At the end of the school year in 2023, Ms. Kay Bush is leaving Judge Memorial.

She started working at Judge in 2017 as a guidance counselor. For the last six years, she has helped guide our students in their academic and personal lives.

“I just love Judge,” Bush said. “I love the community. I have two daughters who went through Judge. I’ve just always felt that it’s a great community and a really good small school where we can get to know students.”

In addition to her other duties as counselor, Bush focused a lot of her time on mental health.

“She’s amazing,” Ms. Sara Strickland said. “She knows so much about mental health and socio-emotional wellness. She cares so deeply for students, and just making sure that they feel good and feel like they’re in a good place and cared for,”

“I always wanted to make sure that I’m understanding the potential mental health concerns that might come up for a teenager, how the adults can best support teenagers when they’re facing a mental health challenge,” Bush said. “We know that one in five teenagers may face a mental health challenge and that’s kind of a high number. I wanted to make sure that we’re doing the best to care for teenagers.”

The other members of the counseling department will miss her.

“She’s always really eager to help,” Ms. Adia Waldburger “She’s very easy to talk to, which I love and always has really great insight into her students. I’ll just miss having her as part of the team. She is so knowledgeable and always so sweet and kind that we’re definitely going to notice a difference when she’s not here. ”

Bush said that she has worked with children her whole life and that when she started her career, she was a child life specialist. After Bush leaves, she is going to expand on other parts of her life.

“I think this community is so important for all of the students here,” she said “I just want to wish everybody well, and I want all students to know that you have all you need inside of you to be strong and to bounce back from hard things.”