My name is Nola Barningham and I am in my second year at Mill Creek as the school counselor. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Social Work at Concordia University, Portland, Oregon and my Master’s of Education in School Counseling from Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon. I began my teaching career in private schools in Waco, Texas and Eugene, Oregon teaching first and second grades. I then taught first grade in Salmon, Idaho for eight years before being encouraged by my superintendent to go into school counseling. I served as K-12 school counselor in Salmon for 17 years before moving to Middleton last year. School counseling is a great fit for me. I enjoy getting to know all the students through classroom guidance lessons, group and individual counseling and being involved in our Positive Behavior Support System at Mill Creek. I also share information about the Leader in Me program through the seven habits because Pioneer Elementary in Salmon was a Leader in Me school. For the past three years I have been involved in the Idaho Lives Project by being a trainer for Sources of Strength. Sources is a “best practices” suicide prevention program for Middle and High schools training adult and peer leaders.

In my time away from school, I am the proud mom of two great kids. Moriah who is a nursing student at George Fox University and Tim who is a senior at Middleton High School. I love spending time with my family and friends watching my kids play sports (especially Hockey), hiking, traveling and just being outside.