{"id":270856,"date":"2025-11-04T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T12:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/270856\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T12:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T12:31:09","slug":"luverne-high-school-counselor-supports-students-while-facing-her-own-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/270856\/","title":{"rendered":"Luverne High School counselor supports students while facing her own challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">LUVERNE, Ala. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\">WSFA<\/a>) &#8211; Tamika Gregory started her counseling career years ago with a focus on mental health. She\u2019s seen firsthand how cell phones, bullying, and social media continue to impact the next generation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI\u2019ve been a mental health counselor for 24 years,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, the transition from mental health to high school is different, but they mesh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Her husband\u2019s entire family is from the Luverne area \u2014 many of them graduated from Luverne High. With an extensive background in counseling, when she heard the former high school counselor was retiring, she knew she had to apply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cMy husband graduated from here, my in-laws graduated from here \u2014 so it\u2019s pretty much like a legacy for my children,\u201d Gregory said. \u201cWhen I heard my friend, Heather Sanders, was retiring, I applied for the job. It was perfect timing because my youngest daughter was just starting junior high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Now, she\u2019s at the high school working with 7th through 12th graders, using her education and life experiences to support students. Recently, she\u2019s faced her own struggles and has been using her grief and resilience to encourage others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cMy mother passed in March. March 16, as a matter of fact, from brain and lung cancer. And then my husband was diagnosed two months after I buried my mom, at the end of May, and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just been a roller coaster. But we\u2019ve still been trying to stay consistent \u2014 to be here for these kids, to be here for the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">That means helping with college applications, schedules, and more. Oftentimes, it\u2019s just a simple conversation that can make all the difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI see everything from self-harm to behavioral issues to court and juvenile issues, academic issues,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the main thing that I can say is that a lot of my babies just come to say good morning \u2014 and that lets me know that I\u2019ve done something to impact a child\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf I could say anything about Luverne, I would say that we are small in number, but very big in heart,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wsfa-12-news\/id449733109\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple App Store<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.raycom.wsfa&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Play Store<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2025 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUVERNE, Ala. (WSFA) &#8211; Tamika Gregory started her counseling career years ago with a focus on mental health.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-270856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}