After her 18 year career as Hastings High School’s Director of School Counseling and College Placement, Jeanette Kocur has decided to retire.
Ms. Kocur has been an educator for 32 years, beginning in New York City as a high school music teacher before working in an elementary school and teaching kindergarten through sixth grade. “After about 14 years of that, I wanted to move on to do something else but stay within the role of education,” Ms. Kocur said in an interview.
She went back to school to become a counselor before taking on a role in Queens at Benjamin Cardozo High School in the college and programming offices. She then “threw [her] hat into the ring in Westchester,” landing a job in Tuckahoe and, in 2006, moving on to her current role at HHS.
When speaking of her decision to retire, Ms. Kocur said that “sometimes you feel like it’s time to go. I love doing what I do…but at some point you think that it’s time.” On April 4, the Hastings School District announced that Ms. Kocur is set to officially retire on December 31. She feels confident in her successor, stating, “I’m passing the baton over to younger people, maybe more innovative individuals.”
Reflecting on her time at HHS, Ms. Kocur said, “I love the students. You guys are always my first priority and it’s why I got into this line of work.” One of her favorite parts of her job is working through challenges and unexpected tasks. She also fondly remembers the times when the Guidance Department dressed up for Halloween together, pep rallies, and her time working with the Student Union.
“We’ve had some sad times and we’ve had some really great times. The ability to come in and see your people every day, the students every day, and to laugh at something every day is really what makes a lot of things worth it,” she said. “The staff here has been amazing, I probably could not have asked for a better group of people to work with, next to, for.”
Her co-workers and students feel the same about her. “Our offices have been next to each other for the last 19 years. We started working here on the same day and I am sad to see her leave. She is an amazing counselor, educator, and friend! She has a great sense of humor and will be really missed by everyone at HHS,” Ms. Shaw, a school counselor, said.
Ms. Quigly, a school counselor, added, “She has been a great leader for the Counseling Department over the last 19 years. She has been an outstanding advocate for students. She will be missed but I hope she enjoys a long healthy retirement.”
An anonymous HHS senior said, “She’s helped me all along my entire high school career—she’s been there since eighth grade, when we were picking out our freshman year classes, and now she’s here to help us with the first steps of our college journey.”
As part of her retirement plans, Ms. Kocur is excited to travel. In January, she is going to visit her niece who is studying abroad in London. As part of that trip, she is also going to travel to Switzerland, Milan, and Scotland. She also plans on traveling for her friend’s birthday and maybe planning a few more trips in the future.
Ms. Kocur will remain a presence at HHS after her retirement, as she will return on a consultancy basis. She is also proctoring the APs in May, helping to transition in the new Director of Counseling, and aiding the administrators in the development of the master schedule.
When looking back on her time at HHS, Ms. Kocur said, “I know that when I leave here every day that I can go home and say that somebody needed something and I was able to help them.”
Ms. Kocur’s advice for students? “Figure out who you are as a person…this is the best time to try all of this [and] this is the time to make that mistake…you pick yourself up and you say, ‘You know what? I learned something from this.’”
