Buckeye school counselor shares what kept her in the job for 40 years

BUCKEYE, AZ – “They usually like us,” counselor Sherry Saylor explains lovingly.

But at Buckeye Elementary School, students don't just like Saylor… they love her! And it's easy to see why.

“I would say: I'm the last person in the world who still likes middle school drama! I still find it entertaining and funny, and when they come in, I like to listen to them and help them work through it, but I'm not tired of it yet… I want them to feel like home, a second home. Sometimes they call me the school mom,” Saylor says. “I want them to know that I'm there to comfort and love them.”

And it is this love that has kept Saylor here as a consultant for four decades.

“Did you ever think when you walked through the doors 40 years ago that you would still be here all these years later?” asks ABC15's Nick Ciletti.

““That's a good question. I never thought that way. I fell in love with the job, the school, the people,” says Saylor.

““What do you like so much about working as a career counselor?” asks Ciletti.

““I think the fact that kids trust you with the most important things in their lives,” says Saylor. “They come here and pour their hearts out to you… and I love that we can meet the needs of these kids so they can be successful in school.”

Saylor acknowledges that since she took office in 1984, not only the Buckeye Elementary School District has changed, but so have its students.

“First and foremost is social media,” she explains. “The increasing influence of social media that these kids are exposed to… Now we have phones. Phones have opened up a great but difficult world for us in many ways. They compare themselves to each other and are exposed to things on TikTok and all the other media that are not appropriate for them… Another thing I deal with that has increased over the years is the increasing anxiety. A lot of kids come in and are anxious about things outside and inside of school.”

Saylor, along with several community partners, meets these children where they are and helps them with basic needs outside the classroom – from shoes to school supplies and everything in between.

One of those efforts is making sure all children have backpacks. When we interviewed Saylor, we noticed boxes of donated backpacks in her office. She says they are all loaded with school supplies and ready to be distributed to children who need them.

“If we expect them to learn and do well academically, we make sure they have these basic needs met. I even keep snacks under my desk because kids are constantly hungry.”

We also asked Saylor to talk about the shortage of guidance counselors facing schools across Arizona and across America.

According to the American School Counselors Association, Arizona has the fewest number of counselors per student in the nation.

But Saylor says she is grateful that the Buckeye Elementary School District has counselors and community partners at each of its schools to help make it all possible.

“A lot of other people help me with this work, with social work and everything else, but I'll just say it's difficult. It affects not only counselors, but teachers too. There's a shortage of people working in this field.”

But nearly half a century later, Saylor says she wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

“I've said it before – I have the best job in school because I help children and families all day long.”