T-R PHOTO BY CHUCK FRIEND Roger Elementary Counselor Mark Church poses in his office. He said his job can go from Challenging to Rewarding — all in the same day.

It is no secret that children face challenges every day, and it is comforting to know that the elementary school counselor may be just who they needed in their life to be able to cope.

Marshalltown’s Rogers Elementary Counselor Mark Church said his job can be very challenging, but can go to rewarding all in the same day. And he added that each day for him is different.

“The biggest challenge for me is when children come to school and have to talk with me about a situation that is abusive. I have to help them try to understand, but at other times I have to get department of human services involved. That is a challenge that I always hate,” Church said.

“But other challenges such as dealing with the loss of a pet, the loss of a friend or loved one — helping them have the skills to cope with that feeling is very rewarding,” he said.

Church received his elementary teaching degree from Central College in Pella in 1983. He taught third grade in Wayland for six years, then subbed a year in Des Moines, trying to get a position but was unsuccessful. He moved on to teach third through sixth grade at Keosauqua Van Buren community for 10 years and while there decided to get an elementary counseling degree. That was completed in 2000 at Iowa State University.

He then was counselor at East Marshall for three years before moving to Rogers Elementary in Marshalltown, where he has been ever since.

“When I first started counseling I thought it to be challenging since I had never been working with kindergarten and first grade students. But the kindergarten teacher assured me that the kids would like me no matter what, and she was right,” Church said.

He added, “The best part of the job is getting to know the younger kids and follow them through the years — watching them grow. And it is rewarding to follow the students’ progress and watch as they graduate and some even go off to college.”

Referrals are made to Church by the teachers, parents or the principal.

“Some kids just need to build up their self-esteem and so we talk about the positive things in their lives and play games to help them open up and share information with me. Together we come up with a plan and solutions to help the student,” he said. “Classroom guidance sessions are held to talk over things like how to get along with others and how to be a good listener. It is so important to get the students to feel good about themselves.”

In Marshalltown, the district counselors work with each other to make sure the students have the same information — should the family move and the student have to attend a different school. And this year the Marshalltown School district counselors adopted a new curriculum district wide (K-12) called Positive Action, in which the same type of info carries over with the students from year to year.

Church feels that the experience at Rogers is great due to small groups, classroom sessions and talking with the parents and with social workers when needed. He calls it, “a great emotional support system.”

“A counselor has a very important role – especially now with kids experiencing trauma and stress at an earlier age than they have in the past. Having a person there to help them is a big benefit for the Marshalltown Schools and is a great way to help the students and parents connect,” he said.