Out with the old and in with the new. After the news of the current College Mentor Coordinator Jim Broome was announced to be leaving Wenatchee High School after this year, Ashley Fettig has been hired to fill the position.

Fettig’s role at WHS is to help the students succeed in school and plan for life following graduation.

“I love working with middle schoolers, but I definitely think my real passion is helping high school students figure out what to do after school, because I know personally it took me awhile to figure it out when I was younger,” Fettig said.

For undergraduate school, Fettig attended Trinity Western University in British Columbia, completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology. After she graduated, Fettig worked as a teacher and senior class adviser at a private school in Nevada.

Fettig knew she wanted to be involved with this career while teaching a year at the private school, after getting her degree in school counseling.

“I really enjoyed helping kids with the college searching and other personal issues, more on the counseling side of things,” Fettig said.

She also completed schooling at City University of Seattle for a Master’s degree in counseling.

While Fettig was in grad school, she had an internship at Ingraham High School in Seattle and was able to help a girl from Somalia who came from a family of around 10 kids. The girl’s parents wanted her to stay home and help with the family after finishing high school and not continue into college. Fettig was able to help her meet her graduation requirements and talk with her about family expectations and help the girl realize she can stay close to her family, while still being able to have a career.

Fettig moved to Wenatchee about a year ago and is currently running the homework center at Orchard Middle School while also starting work at WHS as well.

“I think the college mentor job is really important because many students don’t have an adult in their life who can help with the whole college application process,” Fettig said. “The College Mentor Program pairs those students with a mentor from the community.  The mentors meet regularly with the students during senior year to complete college and scholarship applications. I think it’s important for everyone who wants to go to college to have the opportunity to apply and to have help along the way.”