Raylene Glover
Position: School Counselor
School: Valley High School
School District: Jordan School District
City, State: South Jordan, UT
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Raylene Glover was nominated by her colleague, Valorie Brandt.
Brandt has had the pleasure of working with and learning from Ms. Glover for the past twelve years. Growing up in the very small town of Stockton, Utah, Ms. Glover was one of the first girls to venture out and pursue a college education. It was at Utah State University that she met her future husband, Paul Glover. They married and finished school as newlyweds. Once they started a family, Ms. Glover put aside teaching to devote herself to raising their children and helping in the family business.
When her children were young, Ms. Glover constantly volunteered in the classroom and served in various positions on the PTA. She is always the first to volunteer and make things happen in a quality manner. When her children were a little older, she began her teaching career as a social studies teacher at the middle school level. Brandt has witnessed students Ms. Glover taught over twenty years ago come back and tell her what a great teacher she was and the great memories they have kept. She received a special letter from a former student thanking her for the influence she had on him as a boy. He is now grown and successful with a family of his own. She delights in hearing from these students and is always pleased to hear of their successes.
She returned to school to seek her Master's degree in Educational Counseling. Brandt and Ms. Glover later worked with one of the members of her study group in her Master’s program. He commented on her dedication and commitment to always doing her best work. Shortly after earning her Master's Degree, a position opened at the middle school where she was teaching, and her principal asked her to take it. She was hesitant at first, as she loves teaching, but her principal was persistent, so she agreed to accept the position. She had worked as a school counselor in the middle school for several years, and when she heard of a counseling position open at Valley High School, the alternative high school for Jordan School District, something told her that she should apply for the position.
Ms. Glover has a reputation within the district and state level as being a consummate professional. When the administration at Valley High School found out she was willing to leave the middle school where she had worked for so many years, they jumped at the chance to have her. It was meant to be.
Valley High is a school that serves at-risk students, including teen parents. In addition to her assigned alphabet of students, Ms. Glover was given the responsibility to overhaul the teen parent program and serve those students. Prior to her taking over, the teen mothers were largely served in a night school type program, and there was no special consideration given to teen fathers.
The program continues to evolve to meet the needs of the students. Those first years, she carried an average of sixty young parents on her caseload. About five years into the new program, they conducted a survey of students who were a part of the program. They were surprised and pleased when over seventy percent of the students reported that without the program, they would not have finished high school. Under Ms. Glover’s direction, Valley High provides daycare and a maternity leave program so students can earn credit and foster school connectedness. Ms. Glover has changed countless lives for the better with her efforts to support these students who face many challenges in completing their education. In addition, she works with students in planning for their post secondary options and assists them in applying for scholarships. Several students have received scholarships to the local community college.
Service Learning is another program at Valley High School in which Ms. Glover has been a driving force behind. Students come to school on Friday, which is not a typical school day, and are expected to donate their time giving back to their community. Projects have included working at the Utah Food Bank, cleaning up the Jordan River Parkway, sending care packages to soldiers in Afghanistan and school supplies to children in Zambia. They have made toys to send to children all over the world. Each year, for the past twelve years, they have delivered Christmas stockings to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club. Ms. Glover oversees the students who do the cutting, sewing, decorating and fundraising to purchase items to fill the stockings. Research shows that service learning is a very effective program for at-risk students and encourages school connectedness. Part of the experience requires students to write a reflective piece about their experience. It is undoubtedly a highlight of their school experience.
Ms. Glover has served on the Utah Association for Career and Technical Education Board for over fifteen years. In addition, she has served on the Jordan School district Gifted and Talented Committee and Steering committee. She is a valued member of Valley High School’s community council. Her insight and wisdom is sought out by administration as well as faculty and staff. At the beginning of the school year, she gives every staff member in the school wooden plaques with a theme, like “Be kinder than necessary” or “Be the Difference.” She makes cards for students to fill out naming their favorite teacher, that were then pass on to teachers. All of these efforts go a long way in improving their school culture.
"Raylene serves as an example to me and every other person she comes in contact with," Brandt said. "She prides herself on being an educator and works to bring respect to the profession. She comes to work looking professional; she is always on time and goes above and beyond in every task she undertakes. She has a wonderful sense of humor. She told me one day that many days as she leaves her house, she tells her husband goodbye and that she is off to save lives. She is joking, but I can attest to the fact that she has indeed made a most positive impact on the lives of those students who have been lucky enough to have Raylene Glover as part of their school experience."
Raylene is my counselor here at valley high and I absolutely love her! She is always willing to help, and wears a huge smile. She takes time to get to know the students she works with, and tries to find the schedule that works best for them. It's obvious she cares about each student as an individual, and she's always around to help.
Raylene is my counselor, i really enjoy having her as my counselor. She is a sweet and helpful lady!
I think that she's very helpful and understanding towards her students. She cares for them as a person and not just as a student.
she is very understanding in everyones position in life and tries to help our the best she can
She is a great person. Really likes to help others and very open minded. She deserves this reward more then anything.
During my time attending Valley High school, I've had the pleasure of having Raylene Glover as my counselor. Every time I come into her office, I instantly feel a shift in my attitude. Her positivity and compassion are absolutely contagious. Raylene has always been supportive and has given me a boost of confidence that I needed to succeed here. I am very pleased to see her nomination for Life Changer of the Year and believe that there is no one who deserves the award more than Raylene Glover. Congratulations!
Raylene is the only counselor that I have had that actually cares. She is helping me get on track to graduation, and that is all I've needed at my last schools is a counselor that actually wanted to help me, and not just helping me because they have to. An amazing person!
I have had the pleasure of working with Raylene for several years. It seems to simple to write kind words as to what she does here at Valley High School that makes her so amazing. To truly see and understand what she does is best seen first hand. She is kind, compassionate, and dedicated to our students and staff.
Her level of experience handling all kinds of unique problems that arise with our students exceeds expectations. She doesn't skip a beat when asked to help out with outside projects or an "immediate" student melt down. Raylene should be the "Poster Child" for this beautiful award.
I have worked with and known Raylene for many years. There are not words that can adequately express my feelings of admiration for her. She has been my loyal friend for many years. My heart fills with joy when I see her. Although our contact has lessened over the years when she left to fill her calling at Valley High School, our friendship remains strong. Our families have enjoyed many times together. she has even had a positive influence on my kids. Even today they still quote her. Raylene is an amazing person and has taught me great and marvelous things. Her family reflects her willingness to serve as she has taught them well. Her quick wit and smile have influenced many students, parents and colleagues over the years. She is more than deserving of this nomination. She truly is a gift to the human race.
Raylene has definitely been a huge impact on my life. She is very kind, has a huge heart, and supports her students with everything she’s got! She saw things in me that I couldn’t even see myself and believed in me even when I didn’t. In fact because of her belief in me, her teen mom program and daycare at Valley high, I was provided with the possibility of graduating high school instead of dropping out due to the many reasons that entails being a teen mom. I was given a second chance to move forward instead of ending up as just another statistic. Due to this, I now run a successful daycare business among other accomplishments which would have been a gargantuan struggle without the opportunity that Raylene provided for me. I still go back and visit Raylene, even 7 years after graduating. She is someone I will always hold dear to my heart along with the rest of the staff at Valley High school. I am gratified to know her.
Raylene Glover is such a delightful person and great to work with.
As my inspiring mentor for the last ten years, as well as today, she has proven to be an example of kindness and patience. Even after a twelve hour day she still has time for your issue with a smile. She encouraged me to go further and reach out to be a better person and teacher.
She meets with each student four times a year and even more times as needed.
Despite of long working days she always comes up with another idea to help our students better. Look at the picture below for our service learning project at the Boys and Girls Club in Murray. Bethany Wood, one of our service learning students, said,”This will forever be one of my favorite Valley memories.” Stevye Jackson, another student, wrote on FaceBook where I posted the pictures,”I’m so happy I could be part of this amazing experience! My last year at Valley is definitely the most memorable. Thank you for letting me be part of this! Having these pictures and being in them means the world to me! Today was one of the best days I’ve ever had.”
(Sorry, it will not let me add a picture here :)
Valley High School is an ever evolving Alternative At-Risk high school here in the state of Utah. One person who is a key factor to the school’s success is our lead guidance counselor Raylene Glover, who is a “Life Changer”. I have worked with Raylene for the past ten years as a teacher and social studies department chair. She has developed a dedicated and caring culture of respect, guidance, and success within our school toward all students, faculty and staff. Her hard work toward our school vision of providing educational learning plans and graduation success for all At-Risk students is seen through her dedication to all students no matter the circumstances of the students when they come to our school and begin to move forward in their learning endeavors.
Raylene expanded our teen-mother program into the teen-parent program which now also includes the young fathers. She has collaborated with our counseling team to develop a service-learning component into our student’s credit recovery program, which allows students the opportunity to be on the giving end for others. She also oversees and tracks student credits insuring they are on track for graduation, and working on credit-recovery, and planning their post high school goals. She has a strong capacity to identify individual learning styles and student needs and how to assign them to the teachers and courses where the students will find the greatest success.
Raylene’s dedication and going the extra mile is not only reserved for students. She is a life changer for the entire learning community within our school, our district and our state. Her professionalism, support, collaboration, and dedication spills over into every aspect of her life changing work.
I have had the good fortune of having my office right next to Raylene for the past few years….imagine, my own Bodhisattva next door! I am truly blessed on a daily basis to observe her kindness (which far exceeds Valley and its students, staff and family). True to her character, she is humble and will be totally embarrassed to receive any praise or recognition. However, in my 30 something years of working in the guidance field, I have never witnessed a person more motivated by great compassion and simple commitment to put others first. When she has a quiet (very rare) moment from dealing with the daily hustle and bustle of students, parents and babies in her office, I am delighted to hear her humming softly. I love when good things happen to good people, and this is one of those instances. Raylene is so deserving! The force is with her!
I am delighted to have opportunity to congratulate Raylene on her nomination for Life Changer of the Year. I have worked with Raylene for the past 23 years. In my opinion there is no one more deserving, hardworking, and professional than Raylene. Her time and talents always focuses around one objective. ‘What is best for our students?”
Anyone who has worked with Raylene knows she is a joy to work with and for me she has been a role model. Raylene makes a difference. Her hard work and dedication to help our students has been extraordinary with life changing results. I hope Raylene is selected for the Life Changer of the Year. I know of no one who is more deserving.
Raylene is an amazing person, not just an amazing counselor. Her students respect her and look to her for guidance; she , in return, respects them and helps guide them to success. Valley High School is Jordan School District's alternative high school, and as such, everything we do is geared toward, "What is best for our students?" Raylene is integral is the process of doing what is best for individual students. We are not a "one size fits all" school, and that requires a lot of compassion, understanding, and empathy. It can get very difficult creating schedules that take into account each student's specific needs. Raylene does it. We are blessed--and lucky--to have her at VHS.
I have worked with Raylene for 10 years. Her students have the highest respect for her. She is the voice of reason and frankness in their lives. She carefully and cleverly navigates her teen parents toward graduation. She gives them the tools they need for success beyond high school.
With much of her own time and money she has taught our students how to serve through her service learning activities. The students have come back from these activities especially the boys and girls club Christmas stockings with so many stories to share. Their faces beam with the happiness they were a part of.
She lifts all around her to be better people. She is always positive and fair to work with. She is a great listener and friend inside and outside of the school. She has come to my kids performances and helped them on their LDS missions.
When one of our teachers had leukemia and was sick and dieing with no family around, she brought him food, cleaned his home, and visited with him. This is who she is.
She is completely deserving of this award.
As a former student of Valley high and with Raylene having been my councillor, she definitely deserves it!!! She helped me so much as my school councillor and made me see what was truly important. <3 I hope she gets the reward
Professionalism linked with an intense desired to provide the guidance and love these alternative students so desperately need certainly qualifies Raylene for this prestigious award. I retired two years ago from Valley as assistant principal and working with Raylene was a pleasure and honor. I recall so very many meetings with her agonizing over an individual student who was struggling financially, had little or no support from his or her family and was on the verge of giving up school. She found the answer for so many of them with food donations, clothes and a warm caring offer of encouragement. In addition to her usual duties she spent hours with Valerie Brandt working on Service Learning which was most impressive especially when it was not even a required component of her job. She is so dedicated to her students that I am sure the number of graduates who she personally impacted and supported numbers in the thousands!
Having worked with Raylene in the past, I am thrilled to see her nominated for this award. I worked with Raylene when completing my counseling internship hours and also in a migrant summer school program. I found Raylene to be knowledgeable, kind, and compassionate when working with students and colleagues alike. She is certainly deserving of this nomination and award.
Congratulations, Raylene!
As the principal of Valley High School I can fervently attest that Raylene Glover is a Life Changer every day at our school. She first helps change the lives of all of the students she is counselor for with her kindness, caring and motherly advice. She helps steer students who are severely behind on graduation credits to a working plan for graduation. She is frank about the work that it will take but also cheers them on every step of the way. If I could bottle her essence of optimism, love and common sense I would sell it as a "Drop Out Prevention Magic Serum." All of that and a she has a wicked sense of humor too!
She is the perfect person to be the director of our teen parent program and has made numerous improvements to it over the years. All of those were made for the benefit of students and their babies. She can remember her students even from years past, also their kids names and tries to keep up on how they are progressing into adulthood. She handles so many tasks for this school that as she approaches retirement I am heartbroken. Some people truly are irreplaceable.
Her work in Service Learning changes the lives of any student who participates. I have seen students who have spent much of their lives on the receiving end of state assistance volunteer at the Food Bank with pride. I have witnessed one of our Hispanic students dressed in the Santa Clause suit speaking in Spanish to the children at the Boys and Girls club when the stockings full of goodies and necessities were handed out. Their surprise and happiness was evident but his joy at the experience is one I will never forget. I know he won't either, I could tell it was a life changing moment for him as well. Raylene puts in countless volunteer hours on this project each year and I am probably the only person who knows that she also pours in a substantial amount on her own money. If the fundraising is low for the projects she jokes she will have to look at the "Glover charity fund" to see if can fill the gap. This woman is selfless, genuine and always charitable and loving. I try each day to be more like the qualities she brings to her job daily. I have worked in education for 35 years, she is the most deserving person of this award I have ever worked with!
Life changer committee:
I also have had the pleasure of working with Raylene for the past twelve years, in the capacity as the counselor assistant for the last four years. Raylene always has a kind word for everyone around her. Her students leave her office feeling lifted up and ready to succeed in life as well as in school. I personally am lifted up each day that I get to work with her. Raylene has a way of making me feel very important even though I am a 17 hour assistant. Her humor a long with her professionalism is a breath of fresh air and helps with morale.
Thank you,
Kit Hansen
Valley High School
As the former principal of Valley High School, I can attest to the dedication and professionalism that Raylene Glover demonstrates every day in her role as school counselor. She was always strongly supportive of me as an administrator, not just by agreeing with me but by adding ideas, offering advice, being a voice of reason and constructively disagreeing with me when needed. I valued her insight and opinions and admired her energy and positive attitude. She is respected by her colleagues and appreciated by her students. When we initiated a service learning program at Valley, Raylene was critical to its organization and effectiveness. It was a good idea that she turned into a great experience for Valley students because of her hard work. She contributed significant time, talent and energy to make it a successful experience. Her goal was not only to help our students become better learners but also to become better people. She is highly deserving of recognition as Lifechanger of the Year.
I met Raylene when I was privileged to complete my counseling internship hours under her during the 2015-2016 school year. Though she has guided me and helped me professionally, her wisdom and service has deeply impacted my personal life. She is a friend to all and she lives with unconditional love. She is genuinely caring and giving and I have been VERY lucky to work with her for the past three years. There isn't a person more willing to sacrifice their time and energy to help someone out. If the life changer award is not specific to students (though she has had a huge impact on students!) Raylene has certainly changed my life for the better.
I have found Raylene to always be personable and treat everyone with courtesy and respect. She has consistently demonstrated empathy, work ethic, reliability, and intuitiveness. She is relentless in working hours and hours and fulfills all of her responsibilities with fidelity and exactness. Raylene sets high standards for herself and her students. She helps them reach those standards by empowering them with a sense of confidence. It is evident that she wants all of her students to be the very best they can be. Raylene has a sense of fairness and the ability to make wise judgments using the facts of a given situation. She remains in control in all types of demanding situations. I enjoy working with Raylene and trust her judgment.
I am a voice from you past. I taught two of your boys and you substituted for me when I had a baby. I new you were destined for great things because you are a great person. Congratulations for a well deserved honor.
Raylene is a treasure with unlimited enthusiasm, dedication and purpose. She is always ready to greet all that visit with her and she does it with a welcoming smile. I know the students regard her as a champion that can be relied on as well as her availability and experience needed to support them.
I have know Raylene since coming to work for Valley High School and she is so amazing. She always has a smile on her face and love in her heart. She works very hard being not only a counselor but mentor to the young mothers and fathers at Valley. I am so proud of her.
I couldn't agree more that Raylene is deserving of this recognition. I know the work that she has does has changed the lives of countless students because I have personally worked with some of her students in my position in the district and I have seen her positive effect on them. She goes above and beyond to advocate for them and truly cares about their well-being and finding opportunities that will allow them to realize success and achieve their potential.
Raylene is also one of the most kind and thoughtful individuals that I have worked with in my career. Here record of service to others is well know among her colleagues. She puts others before herself and always strives to lift others up. In addition to her service efforts it is the random kind notes and sincere expressions of thoughtfulness and gratitude that come to mind when I think of Raylene. Even if she can't change your life, she makes every effort to at least change your day with kind words.
Thank you Raylene!
