New counselor Jennifer Pellen enjoys cooking Italian food for her family, using traditional recipes and cooking from scratch.
“My favorite part of cooking is seeing my daughter get sauce on her face and seeing the rest of my family smiling from the meals I cook,” Pellen said.
Pellen uses traditional recipes passed down from her grandfather, who was an Italian immigrant. The recipes are composed from scratch, with Pellen’s specialty being her sauce. The sauce includes extra cheese to give it a certain texture and taste.
“If I could be an influencer for anything, it would be for Italian food. I love cooking it and eating it so much,” Pellen said.
Alongside her passion for cooking, Pellen also has a passion for counseling students.
“My past school counseling experiences have shaped and refined my abilities, allowing me to become a more effective and insightful counselor,” Pellen said.
A lot of Pellen’s experience and calm demeanor can be attributed to her work as a counselor for grades six through 12 at Carmichaels School District for five years.
“I was able to look at students mature and it’s always super rewarding: You’re able to watch students graduate and see the path they’ve chosen,” Pellen said.
Pellen said she enjoys watching students progress and tailoring her approach to working with them accordingly.
“I like to track the progress of students who I work with and adjust my counseling strategies based on what is working best for each student,” she said. “While teachers often concentrate on academic achievement, school counselors support the emotional, social, and mental health aspects of students’ lives in addition to academics.” She is also enthusiastic about working with a team of counselors at Baldwin.
“I love having a team. At my last school, I was the only school counselor. So I love bouncing ideas off of everybody,” Pellen said.
