Pictured is Easley High School counselor Amy Moore recently after her coworkers gave her a retirement party.
EASLEY — Back in 1977, Amy Moore was a senior at Easley High School. She didn’t really stand out too much in Green Wave country — not in any sports or any extra curricular activities.
“I was very shy and dated the preacher’s son,” Moore said. “I made my way through the halls and never got in any trouble. I never did anything all that great or all that bad. I was just a good kid who graduated.”
Moore, 65, went on to a successful career and is now retiring after 42 years as a school counselor at EHS.
“Amy is the anchor of our school counseling office at Easley High School,” said Chris Martin, the Head School Counselor at EHS. “The impact she has had on the lives of students and families in our community is immeasurable. She is one of the finest people I have ever known.”
Moore did her undergrad at Erskine College and then her master’s degree at Clemson University.
Moore did spend 10 of her working years as a Special Education teacher at Pickens High School and she really credits that with her growth as a school counselor.
“I think the special-need kids made me care, too,” Moore said. “Talking to those kids one-on-one who did not think they had a strength, and then carrying that into a bigger population (as a school counselor).”
Jumping out of her comfort zone is another thing that Moore tries to remind kids.
Moore admits that she was not an athlete in high school. But at age 45, Moore ran her first marathon (26.2 miles) in California. “I loved gymnastics in school, but I never took it,” she said. “That (running the marathon) was a bucket-list thing for me because I was so shy in school and non-athletic. I wanted to do some things that were way out of my comfort zone.”
That type of experience – like running her first marathon at age 45 – helped her give some good advice to give to the EHS students. She said that the feeling of “anxiety” and “change” are okay.”
“I think the best counselors are the ones who have gone through things,” Moore said. “I think you have to understand a little bit about anxiety and change, and feel like things are not perfect every day.”
She went back to her 40th class reunion at EHS and several of her classmates could not believe that she was a school counselor.
Easley High School will forever be a special place for Amy Moore. Her two sons (Kent and Mac) also graduated from EHS.