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Photo by Aubrey Kelly

Koenen smiles behind her desk, welcoming students to come and meet her.

With the addition of freshman and a school population bigger than ever before, two new counselors had to be added to the Pony Centers.

The Red Pony Center has added Krista Koenen who has been in school counseling for seven years. The White Pony Center got a new counselor named Jeremy Baldwin who has worked in school counseling for 12 years. The counselor’s main focuses are promoting academic support, post high school planning and student’s personal and social development.

“I wanted to work at Stillwater because it’s known for being a wonderful district in building relationships with families and students and I wanted to be a part of that,”  Koenen said. “This year is a huge year of transition and it’s an honor to help ease that process for families.”

Koenen previously worked at Braham Area High School and Brooklyn Center High School. She got her undergrad with a double major in psychology and French at Gustavus Adolphus. She obtained her Masters Degree in counseling from Mankato State University.

“Adding Ms. Koenen we were looking for someone with the same skills I had experienced with Mrs. Hopper and new ones too. So when we had the opportunity to hire her [Koenen] we jumped on it,” Assistant Principal Aaron Drevlow said. “The way she fell into our system here was remarkable, she jumped in right away and didn’t miss a beat.”

Baldwin is the other new addition to the counseling team, and he previously worked in Illinois. The past two years Baldwin worked as the director of counseling and for nine years prior to that he worked in school counseling. Baldwin went to Western Michigan for his undergraduate where he majored in English literature. After that he went to Northern Illinois for his masters degree in counseling, then went to Aurora for his administrative license.

“I feel like I’ve been able to connect with them [the students]. I treat high school students, freshman and up, like young adults. Building relationships is the most important part. I can see my previous experience as a director playing into my conversations with the students,” Baldwin said.

Outside of school counseling Koenen said she is a huge fan of the Vikings, and she works at U.S. Bank Stadium as a side job. Some of her other hobbies include cleaning and organizing her house. She also added, “I’m a huge dog lover.”

Baldwin has many hobbies including muskie fishing and playing hockey, both of which made living in Minnesota “A dream come true.” In his free time he also enjoys working out.

“Being here is a dream come true, being a Minnesotan and working at such a great school. On my applications I said I wanted to work most closely to students,” Baldwin said. “Working directly with students is my favorite part.”