SWR has brought on two new staff members in the guidance office to help students with problems and issues at home or at school that add too much stress to their lives.

Mr. Carrasco

Mr. Joe Carrasco is the new district psychologist. He oversees behavioral concerns, the writing of intervention plans, behavior plans, the crisis intervention team, and bully intervention programs. He is also available as just someone to talk to.

As he is a district psychologist, Mr. Carrasco is only here from 8:10 to 10:45 a.m. every blue day, as he works at the middle and elementary schools as well.

Ever since he was in 10th grade, Mr. Carrasco said he has known that he wanted to work as a school psychologist. He earned his bachelors and graduate degrees from St. John’s University. Outside of school he is very active, participating in volleyball, football, and tennis. He said he also has some experience in boxing. Mr. Carrasco  is also a musician, playing both the clarinet and the saxophone.

“On an everyday basis, I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and in turn that makes me happy.” -Mr. Carrasco

His favorite part of working with high school students is that it reminds him of when he was in high school not too long ago. He also finds that, since he is a younger man, his recent high school experience helps him readily relate to students, and he is better at giving advice.

The career also lines up with his life philosophy. “It puts me in a position to do right by others and to give back to this world what I want from it,” Mr. Carrasco said. “On an everyday basis, I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and in turn that makes me happy.”

Mr. Carrasco is excited to work at SWR specifically because he feels he can offer a new perspective. He grew up in very different communities, having been born in Brooklyn and raised in Central Islip, and he wants to share his input, which comes from a very different  point of view. He also wants to present his perspective as a person of a different racial background given that SWR is almost entirely Caucasian.

Mrs. Kloska

Mrs. Nancy Kloska is the new hire to fill the school’s newly-created role of student support counselor. She meets with students toward the end of the day, or after school, when problems can be at their worst. Her job is to listen, support, and guide students, promoting their social and emotional well-being and development, she said.

However, as she works at other schools as well, she is only here Monday and Thursday from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Mrs. Kloska said she was an honor student and a tennis player when she went to Division Avenue High School in Levittown. She was interested in art and literature and was part of the school newspaper.

She went to Hofstra University with the intention of becoming an English teacher. During her student teaching period, she found that she much preferred the part of the job where her students came to her outside of class to chat. It was then that she realized that students need a counselor, not an English teacher, and she changed her course.

Before coming to SWR, Mrs. Kloska was a guidance counselor for six years in Lindenhurst middle school, then briefly a behavior counselor at Andrew Muller Primary School before finally being given the position, by North Shore Youth Council, of Before and After Care Director for Miller Place, Mt. Sinai, and eventually SWR.

Mrs. Kloska’s favorite part of her job is the students she gets to meet. “The kids that I meet are just great. I feel very lucky to play a role in their lives, however small it may be,” she said

Outside of her job, Mrs. Kloska enjoys biking, reading, writing, and art. She is also a mother of three, and her children are a high priority in her life. She has one child in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary school.  She said she believes they give her a better perspective on the issues of today’s students.

As a person, she said she has a warm and caring nature, which she hopes will help her make a difference in the lives of SWR students. She hopes to impact student lives “by being available to [her] students and by actively listening and trying to help them through the things that are present in their lives.”

Republished from Shoreham-Wading River’s print newspaper, The Wildcat Pause (April 2019 Issue).