Camas High School had undergone many changes this 2017-2018 school year, and the influx of new staff members is one of them. Counselors play a vital role at CHS because they assist students with scheduling, planning for the future, and working with them. Brian Witherspoon is now one of these counselors.

This is Witherspoon’s first year as a school counselor, but his previous experience shows his love for aiding students and working with people. He has worked as a coach and an academic advisor at Clark college for eight years. At Evergreen High School, he was a student advocate who “worked with students with failing grades, attendance issues and those that were juvenile-justice involved”. And most recently he was a transition coach at Cascade Middle School.

He achieved his MA through the City University of Seattle and finished his BA at WSU Vancouver. Memories of high school have already faded, but he is still in contact and close with his friends from Grant High School in Portland, Oregon.

Athletics has been a big part of his life, but now he is too busy to play ball with kids and work. However, he can still mess around with his family and meet up with his friends from Grant to reminisce about the old days.

Witherspoon wanted to work at CHS for the “new opportunity, experience, and new environment.” CHS brings new challenges every day that round out his experience and keep each day new and exciting. At the school, he “wants to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels as though they matter and have a chance.” Talking with the staff, he knows there are “people here that truly care about kids”. This plays into his role as a counselor where he is advocating for the students to “bridge that gap” between all teachers and students.

Although Brian Witherspoon is new to CHSl, he has dealt with a “ton of adversity” and thinks his “story can inspire. He is “someone making their way through life a little less conventional than most.”

If you seem him around the halls of Camas High School, be sure to give him a warm welcome.