A Shawnee school counselor was named as the 2024-2025 Oklahoma School Counselor of the Year for her efforts to help students after devastation hit the community. On April 19, 2023, a tornado hit the town of Shawnee tearing up Oklahoma Baptist and Shawnee High School.It also hit the homes of the students who attended the middle school.One person was there for them through all of it and that was Shawnee Middle School Counselor, Beth Mills. “There are not enough words to describe how much she deserves this award,” said Shawnee Counselor Coordinator, Michelle Wallace. Mills has helped students through their courses and follows them through each grade in Middle School, but when a tornado hit Shawnee in April of 2023, she heard a little more about what was happening at home. “Then learning that families, their whole house was not livable and most of them were renting," said Mills. “When you encounter something that is hard on people, the good rise to the top and that’s exactly what Beth did,” said Wallace. Mills says it was something that affected students way after the tornadoes too. “When we do tornado drills and things like that it has a little bit of a different feel," said Mills. Administrators say she is also a big part of the district in other ways. “She is a leader that people want to emulate in their counseling views and processes and procedures, and she is just a light for so many. I’m so thankful she’s a Shawnee Wolf,” said Wallace. Mills says she loves her job but gives all the credit to the other teachers and counselors around her. “The three of us make a super tight team,” said Mills Top HeadlinesCould you hear loud booms in the OKC metro Wednesday night?Police: Woman taken to hospital in critical condition after crash involving semi in northwest OKCMan beaten unconscious in gas station, police search for suspectAstronomers spot a massive ‘sleeping giant’ black hole less than 2,000 light-years from EarthNew York state troopers helped deliver a baby in a Lowe's parking lot