Kristin Wolter is new Chester High School counselor
Kristin Wolter is the new school counselor at Chester High School, bringing years of experience in counseling from around southern Illinois, St. Louis and Metro East.
"I have really enjoyed meeting the students and their parents," she said last week. "Fellow teachers, staff and administrators have been very nice to me. I have been impressed with how polite the students have been and I am very excited to get started as Chester High School's counselor."
Wolter, who was born in Sparta and was valedictorian of the Sparta High School Class of 1995, didn't always want to be a counselor. She graduated in 1999 from Millikin University in Decatur with a degree in speech communications and a minor in business, and went to work at the Sparta Human Service Center where she coordinated the After School program.
From 2000-2003 Wolter studied educational psychology and business education at SIU Carbondale, and developed an interest in teaching.
Getting an endorsement in business education enabled her to begin working in education, and in August 2003 she was hired as the school counselor at New Athens High School. In 2012, she returned to the Sparta Human Service Center as a clinical counselor for 18 months, and then became the counselor at Lutheran South High School in St. Louis.
In fall 2015 Wolter moved to the Career Center of Southern Illinois in Belleville as a counselor, and remained until the slot opened up this year at Chester High School. Adam Guebert left CHS to become the counselor at Red Bud High School, which is closer to his home - and his new twins, who were born last year.
Wolter has Chester connections in the form of her grandparents, Bill and Yvonne Rabe of Chester. Her other grandparents are the late Wib and Elsa Ebers of Bremen.
She was born in Sparta to Gary and Denise Ebers, the oldest of four children who all grew up on a farm on Walsh Road. By junior high she was seriously studying vocal music, and at Sparta High School was starring in the student musicals. She sang in the renowned Millikin University choir, and today, she performs at weddings.
Besides being valedictorian at Sparta High School, she was a Bulldog cheerleader, softball player, Student Council member and member of the Math Team.
Kristin married Glenn Wolter in 1999 and together they own and run Wolter Custom Cabinets in Evansville, Illinois. They have two children: Anna, a sophomore at Red Bud High School and Alan, a 6th grader at St. John Lutheran School in Red Bud.
Wolter said she enjoys singing, reading, traveling, "spending time with our busy family, and following the kids around at all of their many activities.
"Anna is student driving now and I actually enjoy driving with her," Wolter said. "I also help out with our family business, so I keep extremely busy when not at school."