Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. has announced hires for two major positions centered on mental health and diversity.
Kristin Beck, previously the Columbus East High School director of counseling, fills the school corporation’s new director of wellness position. Angie Kirkham, previously a Clifty Creek Elementary teacher, has been named as BCSC’s new multicultural coordinator. The school board approved both hires at its July 18 meeting.
“We are excited to have Kristin become this first director of wellness, as she is passionate about connecting students and staff to resources that help address their emotional, mental and physical wellbeing,” said Superintendent Jim Roberts. “She knows the importance of building and maintaining relationships with others, is eager to collaborate with community agencies and individuals in an effort to address the needs of all within our school corporation.”
He said that Beck is, to some extent, a replacement for Doug Moore, a retired Columbus East counselor who was hired as the Counseling Counts systems coordinator at the program’s inception in 2017.
However, Roberts added that Beck’s role goes beyond that and will help the school corporation in a number of ways, including the expansion of Counseling Counts so that all students have access to the resources they need to thrive.
During a recent interview about ILEARN results, he said that while Beck’s work will focus on mental health, he also expects it to have academic benefits.
According to Director of Secondary Education Bill Jensen, BCSC saw 637 mental health referrals during the 2021-22 school year, compared to 437 in 2020-21 — an increase of almost 46%.
“Primarily, those are at the sixth grade through 12th grade levels,” he said. “So we know when students are dealing with anxiety, depression, coping skill issues — which were the three highest referral reasons — that’s going to impact their test scores. It can’t help but do that.”
Beck told the school board that in addition to growing the Counseling Counts initiative, she is also eager to “maintain, develop and coordinate services, programs and resources that will help support the overall wellbeing of all BCSC employees.”
Beck earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from Indiana University and her master’s degree in school counseling from Butler University. Her career includes nine years as a special education teacher and seven years as a school counselor with the Franklin Community School Corp. She joined BCSC in 2013 as a counselor at Columbus East and served as the school’s director of counseling since 2016.
BCSC’s other hire, Kirkham, fills a multicultural coordinator position that has been vacant for almost half a year.
Kirkham earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from IUPUC. Her 13 years of teaching experience includes three years at Greater Clark County Schools, one year for Jennings County Schools and nine years for BCSC at Clifty Creek Elementary.
She also served as chairperson of the Minorities Affairs Committee for the Indiana State Teachers Association for two years, was The Arc of Bartholomew County’s Teacher of the Year in 2018, and was named Clifty Creek Teacher of the Year in 2021.
“She also has developed a skillset directly for this position directly through conversations on advocating for racial equity, advocating for students with disabilities, mentoring teachers as they face challenges with students and families from various backgrounds,” said Roberts. “So her passion to serve the underserved and underrepresented populations of our corporation was evident when we took her through the interview process.”
Kirkham’s predecessor, Kimberly Easton, died in early 2022. Easton, a Columbus native and former journalist, joined BCSC in 2019.
“I have enjoyed working at BCSC and representing all of the underserved students and underrepresented students that have come across my classroom,” she said, “And I’m glad to be able to do this at a greater level.”
