This 2017-18 school year De Soto High School welcomes new guidance counselor, Kris Wilkens. She was previously a counselor and English teacher in the Olathe school district.

“I heard there was an opening and I was definitely interested. My sons are here in the district, and I’ve just heard raving things about the De Soto school district,” Wilkens said.

Wilkens currently serves students with last names O-Z. Her duties as a counselor include enrollment, credit recovery, VEP, 504’s and homebound.

“[This year] is going very well. Everyone is really nice, and the other counselors have been very helpful and accommodating,” Wilkens said.

Fellow counselor Lindsay Hothan says having three counselors at DHS has really helped in being able to get to know students better.

“Prior to her (Wilkens) coming here Mrs. Johns and I split the student body in half so I had half the students and she had half the students. That’s a lot of students to try and get to know and learn about and do schedules for so adding her allows us the opportunity to get to know a smaller group of students,” Hothan said.

Wilkens enjoys working with the other counselors and loves being able to work with students from every grade level.

“We’re all working on things together and it’s a definite collaborative process, it’s a good team and a good fit,” Wilkens said.