Crystal Pena - A First for KACC

Kankakee Area Career Center has expanded our student support system by adding a new position - A School Counselor.  As exciting as that is, we are very excited to announce Crystal Pena has joined TeamKACC as our first-ever school counselor.

Ms. Pena will head our Career Services Department, comprised of herself and a team of Academic Support specialists and Career Coach, working closely with Principal, Tim Guerin and Dean of Students, Lucas Papineau.

When asked to introduce herself to the KACC community, Ms. Pena offered the following.......

I have always bee a person who wants to help others discover who they are and where they want to go in life.  Working at KACC will provide the unique opportunity for me to do just that.  I believe it is important to love what you do in life., so I am excited and grateful to have this rare experience of a lifetime!

In this new position, I am here to support our students, teachers, staff, and parents of KACC students as well as the high schools we serve.  I look forward to getting connected to colleges and our business community to best serve the needs of our students.

KACC's Career Services Department and I look forward to providing our students with opportunities to explore more about themselves, create solid resumes and portfolios, learn their own unique way to personally brand themselves in ways that are appealing to potential employers.  Students will practice the skills needed to embark on their educational and career journeys to help them throughout their entire lives.

As for m e, I have what I can an eclectic career journey that provided me a variety of experiences with a wide range of people.  I think it's important for our students to understand that sometimes where you start isn't going to be where you end up, but each experience in life, good or bad, provides you with additional knowledge about yourself, what you want out of life, and how to get there.

My goal at KACC is to reach and inspire each student who comes to learn the value in the experiences they will gain through the Career Center, use them to promote themselves to colleges, apprenticeships and employers, and of course, love what they choose to do throughout their life.  I look forward to an awesome school year!

Ms. Pena has a great personal story of how she came about discovering exactly what she wanted out of life, professionally and personally.  that story will be shared in a future article as the school year begins.

Welcome Ms. Pena. We are all glad to have you here at the Career Center and Look forward to seeing you and your team working with students.