PALM COAST, Fla. — A Flagler County A+ Teacher spent years in the classroom instructing students when she noticed something that she knew would need to be addressed in order to keep students from slipping through the cracks.

Randi Fasnacht is a counselor at Buddy Taylor Middle School in Palm Coast. She currently works with seventh graders giving them the tools to overcome challenges — whether it's anxiety, panic, or just stress, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"And a lot of it is just kind of reassuring them that this is an unusual time and then giving them some little tricks," she said. "Like even just putting your feet on the ground and breathing and thinking about what is going well."

Fasnacht said she tried to keep the atmosphere in her office light when students drop by.

"I'm kind of playful, I like to play," she said. "My office has a lot of toys even though it's a middle school. There's a lot of gadgets and things like that, and I like goofing around with the kids."

The hope is that students dropping by her office feel welcome.

"It's already a difficult time with this age but when you add into it everything else that's going on in the world it's just causing a lot of anxiety right now," Fascacht said.

Fasnacht has been a school counselor for some 20 years and was nominated for the rapport she has with children, which is something she mastered during her 13 years teaching in the classroom.

"There were kids that were hidden, maybe to people, but you knew there was something going on so I just knew I had to do something else," she said. "It just seemed like you could reach more students by being a school counselor."

Fasnacht says she's really encouraged about how things have evolved when it comes to students social and emotional development.

"The thing I've noticed as time has gone by — I do notice that kids are actually a lot better about asking for help these days as compared to past days," she said. "I'm concerned about academics but I'm more concerned about how they're doing themselves personally."