Celebrating Service, Community, and Connection: Reflections with Linda Ereg

This week on the Hornet Hive podcast, Dr. Christopher Lewis sits down with Linda Ereg, a cornerstone of the Williamston High School counseling team who recently retired after years of dedicated service. Their lively and heartfelt conversation shines a light not just on Linda’s impressive career, but also on the values and spirit of the Williamston Community Schools themselves. If you’re looking for an uplifting reminder of what makes school communities thrive—or simply want to get inspired by the story of one person’s impact—this episode is a must-listen.

A Career Built On Compassion and Adaptability

Linda’s journey at Williamston began serendipitously, starting as an at-risk coordinator, drawing from her background in mental health and social work. Over time, she transitioned from that role into teaching English and health, and then stepped into the guidance counselor position—a natural fit, given her warmth, empathy, and deep commitment to student wellbeing. What’s striking about Linda’s story is her remarkable adaptability and willingness to grow. She constantly found new ways to meet student needs, whether launching an after-school homework lab or strengthening networks between families and the school.

The Power of Relationships

Time and again, Linda emphasizes how connections made all the difference—between staff and students, among colleagues, and within the broader Williamston community. Building trust, being present, and reaching out to those who might otherwise fall through the cracks became her trademarks. She shares moving stories about helping students overcome academic and personal struggles, including her early experience convincing a teacher to give a struggling student a second chance—which led to that student ultimately graduating. These anecdotes underscore an essential lesson: it’s relationships, not rigid rules, that open doors for growth.

Resilience Drawn From Community

Linda also speaks candidly about personal challenges, including the loss of her son and how the support she received from the Williamston community gave her strength. Her story is a testament to the ways schools can be safe harbors, nurturing not just students but the staff who guide them. Her gratitude and love for the community shine through—and remind us that education is about so much more than curriculum.

Why Listen?

Whether you’re an educator, parent, student, or simply someone who believes in the power of community, Linda’s reflections offer wisdom, humor, and heart. Tune in to this episode of the Hornet Hive to celebrate a career well spent—and to rediscover what makes school communities like Williamston so special.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:20]:
Welcome back to the Hornet Hive. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, one of the members of the Williamson Community Schools Board of Education. Really excited that you're back with us this week. And, and this week I am so excited to be able to talk with Linda Ehrig. And Linda has been a counselor at Williamston High School for many years. And actually she just retired this year after many years of service to the Williamston Community Schools. And I thought it would be a great opportunity to be able to learn a little bit more about Linda, you know, what has kept her here, what has sustained her, what has made Williamston a place where she has wanted to devote her career and allow for you to get to know her a little bit more before she leaves the district for good out into her the next phase of her personal life.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:08]:
So I'm really excited to have her here. Linda, thanks so much for joining us today.

Linda Ereg [00:01:12]:
Well, thank you for asking me.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:13]:
Well, I've been asking you for a while, so I'm excited that, that you finally said yes, that is true. And that we were able to get you on to talk about your journey. And, and I guess first and foremost I want to go back in time because like I said, you've been at the, in the schools for. And what initially brought you to working in Williamson?

Linda Ereg [00:01:33]:
What brought me to Williamson was that Community Mental Health was having at risk coordinators. They had advertised and were placing them in schools that thought that they needed to have someone else working with an at risk population, as we would say, or students that were struggling. They were having some issues with some of the seniors not being able to graduate. And there was starting to be a rise with the dropout rate. So the principal was very worried about that. And they also needed somebody that had a social work background with special education. So that's originally what I was going to get hired and Community Mental Health put me in there. I was a therapist, social worker before and I noticed I was ready to make a move professionally.

Linda Ereg [00:02:17]:
So I saw this and apply to Community Mental Health and then interviewed here. So, so that's how I started my journey as an at risk coordinator. That's what I was called.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:26]:
Now I know you stayed in that role for a bit, but then you over the years transitioned into becoming a counselor and talk to me about that journey.

Linda Ereg [00:02:34]:
Yes, just at that time we were having some of the teaching was, you know, there was some layoffs and some transitions were happening in general all across the board, not just at Williamson. So I had started for my teaching certificate. I decided to go back, because I had enjoyed working in Lansing in the middle school, which, with, as it turns out, Mr. Lutsky. So he was there at the same school as me. So lo and behold, didn't I see him here when I came. So he encouraged me to go back and finish up. So that's exactly what I did.

Linda Ereg [00:03:04]:
And in the meantime, we worked at the community center. We had a. We worked with some at risk students at the community center and students that were struggling, gonna drop out. So I did that. I did several things. So I went back, got my teaching certificate in English and health. And the idea was that I would teach health part time because we were building the gym at the time and expanding. So the idea was to get the gym teacher to teach gym all day, and then maybe I would teach English and health.

Linda Ereg [00:03:31]:
So I started out teaching and working with the other population at the community center. That's how I first started. Mr. Travis and I both did it at the community center together, and it was something to behold for sure. But we got those kids through. So then I taught English 9 and 10 and creative writing. And so then I was suggested, why didn't I go back and add the guidance counselor on? So I had my Ella msw. I was licensed for that.

Linda Ereg [00:04:00]:
And then that didn't work. What happened is that they had Denise Coelho, who was a social worker. She decided to take it full time. So that left me teaching instead of doing special education. And so I went back for about a summer and a part of a year and got my guidance counselor added onto my teaching certificate. So I could do that six through 12, I could teach or guidance counseling. And, you know, the guidance counseling that was. That was a sidebar.

Linda Ereg [00:04:28]:
I mean, it was natural because I had so much background with being a therapist and social worker and that. So my background really helped me in the classroom, I think, and also in this position. And I was in the hospital, I got pneumonia, and the principal called me and said, hey, I want you back and I want you in the counseling position. What do you think about that? So when I came back, that's what I did. And I've been here ever since. It was a good fit. It was a natural fit. I missed the teaching, but as it turns out, I worked my way around that, working with students with papers and doing the graduation speeches.

Linda Ereg [00:05:01]:
So whenever I got a little feeling bad, like, boy, I'd like to go back and teach. The students helped me with that little. For a minute.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:05:08]:
You've stayed in that position for quite some time, and you had an opportunity to be able to impact so many students. And I guess one thing that I would ask is you've done a lot of different things in the district. You ended your career as a guidance counselor. And as you look back to the entirety of your time with the Williamson Community Schools, what sustained you over the years in our district?

Linda Ereg [00:05:32]:
Well, I think that I got a real love for the community and I think it's real important that Williamston is a very close knit bedroom community. And I really got attached to. And I think it was important that I did. I did a lot of outreach because it was a natural for me with my background to do a lot of things for parents in need, families in need. So I had worked with teens, I had worked with domestic violence, I had worked in a domestic violence shelter and with substance abuse. And I worked through the courts mandated kids to see me through the courts. So I had a lot of different hats I could wear given my background. And it served me well, truthfully, because I was able to network and get people services or resources and that I loved.

Linda Ereg [00:06:19]:
I didn't realize how much I like that. And it really has. If I would say that anything to any of the new counselor, which I'm going to meet with and the middle school counselor, when I supervised her, I said, listen, networking and hooking up with families and making students sabotage and rapport with the students is going to be what's going to make them successful. If they trust you and the parents trust you, that you have the child's best interest. And the kids always knew that. I mean, I was tracking them down, call them at home, I didn't care right to the bitter end. So it was important and that's what helped because our, our dropout rate was very minimal. And in the beginning I had to show that that was true because before I was on contract, I was on 31Amoney.

Linda Ereg [00:07:02]:
And I had to show how I was making a difference with intervention. So I had to take the scores from 8th grade and then comp and see with intervention. Was there a difference with students who were able to be seen before they failed or you know, what we do? So what I did was I created the after school homework lab. I have an article I came across when I was going through my things that show that they'd taken a picture and said how I had started that I did it with National Honor Society students who needed hours. And I'm telling you something, the place was packed. I had about two or three national honors that would rotate and then John and I Would, you know, figure out who needed what. And they were amazing how I knew what they were supposed to do and I do a checklist and then they'd hand me their homework and I started to wrote and it was amazing when we had it like that. It was just amazing.

Linda Ereg [00:07:52]:
So that's what I did. I had the homework lab and I did that for quite a while. Even when I was student teaching, I still continued that. I student taught under the Sharon Nolan, who was my mentor. It was a wonderful journey. She was the best mentor I could have ever had because we were on the same page with loving kids and wanting them to be successful.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:08:10]:
You've spent a large portion of your career within the Williamston Community School. What would you say makes Williamston a great place to work?

Linda Ereg [00:08:18]:
I think it's important that you have camaraderie and collaboration with your teachers. I'd say that that's probably a number one essential. And listen, everybody's not going to be happy all the time. We all, you know what I mean? We all got different personalities and I probably am annoying too. But I try to be as accommodating with teachers and in the end, you know, they make the decisions. But I think negotiations, being able to negotiate with some of the wonderful teachers here and having them see everybody has the same background, you know, skill set and it's important to know can we work with these students and get them by. And I think establishing relationships with the teachers has been one of the most successful part of this job is that you can work someplace and love your work, but boy, oh boy, you don't want to go in every day because there's some issue. But administration, we've changed hands with principals.

Linda Ereg [00:09:10]:
I've seen several principals and worked with them. Well, it's all been great, truthfully and. But I work very, very closely with the vice principals. As it turns out, bad cop, good cop is what I do best with some of. And that's been going on since the beginning of time, truthfully, since I got in this position. Counseling is that Mr. Armour or Mr. Freeman, whoever was before that we worked hand in hand with students.

Linda Ereg [00:09:35]:
I would take some of the things that only females, whether it was dress code or what it was but. And that I didn't realize that part I absolutely have loved. I just have loved it. And I was offered a couple of times to leave the district and apply for vice or other schools. And my love was here and I, I just couldn't picture it going somewhere else and starting again. Even if I knew the administrator I just couldn't picture leaving. It was like home. And I drove an hour to get here, so I must like it.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:10:05]:
That definitely says something because not everybody's going to want to do that commute every day. And the long hours that I know you put in to be able to help the kids and to help the community in different ways.

Linda Ereg [00:10:16]:
And truthfully, what really was the biggest was really deciding factor is when I lost my son nine years ago. It's the way the community and it was like I had a home away from home when a lot of people might have left their job or not come back or. And it was really wonderful how people reached out. And it really was my benefit when I was struggling my own self, having the students and having friends here and associates that helped me get through that time. I felt like I owed them as much as they felt grateful I was here, truthfully. And it really did help me with students with grieving that piece to it that students grieve and lose people. And so I think that I was able to identify with some of the issues they go through too.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:11:04]:
I know that every teacher, every person in a school district, every person that works in education, so many of them are storytellers, and they bring those stories to work every day. They bring them home with them every day. And many times the stories help to sustain them in the work that they do. Can you share a story with me that for you really epitomizes the experience that you've had as a staff member in the Williamston Community Schools over the years?

Linda Ereg [00:11:30]:
Chris, you're asking me a question that most people have said, why haven't I written a book? Storytelling is probably one of my skill sets now. Okay? So I wouldn't be here without a story. I have so money, I wouldn't know where to pull from one that sticks in my mind that the scary part is when you had the students and then lo and behold, the student has a child and comes through and there they are again. Like, you see the child of the student and that student could have been a handful. I always tell the parent, wow, your child turned out, you did a good job because you were a handful. So I always start out by saying that. So that's unique in this city. Williamston is unique how every.

Linda Ereg [00:12:11]:
Everyone stays, they never leave, they come back and they marry somebody. I said, it's really unique. So when I first started, you know, no one really knew teachers are here to teach. And it wasn't the type of situation where what happened last night at your house, if dad drinks or something happens. I don't think it was easy for teachers to identify naturally with, well, you're here now, you're here to learn. I've got something to teach you. So I felt like it was my role to kind of educate the teachers that, hey, it does have something to do with how they are in the classroom and how they. The attention span and if you're not having enough food or whatever's going on.

Linda Ereg [00:12:49]:
Maslow the hierarchy of that is the needs are low on the totem pole as far as education. So I would say that when I first got here, the teachers didn't know. In fact, one teacher used to tease me when I come down the hallway, said, oh, there's Melinda Eric, she's going to sing Kumbaya. So I said, well, I think they need a little education. So I did that. And one teacher that retired from her was an English teacher and I been here too long. So he didn't really know me that well. He was pretty strict and had rules and he sent me a note and put it in my box and all it said was because I asked him about a student that needed to graduate and she had had strep throat constantly, was missing all kinds of schools.

Linda Ereg [00:13:30]:
So he wrote me the note. This is how he wrote it. An English teacher. No how. No way. That's all that was on the note. No how. No way.

Linda Ereg [00:13:39]:
No matter what you do, Linda, there's no way she's going to walk. So I thought, well, there's something I've got to be able to do. So it was the last week when the grades had to be in by 3 o'. Clock. I called the girl at home and she had strep and she was in her pajama bottoms. So I told the girl, come in, you got to come in, come as you are, party, come in with your pajamas on and we're going to see if you can eat humble pie and go to the teacher and see what we can do. So she did, because she was scheduled to have her tonsils out right after school let out. So she came in and I said, go down there and say to willing to do anything you ask, anything.

Linda Ereg [00:14:16]:
And so he said to her, okay, you got to read a book. She only had a few days and you got to write a book report. And I thought, oh my gosh, she had to be some kind of speed reader. So she read it, she did the report, and now we're talking. We're down to the one day just before the grades had to be in we're down to that day. And he pushed it back and told her it wasn't good enough. So I edited it with her. She retyped it.

Linda Ereg [00:14:40]:
She went down to his room, handed it in, and she screamed out in the hallway and jumped up in the air, and she got a 61% and she walked. And that's really how my career started, with me wanting to reach out to students. And that incident really paved the way for me to see things a little bit differently and maybe for teachers to look at something different, because there's always extenuating circumstances for everybody that comes up.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:15:09]:
Well, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all your years of service. Thank you for everything that you've done for so many students throughout the years. I know that this is the end of your experience at the. Within the Williamson Community Schools, but I know this is not the end of your experiences in helping students and helping people, because I know that'll only continue with you in the future. But I truly wish you all the best.

Linda Ereg [00:15:35]:
Well, definitely they've asked me to sub at Wilson Talent Center. So the Wilson Talent center is tied to us. That was my. One of my roles was that. And of course, that was one of my favorite, tell you the truth. And so the careers I will be seeing some of the students out there, especially the junior class who begged me to come back and see them graduate and stuff. So I will see our Williamson students when I get to sub in some of the programs. And that, to me, I can't tell you how meaningful that is to still have my hands on that.

Linda Ereg [00:16:09]:
Sam.