JAY — Susanne Spalding has been working with high school or college-aged people for 37 years, the past 16 as guidance counselor for Spruce Mountain High School and the former Livermore Falls High School.

When classes end later this month, she’ll be leaving her position, but not necessarily education.

“I hope to do some kind of work in the field, part time,” she said.

Over the years, she has served as director of residence life at the University of Maine at Farmington, director of admissions at the University of Maine at Augusta, and as part of the graduate outreach program at the University of Maine.

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and her master’s in education in school counseling from the University of Vermont.

A native of East Greenbush, N.Y., Spalding said she has always liked the idea of being in education and in working as part of a team.

“I love working with the kids and working with a team for the benefit of the students,” she said.

As a guidance counselor, she has a variety of experiences every day, from counseling a student who may be in crisis to administering or planning the SATs. She also helps students choose a college and find scholarships, and she makes presentations on college planning.

Her role as a counselor to students who may be experiencing difficulty has somewhat diminished over the years since social workers began taking on much of that role.

“I’ve really enjoyed my career, but it seems there is more emphasis on testing,” she said.

She said she would like to spend more time on college planning because she believes it’s very important that students go to college.

“They will have a better standard of living,”she said.

Also over the years, she has seen the lives of teenagers become much more difficult.

“There’s more homelessness, more financial struggles. A lot of parents are so overwhelmed with trying to make ends meet that it’s harder for them to give their kids the support they need,” she said.

More teens are also leaving home at an earlier age than they once did, too.

She views the 2011 merger of the Jay School Department and RSU 36 in Livermore Falls as a work in progress.

“Students have adjusted well,” she said. “But it’s hard on the Livermore Falls people to lose their school. It’s been a tough year, but overall, we’re working on it. There are so many new things and just adjusting takes a while. Combining the schools made a lot of sense, but it’s still a hard adjustment.”

She said she decided to retire at age 62 because she can and because her position is a little overwhelming at times.

Spalding said she hopes to travel to Newfoundland, Ireland and Europe with her husband, Ken Spalding, who is retired as director of the Maine Conservation Corps and currently works for Restore the Maine Woods.

They are the parents of two adult sons.