The Jag

New counselor Todd Maher has come to help guide Blue Springs South.

Though he is a new counselor at South, this is not Maher’s first rodeo.

“I’ve been a counselor for 14 to 15 years now,” Maher says, “for the past six years, I’ve been working at Tonka [Winnetonka] High School up in North Kansas City.” Before that, Maher worked as counselor at Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri and before he became a counselor, he was a math teacher.

Maher says that he took this job at South because of the fame that the school carries.

“The reputation of this place is awesome. …the people here are fantastic. The faculty and staff were very welcoming. The students are awesome,” Maher says.

He says that he is excited about the community here at South. He says he feels like it’s “kind of an honor” to work here.

Maher says that being a counselor is something that he really enjoys.

“On those mornings where I don’t feel good, I know that I’m getting ready and coming to a job that I love, and I enjoy doing,” Maher says. He says that a dream job would be working on a golf course in the Caribbean Islands, but counseling is exactly what he wants to be doing.

Maher says that he wants to be a part of more school activities.

“I would like to be more involved in the kind of equality and diversity stuff here and get that kind of thing going,” Maher says.

When he’s not doing counselor work, Maher enjoys playing video games with his son.

“I really like Assassin’s Creed. … I’m playing Red Dead [Redemption] 2 for the second time. My favorite game of all time has to be Hogwarts Legacy. It’s awesome,” Maher says.

Maher’s youngest son goes to Delta Woods Middle School and his other son is out of the house.

“He’s a seventh grader at Delta Woods,” says Maher about his younger son, “smart, funny kid, plays percussion. … I have a 21-year-old son who lives out in St. Louis area and honestly making more money than I will be pretty soon. And my wife, she’s a social worker up at the North Kansas City Hospital. That’s us.”

South’s size contrasts to the schools where he grew up. His own high school is much smaller in comparison.

“I grew up just north of Columbia, Missouri, in a little bitty town called Hallsville. It’s like eight miles north of Columbia. I think when I graduated, it had 932 people or something. It was tiny. It’s funny that this school is twice as big as my whole hometown,” Maher says.

The first college Maher went to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. He then got his Master’s and Specialist degrees at the University of Missouri.

Maher says he is very happy to be here at South.

“I love being here. This place is awesome. The students here are awesome, the options and opportunities they have here are awesome. I think it’s great. I’m happy to be here.” says Maher.