ABERDEEN, S.D.(Press Release) – Aberdeen Public School District’s Ashley Seeklander has been named the 2025 South Dakota Counselor of the Year.

Seeklander, school counselor at Lincoln Elementary, received the award at the recent South Dakota Counseling Association (SDCA) Awards Banquet in Sioux Falls.

The Counselor of the Year award is given to a person who has made a significant contribution to the counseling profession and has demonstrated a genuine desire to help people.

Seeklander has been a school counselor for 16 years, including four with the Aberdeen Public School District. Previously, she spent four years at Agar-Blunt-Onida (Sully Buttes) and eight years at Groton Area before joining Lincoln Elementary in the 2021-22 school year.

“During my senior year of high school, I had the opportunity to student teach with my high school counselor,” Seeklander said. “Since then, I knew this was job for me and I could not imagine doing anything else.”

In 2018, Seeklander was named School Counselor of the Year by the South Dakota School Counselor Association (SDSCA), an award given to school counselors only.

Now, she has been named the SDCA’s 2025 Counselor of the Year, an award open to all counselors in South Dakota, not only school counselors.

Seeklander said receiving this honor is surreal and incredibly humbling.

“I love being a school counselor because no two days are alike and there never is a dull moment,” she said. “Being an elementary school counselor is important because it lays the foundation for a child’s well-being. I have a daily opportunity to help teach emotional development, build relationships, and help grow a positive self-esteem. I also have the privilege to work with parents, guardians, and teachers in these areas as well.”