03/17/2023
Mr. Symons is a gem here at Suttons Bay!
Suttons Bay Public School elementary counselor Joseph Symons never thought he would end up working in education, but the change in career fields is a welcomed one that he thoroughly enjoys doing today.
“Even in college, I thought about substitute teaching, but I never committed to it, so it’s always been in the back of my mind,” Symons said. “I love where I’m at now, and I love our district. It’s also really easy to do my job because I have fantastic coworkers. I could have the same position, but if I had a totally different crew of coworkers, I probably wouldn’t like it as much.”
Symons own education background is a journey in itself. He has taken classes at Northwestern Michigan College in three different decades, but also graduated with degrees in both broadcast and communications from Grand Valley State University. Once he graduated from Grand Valley in December of 2009, Symons soon found his first job in communications working for the morning radio show at 104.5 Bob FM in Acme. From 2011 to 2015, he was a producer of the “Finster in the Morning” show. It was also the years when he seriously considered thinking about a career change to education and going back to school.
“I was hosting a sports show and interviewing coaches and that kind of thing, and I would always have to wait for the coaches to get home from work,” Symons said. “That’s when I realized there’s a need for people in education, and that’s when I really started thinking about it… so I really started leaning hard into substitute teaching. Then I learned there was an elementary education program in Traverse City through Central Michigan University (CMU), and I enrolled in 2016 and finished that up in 2019.”
Once Symons made the switch and enrolled in the CMU program, he substituted for two years in every public school in Leelanau County. He had a presence at Glen Lake Community Schools, but was a preferred substitute at Suttons Bay, Northport, and Leland. In that duration, Symons juggled completing classes for his program, substitute teaching, and working a part-time job at The Mitten Brewing Company in Northport.
When it was time to select where he wanted to student teach, Symons put down in no particular order Northport, Suttons Bay, and Glen Lake. CMU ended up placing him at Suttons Bay, and Symons has since been hired full-time as the elementary K-5 school counselor. However, he’s also worked as a 4th/5th grade interventionist, a 2nd/3rd grade interventionist, and a social-emotional interventionist.
Full story: https://www.leelanaunews.com/news/joseph-symons
