Feature Photo By: Dennae Pigford – Rangeview counselor Celeste Lee poses for a photo.

With nothing but self fulfillment plans scheduled for the next few years, Rangeview counselor Celeste Lee says that she is excited, yet scared, to begin her retirement.

Lee plans on doing house chores such as cleaning out closets and tidying up the yard as well as teaching herself to draw, becoming more involved in her church, and expanding her fluency in Greek.

“I usually wake up with the sun when I don’t have to set an alarm,” mentioned Lee. “I’m one that enjoys having a leisurely cup of coffee, checking out the news, seeing what’s going on for the day. My husband will still be working so we’ll still have somewhat of a routine.”

Originally from Florida, Lee started out her career in education as a math teacher before realizing that her true calling was in helping students in all aspects of life.

“I used to have students tell me all the time, ‘I really wish you weren’t my math teacher because I like you and I hate math’,” said Lee. “I taught for about ten years and then I got the itch to explore other things. It was the same thing every day and I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like doing the same thing all the time.”

Though she did not start here, her career at Rangeview is something that Lee says she will miss dearly. Her favorite part of working here has been the students and her counseling co-workers. She explains that it’s nice to have a job where she feels she is actually making a difference.

Lee also expresses that she and her coworkers are really close friends and enjoy spending time with each other outside of school.

“She’s really challenged me to think about counseling problems from every perspective possible,” commented fellow counselor Kyle Hirsch. “She’s really good at thinking about the unanticipated consequences that most people would miss and ensures our decisions are ones that will benefit students and staff the most. She will be sorely missed and is not someone you can replace. We will simply need to find a new way to be.”

The item at the very top of Lee’s bucket list is to travel to Paris and explore the people, the culture, and the food. If she could make a positive change to one aspect of the world, it would be teaching people to respect each other and realize that we are all the same.

Being described as professional, strong, funny, pragmatic, and authentic by her peers, Lee plans to visit often in the upcoming school years and leaves this piece of advice for her students:

“I really want them to feel empowered and know that they can stand up for themselves and I want them to always strive to be able to take care of themselves. I think it’s important to really feel like you don’t have to rely on someone else after high school.”