High school counselor takes Angels flight

Donna Dunn has been an educator for 33 years. As the coordinating counselor at Cypress Lakes High School, her job involves supervising the counseling department, working on student scheduling and testing, evaluating transcripts, writing letters of recommendation, providing crisis, college and career counseling and working with the teen parenting program.

Her job keeps her firmly grounded, but recently she soared to new heights.

Dunn was named a “Key Influencer of Youth” by the Navy Recruiting District of Houston and was selected to fly with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels in a C-130 “Fat Albert” at the Wings Over Houston Airshow held Oct. 27 and Oct. 28 at Ellington Airport.

The Navy Recruiting District of Houston defined Key Influencers as “people who help to shape attitudes and opinions of youth in their communities. ... People turn to Key Influencers for advice and information because they have credibility.”

“The ride on Fat Albert was unbelievable,” Dunn said. “Riding in the cockpit, wearing headphones and being able to hear the crew throughout the ride was awesome! Experiencing the tactical maneuvers of the C-130 Hercules from the jumpseat was absolutely thrilling.

“From taking off at a 45-degree angle and experiencing weightlessness to barreling straight down toward the ground and leveling off at 300 feet to simulate flying under enemy radar - the entire ride was fantastic!”

While the thought of riding along with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as they perform their death-defying aerial stunts might send some people running, but Dunn loved her experience and would gladly repeat it.

In the meantime, Dunn continues being a positive influence on students. Everything she does is to help her students achieve one very specific goal: graduation.

“Graduation is the culmination of much hard work by students, teachers, parents, counselors, administrators and other support personnel,” she said. “Standing at the top of the ramp, confirming each senior’s name before he/she steps out on to the stage to be announced as a graduate of Cypress Lakes High School is one of the best moments of my job.”

ABOUT Donna Dunn
OCCUPATION: Coordinating counsellor
COMMUNITY CONNECTION: Works at Cypress Lakes High School
FAST FACT: Dunn taught for eight years before becoming a counselor