Being a middle school counselor is not an easy job.
“There are a lot of things that you see and hear on a daily basis that are just really heartbreaking,” said Linda Webb, a counselor at Fountain Lake Middle School Cobra Digital Prep Academy. “Social media and the internet make it even harder because you are not just trying to help with things that happened in a child’s small world anymore.
“It is so much bigger now; they experience so many more things. Sometimes you feel you are putting out fires in 17 directions.”
Webb said kids have always had the ability to be cruel to each other and pick on each other and tease each other.
“Bullying is not a new issue,” she said. “That’s always been there, but how I think I can help the most with that is trying to teach kids and help kids cope with someone being mean to them, or when they are being mistreated.
“If I can help there be fewer victims of bullying, that would help the whole problem, more than just disciplining the student who is mistreating other kids.”
Webb was recently named Fountain Lake School District Teacher of the Year.
“Mrs. Webb has served throughout our middle school’s transition to a conversion charter school and has been an important part of the building’s leadership team, particularly in spearheading the ‘Leader in Me’ curriculum — a charter education process based on Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” said Michael Murphy, Fountain Lake School District superintendent. “Further, as a bridge between our elementary and high school, Mrs. Webb is an important role-player in the lives of students moving through our system.”
Murphy said Webb is a tremendous asset to the students and families of the district. He said he is proud to honor her as the district’s Teacher of the Year.
“Linda Webb is a dependable role model for our students and fellow teachers,” Murphy said. “While we are always focused on student achievement, our staff is also continually focused on the social and emotional well-being of our students.
“Mrs. Webb is the embodiment of the balance that our staff utilizes to meet every student’s needs, every day. … I am proud to serve alongside this staff and am proud to honor Linda Webb as an example of the tremendous calibre of character that our staff exhibits every day.”
Webb, who is originally from Hot Springs, attended Fountain Lake Elementary School before moving with her parents to the Magnet Cove School District and graduating from Magnet Cove High School in 1986. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1998 and a master’s degree in school counseling in 2008 from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
She said she got into counseling because she wanted to focus on helping students in their personal life so they could really focus on learning.
“I miss seeing every student every day, but I really cherish the quality of the time I get to spend with them now …,” Webb said. “I can see them for what is important to them. They have a multitude of things that they worry about and stress about. Especially with middle school kids, everything is a huge thing.
“You have to get through those end-of-the-world-type problems before you can expect them to engage in the classroom.”
Webb said she took a different approach to her schooling because she had difficulty finding her path and was under the mistaken impression that whatever she got her degree in, that’s what she would be doing for the rest of her life.
“I couldn’t decide on which way to go, so I took some time off to work, and I met my husband and had my kids,” Webb said, “and that’s when I knew I wanted to be with kids. There is so much about the profession that is like a family, and you are involved in the day-to-day education. There are activities, and your co-workers are like your own family.
“You spend more time with them than your own family, and my family was always close growing up.”
Webb is the youngest of five siblings, the next oldest being eight years older than her. She said she idolized them and looked up to all of them.
“They have always taken care of me,” Webb said. “I am 51 years old, and they still have that mindset that I’m the little sis. … I’m sure I got on their nerves frequently, but I never knew it. They were very sweet to me.”
She said she had the absolute best parents.
“They taught us all the things you wish parents would teach their kids today: Above all, work hard, be honest and always consider other people in your decisions and in your choices,” Webb said. “The character that I heard them teach us and saw on a daily basis growing up, every single minute of every single day — I use something that I learned from my mom and dad.”
Webb said that with having the family background that she did, her heart really goes out to those who don’t have that solid foundation.
“I think you really have to know that kids are going to mess up sometimes, like we all did and do,” Webb said, “but you can’t be judgmental. You have to watch how you react when kids do some of the harebrained things they do.
“I think that keeps the kids coming back to me — when I don’t add to their guilt or whatever they are going through, whenever they get themselves in a mess.”
Webb has been a counselor for 12 years and is starting her eighth year at Fountain Lake. Prior to becoming a counselor, she spent 10 years in the classroom.
Frank Janaskie is the principal at the middle school.
“The best way I describe Linda is that she is always smiling,” he said. “She walks into our school with a smile on her face.
“She helps the kids and makes sure they are having a great day. She works extremely hard on making sure we are helping to instill leadership qualities and giving them opportunities to be leaders.”
Janaskie said he truly believes students are living in the era of ‘I want it now’ and that instantaneous pushing out of information.
“Sometimes it is not always good or pleasant, but as an educator, we try extremely hard to help kids understand the power of ‘send,’” he said.
“Once you send it, there is no returning. Linda visits with kids and counsels kids in classrooms and talks to them about technology. There are great things about it and the dangers about it,” Janaskie said. “That’s very hard for middle school and high school kids. They don’t get the repercussions that can happen with technology.
“She really tries to make sure those kids understand that once they post it on their Facebook page, it is there forever and for everyone to see.”
Webb said that many kids are lacking in the skill set to communicate with somebody face to face.
“I don’t know the statistics, but the majority of their communication with other people comes from behind a screen,” she said. “Whether it is gaming, on their phone, social media, whatever — it is a lot easier to say from behind a screen things you shouldn’t say or wouldn’t say to someone’s face.
“A large percentage of issues at the middle school level are social, and it could be family, it could be friends, or it could just be another kid at school. A lot of it is just communication with other people.”
Becky Hughes is the assistant principal at the middle school and has known Webb for eight years.
“I feel that they voted for Mrs. Webb because of her overall love and passion that she has for Fountain Lake and our students and teachers,” Hughes said, “and just the overall love and passion that she radiates in meetings and every time you speak with her.
“She is the whole package. She is an awesome, extraordinary person.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.