MBHS hires 2nd college advisor

It’s no secret that most Mountain Brook High School students further their education after graduation.

According to Karen Svetlay, the school’s college advisor for the past 14 years, 97% of Spartan seniors matriculate to either two- or four-year colleges. That equates to more than 300 students annually.

“Mountain Brook is a very college-minded community,” Svetlay said.

Facilitating the college admission process for hundreds of students is a big job for one person. Moving forward, Svetlay won’t have to do it alone.

MBHS has hired Whitney Voltz, a former counselor at Homewood High, as its second college advisor for the 2019-20 academic year. She jumped into her new role over the summer.

“We’re really excited about Whitney,” MBHS Principal Philip Holley said. “She is going to do a fantastic job, and I think the community is going to love her just like they do Karen.”

Svetlay and Voltz will divide the alphabet, with Svetlay advising students who have last names that begin with letters A-K and Voltz advising students who have last names that begin with letters L-Z.

They’ll also tag team other duties, like visiting classes and hosting information sessions.

“Having two people to share that load is really going to allow them to do more things like that,” Holley said, “allow them to get into classrooms more and talk to kids in smaller groups in a setting like that and talk about the college application process.”

Increasing the attention that each student receives will help Voltz achieve her overarching goal. She said she wants to help Spartans find their “unique fit” for college.

“I’m really passionate about helping them and challenging them to find their place,” Voltz said, “whether it be a state school or a school in the Northeast that nobody’s gone to from Mountain Brook before.”

The MBHS Class of 2019 sent its graduates to 65 different colleges. While many opted to attend local favorites Alabama and Auburn, others chose to go beyond state lines. Members of the graduating class are now attending colleges in 20 states.

“Every student has different talents. They have different goals in mind,” Svetlay said. “What we hope to do is work with the students to help find the right fit for whatever school that is.”

Voltz can draw from personal experience in helping students identify their ideal destination. She graduated from high school in Richmond, Virginia, and attended Auburn University. It wasn’t a popular landing spot for students from her area, but a friend’s recommendation and a campus tour sold her on the Plains.

“It was my favorite,” she said. “I just got the best feel for it, and that’s where I ended up.”

Voltz earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in public school counseling at Auburn. She then spent the first five years of her career at Hueytown High and the next six at Homewood, where she was a counselor for upperclassmen.

Voltz said she provided personal, social and academic counseling services to students. Last year, her role expanded. When the school’s college advisor went on leave in October 2018, Voltz stepped in. She said she guided seniors through the college admission process, wrote recommendation letters, met with parents and disseminated scholarship information.

Those are duties that she’ll now juggle at Mountain Brook.

“She is very knowledgeable about the process and working with kids,” Svetlay said, “and I think she’s going to bring a lot to the table.”

Holley said that MBHS began to realize its need for a second college counselor in the past year or two. With the myriad responsibilities handled by Svetlay and the increasing intricacy of applying to college, he said that adding another person just made sense.

Choosing Votlz did too.

Holley touted the strong relationships she maintains with colleges across the country. He said that she knows what schools are looking for and can help interested students strengthen their candidacy through various avenues, including course selection.

Holley also highlighted Voltz’s warm personality.

“That’s a big part of it, is someone you can sit down with and talk to,” Holley said. “She has a passion for working with students and getting to know them and their backgrounds and what their interests are.”

In addition to helping students find their ideal college, Voltz said another important goal of hers is to be proactive. She wants to establish herself as a resource for students and their families long before the application process begins. That means communicating with 10th-graders and ensuring that the parents of junior high students know what to expect so that they can prepare accordingly.

Voltz said she would like the college admission process in Mountain Brook to be characterized by organization and energy rather than stress and anxiety.

“I’m really passionate about students taking a calm approach to the college application process,” Voltz said, “but with the idea that calmness comes from preparation.”