Every year during the winter term, Dr. Greene and the Wellness community hold a peer counselor training program. Students from all grades are encouraged to submit applications which consist of teacher recommendations and a list of achievements.

The goal of being a Peer Counselor is to make Kent life more easily adaptable and comfortable for all students. A small number of students are chosen from applicants to help the school be a more open-minded and caring place. Each year, around twenty-five students that are not already peer counselors are trained by Dr. Greene, who is a member of the Theology and Wellness departments. While there are more than forty applicants each year, the Wellness department carefully selects a handful of students with the most agreeable transcript along with an interview conducted in Dr. Greene’s office in Dickinson.

Once the applicants are chosen, the students are required to attend three hours of training for three Sundays, discussing and learning about the causes, impacts, and results of a variety of problems that can occur at Kent. These include serious problems such as depression and drug-related struggles that any teenager can go through. The peer counselors are trained to act respectfully and cautiously towards each case.

However, the most important part of the training is learning how to listen to anyone in need, and becoming a guiding hand in the boarding school experience. The training sessions are fun, full of knowledge, and a great chance to expand both intellectually and socially. Students go through multiple activities to rehearse many difficult situations that could occur and learn more about the mental wellbeing of high schoolers and ultimately leave the program well prepared to help with the various ups and downs of boarding school.