My School Counselor Podcast

Ben Kirk: A Collegiate Wrestling Recruiting Story

Benjamin Lee Kirk is the son of K Leslie Kirk, former post commander of Fort Greely, Alaska. He is the 4th son of 6 boys raised by Gine Kirk. 
 
Benjamin was raised in Delta Junction, Alaska from the age of 2 till 18. He is a 3 time Alaska State Wrestling champion with only one loss in the State finals of 3A wrestling division. He was also ranked top 10 in the nation for his weight class. Ben was the recipient of the Dave Shultz award his senior year (Award given to the top pound for pound wrestler. The award is given to only 1 wrestler per state Senior year). He would go on to earn an athletic scholarship to Brigham Young University. 
 
He is now an entrepreneur of multiple areas of services ranging from Pest control, home security, residential solar, chemical engineering, and organic cleaning products approved by the EPA. 
 
Ben is a loving father, nostalgic Alaskan living in South Florida, &/or Sourdough at heart for life! 
 
Facebook: Ben Kirk
Instagram: @benkrrrrk
Business: https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2020/06/17/2049699/0/en/Ethema-Signs-LOI-on-Acquisition-of-a-Majority-Interest-in-Biohazard-Health-Services-LLC.html

Zoya Timoshenko: A Collegiate Cross Country/Track Recruiting Story

Zoya Timoshenko currently lives in Oklahoma City. She’s from Ukraine and grew up in Delta Junction, Alaska. Vocationally she is a Youth Director for Trinity OKC Baptist Church and a User Acceptance Testing Analyst for Heartland. In her spare time she loves to run, play soccer and be around people. From homelessness to a running scholarship for Oklahoma Baptist University, this is her story!

Kendra Pinkelman: A Collegiate Soccer Recruiting Story

Kendra Pinkelman grew up in a small town about 35 minutes north of Seattle, in Lake Stevens. She started playing soccer at age 7 and it was evident from the beginning that this was going to be “her sport”. At age 10; she began playing on a select team, at age 13 she also joined the ODP (Olympic Development Program) for a season and at age 14 she joined her Highschool soccer team. Kendra received an athletic scholarship and community scholar award to attend Eastern Oregon University and play soccer. She ended up graduating from Eastern WashingtonUniversity with a B.A. in Psychology. Kendra eventually continued on to completed her M.ed in Clinical Mental Health from University of Tennessee at Martin. She currently lives back in her hometown of Lake Stevens with her husband; Chad and two children, Ember and Maia, where she operates her private practice, Solstice Healing.
facebook: Solstice healingInstagram: @solsticehealingwww.yoursolsticehealing.com

Advocating for a foster child: A conversation with Katie Knittel

Join me and one of my best friends, Katie Knittel! Join us in the car on our road trip as we talk about advocating for a foster child. We explore the complexities of this relationship; the love and the passion that is exchanged; and what resources are available in the community and at school to support foster children. You'll find out why I love this girl so much and how God has laid this mission in her family's heart.

Erik Drygas: A Collegiate Hockey Recruiting Story

Erik was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska and athletics has played a huge role in his life. He first put hockey skates on at the age of 7 when his dad helped him onto the ice and always encouraged him to do his best. He played youth hockey in Fairbanks and later played junior hockey in Vail, Colorado, Dubuque and Waterloo (Iowa). These experiences prepared him for Division I Hockey and signed a scholarship with University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks at the age of 17. Erik played a total of 3 years with the Nanooks and at the age of 20, unexpectedly caught an edge with his skate during a routine practice and suffered a catastrophic injury. He is currently a C-5 quadriplegic. This moment transformed Erik's life. He was faced with overcoming new obstacles and challenges that he never could’ve imagined. The community rallied around him, as did the Colorado Avalanche team in Denver, Colorado where he did his rehabilitation at Craig Hospital. Most importantly, his family is his rock.
He returned to UAF and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Elementary Education. Erik coached high school hockey for West Valley High School from 2000-2008. After 26 years injured, he continues to stay involved with Nanook hockey. He assists with alumni outreach and for 25 seasons he has been the TV and radio color commentator for the home games of Nanook hockey. Erik and his wife (Emily) reside in Fairbanks, Alaska and enjoy the Alaskan outdoors with their two daughters (Annika & Ava).

Paige Tonz: A Collegiate Softball Recruiting Story

Paige Tonz grew up in Peoria, AZ and began playing softball at 8 years old. She has competed at many levels; starting with rec ball, moving to club ball, and competing as a D1 athlete at Northwestern University. Her mission and goal is to help transform girls into strong women beyond the playing field or court. Paige has worked with 1000+ athletes in her programs and workshops. She believe girls have so much opportunity to dream bigger than they ever imagined. Because sports was and still is such a big part of Paige's life, she has had a first row ticket to see how the experiences from sports can be a vessel to success in life on and off the field. She now works with girl athletes on the mental mindset game. You can learn about her program at paigetonz.com and follow her on Instagram @paigetonz

Amy Woerth: Head Volleyball Coach Northwest Missouri State

Amy Woerth: Head volleyball coach: Northwest Missouri State
 
Amy is my former roommate. We met when I was in grad school and she was the assistant volleyball coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has now gone on to be a successful head coach going into her 11th year at Northwest Missouri State University. We talk about what a coach looks for in a recruit and what student athletes can be doing now to get noticed by coaches. Take a listen and I know you will gain knowledge about what it takes to play college sports.

My Athletic Recruiting Experience

Does your child have an interest in playing sports in college? I did and I'm telling my recruiting story to play college softball. Listen to what happened on an official visit to a school in Texas and the two offers I had to decide between!

Resource Review: The College Tour

I came across this resource on Amazon Prime Video and realized it could be great for the college exploration process. Basically it's like visiting the campus from the comfort of your chair. Four to 5 students per episode discuss their experiences working with professors, showcasing areas around campus including student hangouts, sports fields, and laboratories. It's a great way to sit down as a family and talk about what the reality of going to college will look like for your family. You can also check out www.thecollegetour.com for more resources and a really cool college tour class that they offer.

Teen Coaching with Christine Kaplan

On this episode I interview Christine Kaplan of Christine Kaplan Coaching (https://christinekaplancoaching.com/).
We talk about:
Teens and anxiety
The difference between a coach and a therapist
When to know which support to use
Christine's Junior Year Journey program
It was a great conversation about connection! Follow her @christinekaplancoaching on Instagram