BUSHNELL, Fla. — A grateful parent nominated a school counselor to be recognized and honored. The parent says Jason McCormick has really helped her first-grader with severe anxiety. 

She says there are times that her son refuses to go to school, but McCormick is the one with the skills to calm him so that he can focus and learn from his teachers.

McCormick is a former high school teacher who now counsels students at Bushnell Elementary School.

The counselor didn’t initially choose a career in education.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, but I joined the military and then married, and life took over,” he says.

McCormick says as he and his wife were about to retire when they ended up having to adopt their four grandchildren.

“We were getting ready to retire early and tragedy happened, and we had to adopt our four grandchildren.”

Their grandkids were 4-year-olds and younger, so McCormick went back to work as a teacher.

“I wanted to be a part of their education,” he says.

While teaching high school, he noticed an alarming trend of anxiety and stress among students.

“I saw a lot of kids coming into the high school that had a lot of issues of anxiety and a lot of stress, and I wanted to get to where I could work with them before they got to that level,” McCormick says.

He helps students with their social and emotional growth by guiding them to make good choices.

“My goal here is, I tell every kid they’re loved and that they’re safe, and they can come to me to get a hug if they need one," McCormick says. "If they need someone to talk to because they’re having a rough morning, that’s what I’m here for.”