This year the schools hired a dozen new staff members, and the Press is profiling the 10 new full-time hires who interact with a large number of the school population. The Sept. 1 edition of the Press profiled seven new employees; this article covers three more.
Nancy Labbe. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Nancy Labbe, Bromfield School nurse
Nancy Labbe is the new nurse at the Bromfield School, although she is not really new to either the school or the general community. She is a resident of Candleberry Lane in Harvard, and for more than 10 years she was a substitute nurse at both the Hildreth Elementary and Bromfield schools. In that capacity she has developed close relationships with both the students and their parents as well as with the staff at each school.
In a short email Labbe wrote, “It has been so crazy busy at the school that lunch has become a luxury these days.” But she added, “I don’t mind, I am loving working there.”
Labbe graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a major in health administration and planning and went on to earn a second bachelor’s degree in nursing from UMass Boston. She worked in home care and hospice before attending New England School of Acupuncture, graduating with a Master of Science in acupuncture and Eastern medicine. She owned and operated a private acupuncture practice in Framingham, using both Eastern and Western medicine to treat clients.
Changing careers, Labbe worked part-time at MetroWest Medical Center and then at Tufts Medical Center as a registered nurse managing and reviewing cases and assessing needs.
In her resume, Labbe talked about her professional skills and experience and also about bringing her interpersonal skills and empathetic and compassionate nature to her role as school nurse. And, she wrote, “I have a strong desire to be more engaged in our collective community’s efforts in educating Harvard’s children and contributing all of my talents in this endeavor.”
Katie Bingel.
Katie Bingel, middle school counselor
The new middle school counselor at Bromfield, Katie Bingel, is in her second year as a school counselor; she was previously at the Penn Brook Elementary School in Georgetown. In a recent email she wrote, “I am looking forward to getting to know all the students in the middle school and their families.”
Bingel graduated from Westfield State University with a bachelor’s degree in education and also majored in elementary education in a Teacher Certification Program at Westfield. She received a master’s degree in school counseling from Bridgewater State College.
Bingel has had classroom teaching experience as well as several counseling internships and a full-time job as a school adjustment counselor. For two years she was a lead teacher for a team of fifth-grade teachers at Washington STEM Elementary School in Lynn. She said in her spare time she likes to swim, read books, hang out with friends, and travel.
In her resume, Bingel wrote that she was “eager to contribute to the Bromfield School team to foster knowledgeable, caring students both in and out of school.”
Anna Morris.
Anna Morris, HES school counselor
New to Hildreth Elementary as a school counselor is Anna Morris. In her application, Morris cited the school vision statement, saying it mirrored her own values as an educator “to promote academic achievement and personal growth and to create a school community where students feel a sense of belonging and value.”
In her school counseling internship at the Edith C. Baker School in Brookline, she worked with a diverse student population, and she believes each child has a unique background that needs to be understood and valued for them to grow as individuals.
Morris is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, where she received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology and a minor in creative writing. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in school counseling from Boston College.
She wrote that a school should provide educators and students with a strong network of support and communication. “I work with parents and teachers to gain a ‘whole picture’ of a child: to understand how life at home impacts learning, to examine classroom behavior, and to regularly communicate positive changes, areas of concern, and opportunities for further intervention.”
