Leslie Morter, Robinson’s newest IB counselor may be new to Robinson, but she isn’t new to counseling at all. After 27 years of working in education, Morter can easily say that she is very proud of the time she has spent as a counselor and the things she has accomplished.

Out of her 27 years working in education, she spent 18 of them at Hillsborough High School as an IB counselor before being transferred to Plant High School for one semester. However, she is ecstatic to be back in the IB program.

“It’s comfortable, it’s what I know. I’m really looking forward to serving the IB population again,” Morter said.

When she heard that Kara Sprinkle, Robinson’s former IB counselor, was leaving, Morter immediately requested to take her position and was very grateful to be given the opportunity to be back in the IB program again and the smooth nature of her transition.

It is clear that Morter is very passionate about what she does, but she may not have even become a counselor without the inspiration of her mentor, a college professor at USF, and a retired Coleman teacher whom she observed teaching back when she was a student at USF. After observing one of his classes, Morter knew that that’s what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to become a teacher. It wasn’t until a little later than her mentor guided her towards counseling.

Although Morter loves her job and much of her time is spent at school, in her free time, Morter enjoys taking walks on the beach or in local parks and exploring her new home in Pinellas County. Up until recently, Morter had been a resident of Hillsborough County for a very long time, so she is very excited to get to know her new home. However, her absolute favorite pastime is visiting and spending time with her grandson up in Boston.

As a counselor, Morter’s main job is to ensure that her students are comfortable in their learning environment. She has noticed over her many years working with IB students that they tend to be really hard on themselves. She recognizes how this can be bad for students’ mental health if they are putting too much pressure on themselves. So, her main advice to all students is just to be kind to yourself. Morter understands that being a teenager, especially right now with everything going on, can be really stressful and just wants kids to be nicer to themselves and each other.

Morter has made it very clear that she is very passionate about her job and is always there to help any students who need it. It’s also nice to know that the new IB counselor has 18 years of previous experience with the IB program and is well equipped to guide her students through the rigorous program.

Morter’s final message to the students is, “If someone can be a negative influence on you, you can be a positive influence on them.”