East Greenwich’s Anne-Marie Flaherty awarded Rhode Island Guidance Counselor of the Year
by Emily Clarke
Everyone knows Mrs. Flaherty for her College Planning emails and immense contributions to the guidance department. From helping students to prepare for their futures to giving them the support they need to flourish into well-rounded individuals, her role in our school goes beyond the title and job description of Guidance Counselor. Just a few days ago, Mrs. Flaherty was announced as Rhode Island’s Guidance Counselor of the Year. While she was aware that she had been nominated, winning came as a big surprise.
“I didn’t think my application was any more special than anyone else’s. I just try to do the best I can here so I didn’t think it was as noteworthy as everyone did.”
Even after winning an award as impactful as this one, she attributes a large part of her success to the support of the other counselors, making sure to stress that this was not just an award for her, but for all of East Greenwich High School’s guidance department.
She remarks, “I couldn’t do all the things I’m able to without the support of everybody I work with.”
Mrs. Flaherty holds a lot of pride in what the guidance department is today, with adjusting to all the challenges during the pandemic and the blow that it took on student’s mental health, our guidance counselor’s were always there for us, even for late night talks on google meets and early morning back and forth emails. She said that it had to be her proudest accomplishment as head of the department, getting to see how everyone rallied to make a difference for students.
When starting her career as a guidance counselor, her one goal was to give students the help she never got. Coming from a private high school that didn’t have guidance counselors and being a first generation college student, she described the college planning and application process as difficult, mentioning that she would have gone about it much differently if she had someone to guide her. Now, with many years as head of the department under her belt, she gets to be that person for students.
With everything that Mrs. Flaherty has done for students at EGHS, this award shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Despite the hard work that she puts in on the daily, her love for her career still shines through.
“I get to see students grow up. When you guys come in as freshman, you’re still kind of babies, even if you don’t think you are. Then when you graduate, you’ve transformed into grown men and women, all while you’re here. We get to be a part of that transformation. I think that it’s really cool to see you grow, and go off to do some really amazing things.”
Students of all grade levels have gotten to see the success within the halls of East Greenwich High School because of Mrs. Flaherty. Her contributions are now ingrained in day to day life here, as this recognition has been long awaited.
