Patterson would like her legacy to be remembered as a great listener. She wants her students to know they can talk to her about anything and feel comfortable coming to her.

“I love working with teenagers and I’m going to miss that,” Patterson said. “I will also miss working with my colleagues.”

Patterson earned an undergraduate degree in English, a master’s degree in school counseling, and a specialist’s degree in educational leadership. Patterson taught high school English for five years and then transitioned to counseling. Patterson has been a counselor at Starr’s Mill for 25 years. 

“[Counseling] makes me more aware of others and what others go through in life,” Patterson said.

After retirement, Patterson plans on relaxing. Her goal is to be more involved with her two children.

If Patterson could fix one thing it would be the amount of counselors. Starr’s Mill used to have five counselors and Patterson felt more efficient. She feels she could do her job better without a heavy workload.

“More counselors, we used to have five counselors, and now we only have four,” Patterson said.  “It’s a big job, and I think we could do a better job if we didn’t have so much on our plates to do.”

Starr’s Mill gives a warm goodbye to Connie Patterson who has served the Panther family for 25 years.