After a 35-year education career, and twenty years as a school counselor, Brenda Lowry, the head of the counseling department and counselor to students M-R, is preparing to bid CMR farewell.
“I’m ready,” she said. “I’m ready to move on and do something else.”
Lowry has a long history with CMR, graduating as a Rustler in 1984. She is a former Wrangler, and now a counselor; she has been with the school since day one. She was first at Valley View Elementary, working with grades ranging from 1st to 4th, taking her next step into counseling for elementary levels after earning her masters degree from Montana State University Northern. She finally joined the CMR staff in 2005, as part of the schools’ counseling department.
As head of the department she has taken on a big role throughout the school, providing aid to her students and counselor colleagues. Some basic responsibilities include leading meetings, facilitating training, and planning events.
“I attend department leader meetings. I am the go to for disseminating information to the other counselors and the rest of the department,” she said.
Lowry’s departure from CMR will be a smooth transition, she said, and incoming counselor Courtney Douglas will take over her section of students and her job to manage senior scholarships, while Rikki Johnson (counselor of students S-Z) will fill her shoes as head of the department.
“People are replaceable, but the relationships are not,” Nick Budeski, A-C counselor said.
Lowry will be missed not just by just her students, but her fellow counselors as well. Budeski spoke about his favorite memories with Lowry; team meetings, taking advice from each other and all of their conversations. Lowry’s wisdom and encouragement towards her co-workers has left a lasting impression that will last a lifetime, Budeski Added
“She’s a wealth of knowledge; she’s been doing it forever,” He said.
He said his favorite thing about Lowry is her ability to keep the department present. As the culture of CMR or even high schools in general has changed with time, Lowry has been able to evolve herself and the counseling department despite the challenge.
“Kids are kids,” he said. “The environment continually changes, so you have to kind of change with it as well, and she’s done a good job of keeping us in that same kind of mentality.”
Lowry’s long career with the school has been one that has impacted many students. From CMR’s teachers, to graduated students or newly arrived freshmen, Lowry’s impact on the school will no doubt be remembered for years to come.
