Hailing from Patapsco High School in Baltimore, Md. Katie VanBuskirk has been a guidance counselor for six years, but she didn’t always know what her future career would entail.

“Everyone in high school has this idea of ‘oh my god I need to know exactly what I want to do with my life’,” VanBuskirk said. “That wasn’t me. Well, it was and it wasn’t.”

Since elementary school, VanBuskirk was adamant about being an art teacher – entering an Art Magnet Program in high school. Even when her passion for art dissipated, her childhood goal of becoming an art teacher remained.

VanBuskirk returned to her Alma Mater to teach art for a year and a half before she decided that was no longer the path she wanted to follow. With her love for education, kids, and helping, a friend recommended becoming a guidance counselor.

The absence of Robinson’s head guidance counselor Marjan Debosky, who is on maternity leave, has paved the way for Katie VanBuskirk to fill a crucial roll here at Robinson High School. As one of Robinson’s new traditional guidance counselors, she has not only taken up Ms. Debosky’s freshmen (last names A-F), but she is also counselor for 9-12th graders (last names G-N).

“The first time I met her I thought she was really bubbly and active,” Eva Capo, the acting department head for guidance said. “She has a willingness to do things.”

Mrs. VanBuskirk hit the ground running; two weeks into the 2019-2020 school year and already she has had positive interactions with Robinson’s student body.

“She is like Mr. Driscoll in the sense of they’re both very calm and helpful,” Sara Lockhart (’22) says. “[She] likes to get to the point as soon as you walk in.”