Mrs. Raegan Ellen was awarded the Educator of the Year award on August 14, 2021. Mrs. Ellen is the 9th and 10th-grade student counselor at Lonoke High School. She has been on the Lonoke School District staff for 7 years. She worked at Lonoke Middle School as the Family Consumer Science teacher for 2 years and is starting her fifth year as a counselor at the high school. Mrs. Ellen graduated from Lonoke in 2011. In her free time, she enjoys spending her time with her 2-year-old daughter and her husband, who is a football coach in Conway. They also are involved with serving in the Little Life ministry at their church.

While Mrs. Ellen was at the gas station before school one morning, Mrs. Sissy Fletcher leaned over and said, “You should be a counselor!” That was when she realized what she wanted to do and started looking at counselor programs that day. The night of the banquet, she thought she was going as just a counselor and once she saw her family there she realized something was going on. “I felt shocked and humbled to receive such an honor,” Ellen said.

What Mrs. Ellen likes most about her job is meeting students where they are, personally or academically. “I like helping students plan their future, more than just their high school journey and discover who they are.” For someone wanting to pursue her career, she says, “Always be open and look for the needs of the student. As a student needs you, you have to be available and it’s okay to put things off to the next day.” She also says that you must be student-minded and always do what’s best for the students.

Congratulations to Mrs. Ellen on Educator of the year!