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Coming out of Union High School in 2006 as Dowagiac’s All-Sports Award winner, Kim (Luthringer) Anderson was not ready to put her playing days behind her.

Southwestern Michigan College, from which she earned 12 credits while still in high school and where she worked for six years preparing for her career, was on an extended hiatus from intercollegiate athletics.

Anderson enrolled at rival Lake Michigan College to continue playing softball while earning her associate degree in business administration.

She also played basketball and volleyball for the Chieftains, as well as outfield in softball. “Softball was my favorite.” SMC fielded softball teams from 1986-95.

“The energy and the vibes are awesome” from the return of cross country in 2021, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball and men’s wrestling in 2022, plus the addition of a co-ed bass fishing team.

“I would have liked to be part of that,” Anderson said wistfully. “I follow (the Roadrunners) on social media and love seeing the success. It seems there’s a really good thing going for students who come here. I didn’t want to move far from home. I was looking for something affordable where I could still live at home and save money.”

The SMC experience as a Ferris student

She completed her bachelor’s degree in business administration at SMC through the Ferris State University program, graduating in 2010. She additionally pursued a master’s degree through Indiana University South Bend (IUSB).

While working at SMC, Kim joined the Young Professionals of Greater Dowagiac when it started. The fireworks sponsors rebranded as Dowagiac Connected to encompass a wider age range. “I took a step back when my daughter was born,” she said. “My kids are my priority.”

Her April birthday coincided with Campus Bash in 2016, so she got dragged into the ice cream-eating contest on the Student Activity Center patio.

“Everybody sang happy birthday to me,” she said.

She also traveled to Key West and West Virginia for whitewater rafting on trips Hall of Fame Cross Country and Track Coach Ron Gunn organized as extreme sports director.

When her brother retired, she was ready

To say she has come full circle is true. She completed her fourth year as the DUHS counselor, plying similar skills she honed as SMC’s lead admissions counselor and a year directing Educational Talent Search, which broadened her experience to middle schoolers. Both positions involve working with local school districts.

Anderson, who started at the college as a part-time outreach specialist, received her five-year service pin Dec. 21, 2015, at the Board of Trustees meeting from Trustee Todd Obren.

But with a nudge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Anderson took full circle to another level. When Randy Luthringer retired, she took the job of her older brother who inspired her to want to become a counselor in the first place.

She also served as a counselor in Marcellus for three years starting in 2017 after SMC, but continued to live in Dowagiac, on the other side of Middle Crossing Road from where she grew up in the Meadowbrook subdivision.

Randy is “living the life,” she said, fishing on Lake Michigan and hunting. “I think he was proud” she occupied his old office.

Not enough interaction in accounting

“When I left high school, my plan was to be a school counselor,” Anderson said, “like my brother. I admired what he did. He influenced my future plans, but they got sidetracked at LMC. I thought the route I would take to be a school counselor would be to be a teacher first, but I did not feel passionate enough about a subject to teach it every day.

“I felt a little lost for those two years about what I would do. I was an accounting major at first and took corporate tax accounting. I was also working (at Wolverine Mutual Insurance Co.), saw what my boss (Sally Matthews) did and decided that wasn’t the path for me. I wanted something with more interaction.

“When the admissions job at the college opened up, I loved that. I really enjoyed working with students, giving them ideas if they were undecided, going to the high schools and working with the counselors. To this day, that is still my favorite aspect of the school counselor role. That hasn’t changed.”

Recalling pandemic Zoom meetings, Anderson said, “I stayed at home for the weeks we had to, but as soon as I could go into the building in Marcellus, I was there. Working from home was not my jam. We were remodeling at the time, with furniture everywhere. My cat was climbing everything while we were trying to have meetings. It was not for me.”

“I enjoyed the (SMC) role a lot of meeting students and families to plan what they would be doing after school, navigating career choices and planning events, like school visits or health career day. Every day was different. As a counselor, every day is still different.”

“All of the experiences I had with the college, including ETS, were so fitting for my role leading into school counseling,” Anderson said. “Part of the job is helping students with their college classes and career navigation. Had I not had that experience, I would have had to learn so much. I’m so thankful for that because of the intricacies of the career and technical education (CTE) world. Having all that was a perfect fit. There are so many avenues to help students pay for college. They need to take advantage of those opportunities, and I want to help them do that.”

COVID injected flexibility into staffing

“Before, you needed a school counselor degree,” she said. “Now, we have social workers and advocates who do short check-ins for behavior things where you don’t have to have that credential. And there are new grant programs. Our district has school-based therapists who meet the highest tier of students who need services. We have a social worker and a school-based therapist.” Her colleague, Student Advocate Susan (Skibbe) Baldwin, is a former Dowagiac police officer of 9 ½ years and a state Child Protective Services investigator/supervisor with a master’s degree in social work.

“We’re a great team,” Anderson said, “because I focus more on career aspects and her specialty is social/emotional.”

DUHS “doesn’t feel the same” thanks to a major update since she graduated. “Randy’s window looked into the cafeteria courtyard. With the reconfiguration, the window looks toward the front.”

She participated in Student Senate and Humanities Club, which traveled to New Orleans. It was the height of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, so club members ushered and met visiting authors, who signed their books.

Anderson has two children, Ellie, and Eric. Her daughter was born Jan. 6, 2021 — the day mobs stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Her husband of five years, Jon, from Watervliet, was at LMC at the same time, but they didn’t have a relationship. He played basketball. She worked concessions as a softball player. She also served meals in the Mendel Center for Economic Club.

Ironically, Jon lived on Middle Crossing, so when they got married, “I packed up my things and moved across the road,” she laughed. He works for Arnt Asphalt Sealing, the Benton Harbor-based contractor, and has lived in Dowagiac since 2014.