Amy Foote was a school counselor for 28 years. Mrs. Foote worked in Wausau, WI, where she first started her career. After Wausau, she taught at Monroe, WI, for 11 years, then Platteville for 13 years. Then she taught at Potosi High School for four years. She has been retired for two years. Since retiring in May of 2021, Mrs. Foote has been traveling by motorhome and vacationing in Tennessee over the winter months. She and her husband always wanted to travel during retirement. When they are back in Wisconsin, they camp and boat at Frentress Lake Marina. Mrs. Foote explained that they “spent their summer on the Mississippi.” Outside of her time catching up with students, she also spends a lot of her time with her family, especially her mom because her mom has mobility problems from being hit by a drunk driver and Amy is the only girl in her family.
Even though she has been retired for two years, she has had an ongoing impact, just like she did when she worked at schools. Mrs. Foote has had impacts on several students throughout her career. One student said, ''She made me feel independent. She made me realize I can do things and not listen to what others think. She is the only reason I have my own place to live. She helped me plan for an early graduation and she helped me know school was for me.”
Mrs. Foote still enjoys working with students in her free time. She commented, “It’s an honor to be a trusted adult that former students still feel comfortable reaching out to when needed.” She remembered students from one of the Wausau middle schools where she first started as a school counselor. “Now [the students I taught] have grown children, but they still reach out once in a while. Sometimes it’s just to say hello and catch up. Sometimes it’s because they want to run something by me just to work it out in their own head. Most of my former students just kind of pop in and pop out. I’ll go years without hearing from someone and then suddenly get a message or two.”
She shared how important it was to her to keep in touch with the students. She shared a story about an important student from one school. “Once while shopping at Walmart I heard someone yelling “Hey, Mom! Hey, Mom! Hey, Mom!” and before I could figure out who was yelling, I was being hugged by a guy in a black leather jacket, with a spiked mohawk, massive tattoos, and more facial piercings than I could count. He was quite a sight, to be honest. A lady shopping nearby glared at me like I must have been one horrible mother. Once I finally recognized him, I remembered a skinny wild boy I spent many, many hours with while he was trying to get through high school with no mom and an abusive father. He had eventually been taken out of his home and I hadn’t seen him in years. He never called me mom at school, but I probably was all he had for a mom during that time. This was early in my career and before social media, so I never heard or saw him again, but I will never forget that kid”.
Mrs. Foote was more than a counselor; she still has a lasting impact on students’ lives. Even though she is missed at Potosi High School, she is still impacting students through her work with a scholarship program. She is helping another school put a scholarship program together because they did not have a good process for scholarships. Mrs. Foote has had quite a bit of experience with scholarships in the past through her school counselor work. Mrs. Foote always goes above and beyond to help others out.
Mrs. Foote has been a mother figure for more than one student. She also talked about how other students don't have stability or have a trusted adult at home. Mrs. Foote also said it was important for students to know that teachers and school counselors genuinely care about students and the job is more than just a paycheck.