The beloved Cynthia Gorkowski, a guidance counselor here at Wayne Hills, will retire in January after 30 years of service.

Gorkowski grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey and attended Fairleigh Dickinson University at the Rutherford campus. She first taught special education at Clifton High School for six years. After that, she moved to the Wayne system as a special education teacher at Wayne Valley for three years. Then she started her 30 years at Wayne Hills as a guidance counselor.

“My favorite part of the job is dealing with kids,” she said, adding that initially, she did not think she would love it as much dealing with high schoolers but enjoyed working with the students.

Gorkowski says that the part of her job that she really loves is when her former students she counseled come back and bring their own children. She really feels that it comes full circle.

“I’ll miss her help and her kindness. She’s always there whenever I need her and I really appreciate that,” said Junior Andrew Ginart. 

“I will absolutely miss Mrs. Gorkowski,”  said Math teacher Todd Green. He then adds, “She is someone who will always stop what she’s doing just to help you out. She cares deeply about her job and I’ve always admired the extra time she spends looking out for the best of her students,” Green added.

“I always respected the fact that Mrs. Gorkowski would support Wayne Hills outside of school as well,” Green continued.  “She would come to almost every one of our basketball games, home or away, and was one of our biggest fans. I will miss her dearly and thank her for all her support, guidance, and friendship. I wish her the best of luck in her retirement!”

Gorkowski plans to keep busy after retirement.  “I would like to do some volunteer work with animals that I could not do while working,” she says.