes really hard conversations. I maintain a FREE school thrift store in my office so I am a reliable source of snacks, personal hygiene products and clothing for students in need. During their senior year, I support students with college and career exploration, financial aid and scholarship support, and ensuring that their post-secondary plans are solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    P: \u00bfLo m\u00e1s dif\u00edcil de su puesto?<\/strong>
    A: <\/strong>The most challenging part of my job is that it is a BIG job with many moving parts. Sometimes, I am very scattered and feel overwhelmed that I can’t do it all. This usually means taking work home (in my head) and being less present for my family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    P: \u00bfQu\u00e9 es lo que m\u00e1s le gusta de su trabajo?<\/strong>
    A:<\/strong> My favorite part of my job is when I can help students with challenging situations, whether it is with their mental health, college applications, scholarships and financial aid, or providing them with something from the thrift store. Students put a lot of trust in me, and I am really honored by that. I want to be my best for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    P: \u00bfQu\u00e9 consejo dar\u00eda a quienes se plantean este puesto?<\/strong>
    A:<\/strong> Counseling is a very rewarding job. Being the person who puts a smile on students’ faces is priceless. The ability to be flexible and adaptable has helped me tremendously. Having a systems approach to counseling makes my life easier. Finally, a good organizational structure is key!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Q: Fun fact about yourself?<\/strong>
    A: <\/strong>As someone who has lived in Hawai\u2018i since birth, you would never guess that my favorite hobby is SKIING!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Erin Henderson Title: CounselorJob site: Kohala High SchoolYears in the HIDOE: 20Years in the position: 10 Q: Briefly describe your career path.A: My college journey started at Windward Community College and meandered through \u00a0the University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa, Hawai\u2018i Community College and finally UH Hilo. I majored in environmental studies with an emphasis in […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":16859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,888,893,1022,1619,1622","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,22,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-hoohaaheo","category-staff-spotlight"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":30,"label":"Highlights"},{"value":22,"label":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo"},{"value":58,"label":"Staff Spotlight"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HIDOE-Logo-Featured-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kim Yuen","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/author\/kimberly-yuenk12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":30,"name":"Highlights","slug":"highlights","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":30,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":30,"category_count":4,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Highlights","category_nicename":"highlights","category_parent":0},{"term_id":22,"name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","slug":"hoohaaheo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":70,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":22,"category_count":70,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","category_nicename":"hoohaaheo","category_parent":0},{"term_id":58,"name":"Staff Spotlight","slug":"staff-spotlight","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":58,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":22,"count":29,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":58,"category_count":29,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Staff Spotlight","category_nicename":"staff-spotlight","category_parent":22}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 17:56:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19403"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19422,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19403\/revisions\/19422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}