Every community has their own “superhero.” Whether it is the neighbor who never fails to make you smile or the firefighter who quite literally saves lives, every community has a specific individual who everyone can count on. These “superheroes” shape the culture and environment of a community. No matter how impossible something may seem, they never fail to give you hope. At our campus, there is a specific staff member that studies at the foot of his favorite comic book heroes. This man’s name is Curtis Menke, the College and Career Guidance Counselor at MCHS.
After originally being a generalist school counselor for 16 years, Menke felt he could have a bigger impact. That’s when he decided to make a change. Menke then changed his role from being a generalist school counselor to specializing in helping students find what they want to do after high school. Whether the student wants to go to a university or not, Menke has options for everyone. However, his motivation for helping students find their journey after high school goes way further than the classroom.
When asked what keeps him invested in his job, Menke gave a passionate response.
“I like helping people,” Menke says. “I think I’ve got a knack for it. I like to work proactively in that I’m not going to wait until senior year to bring these topics up to students.”
Menke does way more for students than simply finding their next step. He relates to students on a personal level and always finds ways to make students with a more quiet voice feel heard. Even students who have yet to talk individually with Menke have noticed his impacts on students.
When asked about how he would describe Menke, MCHS sophomore Harry Alexander gave some good insight.
“I haven’t talked to him one-on-one,” Alexander says. “However, he seems very, very motivated in helping students find their paths.”
When asked a similar question, Nate Osel gave a very similar response to Alexander.
“I feel that Menke is always motivated to help students feel more at home at school,” Osel says, “he always seems to rub off well on students.”
Whether it’s at his desk or in front of a large majority of the student body at MCHS, Curtis Menke never fails to put a smile on students’ faces and motivate them to look further into their futures. Superheroes may be a concept of imagination, but it is safe to say every community needs its “superhero” like McHenry has Menke.