Lincoln-Way High School counselor Nancy Monken is about to complete her mission of guiding high school students through the maze of higher education.
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Monken, who is planning to retire at the end of the school year, recently was named Illinois High School counselor of the year by the Illinois School Counselor Association.
Monken said she was “honored and humbled” by the award.
“There are so many counselors all over the state doing terrific work with kids,” she said.
Monken joined the Lincoln-Way staff as an English teacher in 1978. She became a counselor in 1982. Monken said she still considers counseling a terrific job.
“There are never two days, never two hours that are the same. Each day is unpredictable, really,” she said.
Monken helps high school students narrow down their college options, which she calls a difficult task.
“For the kids to choose a college can be an overwhelming thing sometimes,” she said. “There are so many attractive features. I always tell the kids there’s going to be one thing that’ll click.”
The challenge and the variety are the best part of a counselor’s work, she said. But it’s difficult trying to help teens through their personal problems, she said.
“I’ve always carried my heart on my sleeve,” Monken said. When young people are suffering, “it’s hard to go home and shut the door.”
In Monken’s family, careers in education are a tradition. Her grandmother was a teacher and so are her sisters. Monken’s husband, Mike, now retired, was a teacher and football coach in the Joliet school system.
Two of the Monkens’ three grown children also are educators. Their son, Jeffrey, is a college football coach in Georgia. Their daughter, Susan, teaches early childhood special education classes. The youngest son, Tom, broke the tradition and became a partner in an insurance agency, but he does some football coaching on the side.
Monken’s plans include traveling. Leaving the school setting behind, however, will be a radical change.
“I don’t know how many years that I haven’t scheduled my life around a school calendar.”