Marietta High School counselor Thelesa Taylor has announced her retirement effective
at the end of the school year. Although Taylor has only been with the district for three
years, she has worked hard to make a difference in the lives of MHS students.
Taylor, who lives in Ardmore, began her career in education later than most.
“I chose to raise my family first, and then I went back to school when my boys were in
middle school,” Taylor remembered. “I graduated from college the same year that my
oldest child graduated from high school.”
Before starting college, Taylor was working for a company that worked with kids. She
remembers one day when she heard a school music teacher come through with her
students at Christmas.
“I felt God telling me that this was what he wanted me to do,” said Taylor. “So that
afternoon, I made some phone calls. Southeastern returned my call, I received a vocal
scholarship, and I started to school.”
She began teaching music at Dickson in 2008. After 12 years in music education, she
taught eighth grade history for three years before moving to Marietta as a high school
counselor.
Making the switch from teaching in the classroom to counseling wasn’t a stretch for
Taylor.
“I had been doing the job for a while without even knowing it,” Taylor recollected.
“Students would come to me with issues and we’d talk through them. Eventually,
someone said, ‘You’d be good at this, why don’t you try it?’”
So Taylor applied for the master’s program at Southeastern, was accepted, and
completed the program.
“The thing I love most about my job is helping kids make life decisions, working with
them in difficult situations and teaching them how to work through things,” she said. “I
love seeing their happiness. I recently got a note from a student that spent a lot of time
in my office that said, ‘Thank you for believing in me. Now I believe in myself.’ That’s
why I do this job.”
So, why retire?
“I have a new granddaughter, and I want to spend time with my grandchildren while I
can,” stated Taylor.
But there are other reasons, ones that members of the general public may not realize.
Working in education is stressful. Teachers – and counselors – often take their work
home with them, and not just in the form of papers to grade.
“Working in education is stressful,” explained Taylor. “Sometimes you go home and
you’re upset over something that one of the kids is going through, and you know there
isn’t much you can do to help but pray. That wears on you after a while. Over time, it’s
just hard to see what some of our kids are going through.”
So Taylor realizes that it’s time for her to move on and let someone else carry that
weight for a while.
“Mrs. Taylor hasn’t been with us as long as some of our other staff members,” said
Superintendent Brandi Naylor, “but she has been an important part of our team. She
has earned her retirement, and we wish her a long and happy one.”