Dr. Diane Braungard-Galayda, the supervisor of the guidance department at Edison High, plays an important role in the Edison High community. She’s responsible for overseeing the counseling department from Kindergarten through 12th grade and ensuring the mental and academic well being of all students.
A former science teacher, Dr. Braungard says that her exposure to the power that counseling has with helping students inspired her to pursue a career in psychology to be better able to support the needs of the students in the district.
“When I was a teacher, I used to watch the counselors as they worked and I thought this would be a good fit for me,” Braungard recalled. “It fits in with how I operate in my belief system of helping the students as best I can.”
As such, she pursued an internship in a middle school and worked directly with counselors and performed one-on-one counseling with kids. It was this experience that solidified her passion for working in counseling.
“I’m telling you,” she said, “it was the best moment ever.”
At Edison High, her responsibilities include making sure that the counseling department is running smoothly and effectively, and making sure that mental health resources are available at all times for both students and parents.
“Mental health could be for the student, but could also be for assisting the parent,” she said. “But my goal is to make sure I am the observer of mental health and make sure that we’re all that’s best for the students.”
Although she may be the head of the counseling center, she doesn’t feel as though she’s the boss of the counseling staff. On the contrary, she feels as though she’s working alongside them and is their equal.
“My goal is to not always be just the boss, but a colleague with them to make sure that we’re all working towards the benefit of this high school and this district,” Braungard said.
Through this mentality, she believes it’s important to be in constant collaboration and teamwork with a large team to ensure everyone is on the same page and to work together towards success.
“We are a community together, so collaboration is the key goal when working in a school,” Braungard said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s elementary, middle, or high school. We have to work as one unit, not just as counselors.”
Though the responsibilities may be demanding, Braungard finds great joy knowing that she’s positively impacting the lives of students as an available source of support for them to turn to.
“It doesn’t matter how stressful the job is; I like coming to work so I can handle the stress and do what it takes,” she said. “I come to people who want to come to work, and they make the job fun. They make being with the kids nice, and it just doesn’t feel like this is a job.”
As a result of these experiences, Braungard believes that to be a leader not only has to lead, but guide others to become leaders themselves. She desires for her staff to grow and gain experience to one day perhaps leave and expand their horizons.
“I give the counselors jobs to do, not just because I want them to do it, but that I want them to shine in the tasks that they’re doing,” Braungard said. “ I want them to grow, and growing may be leaving me and becoming a supervisor, a vice principal, or principal somewhere.”
Braungard’s decades of experience in the psychological and educational field has given her clear examples of how a leader should act and work with others, and has provided her precious advice to aspiring leaders in Edison High on ways to impact their community.
“Change is hard, but for you to grow, you can’t be afraid of growing pains,” she said. “You need to make an impact on the community, and your ideas need to grow and make a positive change in the world.”