This year, Niles West has gained a new counselor after the retirement of Stephanie Lau: Charvis Peoples has stepped in to take over her caseload. Peoples has worked as a counselor for six years in multiple schools, which include the University of Chicago Charter High School, where he acted as a solo counselor for 400 students and North Grant High School, where he performed the role of a counselor department chair. But, it hasn’t always been a smooth path for Peoples as he has made many turns in his career.
Peoples grew up in Oak Park, IL, where he went to elementary and high school. He went to Northern Illinois University to major in electrical engineering in 2010. Early on in his undergraduate journey, he found that electrical engineering didn’t suit him and transitioned into another program called Family and Child Studies. This emphasized family and social services. Peoples made the decision to switch after realizing that electrical engineering didn’t play into his strengths.
“I did a lot of reflection on what I was good at and what I felt that was important,” Peoples said. “I did some volunteer work with some youth agencies and youth in general, like tutoring and other spaces and I realized that I drifted there naturally. I discovered that I wanted to do something that was people-facing. Then I kind of journeyed to discover that maybe social worker was the avenue I wanted to do.”
Peoples participated in an internship at West Suburban Hospital, where he gained experience being a social service intern. After graduating and taking a year-long gap year to reflect on whether he wanted to go into social work, school counseling or apply to grad school, Peoples chose to attend Roosevelt University to complete his three-year Masters Degree program, studying both clinical mental health counseling and school counseling. He then ultimately chose to embark on high school counseling after he interned at North Grant High School for a year in 2019. Peoples was hired at the University of Chicago charter high school and then later returned to North Grant High School.
Peoples specifically went into high school counseling because he wanted to be the type of counselor he wished he had in high school.
“High school counseling has always been something that I’ve kind of been a little bit passionate about, through discovery of my own individual experiences with school counselors,” Peoples said. ” Back in the day, I didn’t really feel connected with my counselors in the past, and I wanted to make sure that I created a space of access for students to meet with their counselors and be able to get the guidance that they need for their futures after high school and within high school.”
Senior Omar Korkumas is one of the many students Peoples has helped, specifically with Korkumas’s early graduation plans and college applications.
It feels good to know that there is someone that if you need help, you can go to them, and Mr. Peoples is one of those people,” Korkumas said. “I know he’s always there to help me is because when I ask Mr. Peoples about something like early graduation, he took his time making sure that I understood what I had to do, what grades I needed and the process overall. He takes time to make sure that a student understands what he’s trying to accomplish for them.”
Peoples heard about Niles West through an old colleague and thought joining D219 would be a great way to learn more and different ways to advise students.
“I wanted to continue to grow and learn from a different environment and community so that I can kind of continue to add to my toolkit as a school counselor, ” Peoples said. “I’ve worked in urban areas and charter schools, and now I’m here working in a completely different environment where I’m being exposed to so many different things. Like the resources that are available here. Students have an abundance of resources available at their fingertips, and it’s so amazing to see because in certain spaces, those types of resources don’t exist.”
Peoples has not only received knowledge through his work at D219 but also dispersed some of his own, according to school counselor Alicia Scott.
“As Mr. Peoples’s mentor, he has helped me grow both personally and professionally,” Scott said. “His fresh perspective often makes me pause and reflect on my own school counseling practices. The thoughtful questions he asks and his genuine desire to learn remind me how important it is to keep growing in this work.”
Outside of school, Peoples enjoys keeping up with the NFL when in season, exploring the world, hiking and experiencing anything that showcases artistic expression (art galleries, theatre performances, music concerts and films).
