By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer
Auburn guidance counselor Carol Mashaw picked as Maine Counselor of the Year.

AUBURN – When the kindergartner started throwing angry fits, his teacher didn’t know what to do. His mother didn’t know what to do.

But counselor Carol Mashaw did.

Her jar of tiny, shiny stones served as reminder and reward. Every day you keep your temper you can keep a stone, she told the boy as he grinned shyly.

Hours later, to help settle the nerves of sixth-grade boys, she handed out sugar cookies and discussed their move to middle school. To get a rambunctious second-grade class talking about feelings, Mashaw had the kids act out happy faces, sad faces, angry faces.

Like many of the Sherwood Heights Elementary School students who wander in and out of her office every day – and in and out of her life every year – the children didn’t say thank you. After 35 years in education, that was OK with Mashaw.

“My reward is being able to make a difference,” she said.

But this month, Mashaw’s colleagues decided she deserved a more tangible reward. They named her Maine Counselor of the Year.

Mashaw started working as a Sherwood Heights kindergarten teacher right out of college. After 17 years in the classroom, she realized how much she enjoyed working with children and their parents. She took over as guidance counselor in the late 1980s.

When students aren’t stopping by her office – a cozy space filled with puppets, toys and books – Mashaw sweeps through the halls, dropping into classrooms for a lesson or stopping to check on a child. Through the years, Mashaw has fallen in love with the job’s unpredictability. One moment, she’s talking with a teacher about a sullen second-grader; the next, she’s comforting preteens anxious about change.

“The best part is the kids,” Mashaw said during a short break between a classroom lesson on feelings and a lunch date with first-graders. “It’s very different from the classroom, but you get the best of the whole thing.”

Always available’

Students adore Mashaw.

“She teaches us about feelings,” said 7-year-old Taylor Langston. “They’re important so you know how people feel and so you don’t hurt their feelings,”

Teachers rely on her.

“She can kind of sense the pulse of the school,” said Principal Katy Grondin. “She’s available. She’s always available to everyone.”

Earlier this year, Mashaw’s colleagues nominated her for Maine Counselor of the Year. The Maine School Counselor Association surprised Mashaw with the award during a dinner this month.

The honor astounded Mashaw.

“I am just overwhelmed. Very surprised. I’m just doing my job,” she said.

She placed the plaque on her office filing cabinet, behind the toys she keeps for her students.

Mashaw loves her job, but this will be her last year. At 59, she has decided to retire.

The news saddened the Sherwood Heights teachers and parents, many of whom remember Mashaw from their own days in elementary school. Still, Mashaw believes it’s time. She wants to travel and spend more time with her family, including her husband, three daughters and four grandchildren.

But Mashaw probably won’t say goodbye for good. She plans to volunteer, consult or work part time.

She can’t imagine life without having kids to help.