Carrie Redfox remembers what it was like to be in middle school. The loneliness. The angst. The hiding in bathroom stalls to avoid everything and everyone.

“When I look at them, I see myself,” says Carrie.

Carrie is in her 13th year as a sixth-grade counselor at Doty Middle School, where she helps students navigate the awkward transition into high school and adulthood.

Middle school has never been easy but today’s students are burdened with the added pressure of social media, where teens become content creators, competing for likes, comments, and followers. It’s a fantasy land of unrealistic expectations.

“I do a lot more social-emotional counseling than academic and when I started 13 years ago, it was just the opposite of that,” Carrie says. “But now, just with the way of the world, and kids have phones and their apps, that causes extra tension.

“Recently it’s been a lot more of the social-emotional piece to my job. Dealing with kids that have genuine concerns and need to talk to somebody about it, and need coping skills. I love doing that. It’s just the sad part of my job to know there are kids who are hurting so deeply.”

In addition to making herself available to talk, Carrie has started several campus clubs to give students opportunities to make friends and work on their social skills. One club, My Place, meets Fridays and is open to all grade levels.

“It was created simply for that reason: so every student would have a place to call their own,” Carrie said. “When I had lunch duty in the quad, I would see these kids wandering around alone. It broke my heart.

“Or they would end up standing next to me because they wanted to be next to somebody. But I wanted it to be a peer, somebody they could forge a friendship with.”

Carrie brought in board games from home and a teacher offered use of her classroom.

“It just took off,” said Carrie. “It’s a club that gets a lot of visitors because it’s safe. It’s a beautiful thing to watch these kids interact with each other. That’s how a lot of them make friends.”

There are also after-school clubs and each day comes with a lesson and discussion.

“So there’s just a lot of opportunities for the kids at Doty when it comes to the social aspect of things but then that’s not going to administer to everybody,” Carrie said. “There’s always going to be those few kids who just don’t feel like they fit and those are the ones that I work with and we talk about strategies and coping skills.

“I really struggled in middle school, specifically sixth grade. I wasn’t ready for it. I was the one that walked around by myself. I would hide in bathroom stalls because I just didn’t feel like I fit it. And I’m not going to have that for my kids.”

How beloved is Carrie Redfox amongst her students?

She lives steps from Doty Middle School but not once has her house been vandalized or her home life disturbed.

“I have a problem giving out my phone number way too often because I worry,” she said. “So all sorts of people have my number but they’ve never abused it. People know where George and I live, and we’ve never had a problem.”

“I think that’s something that’s amazing about Downey. To be able to grow up in the city in which you work, in which you live, and to have these kids know where you live and to respect that. It’s the coolest thing.”

Outside of work, Carrie volunteers her time alongside husband George, whom she met at Cerritos College. (Their relationship blossomed despite the fact that she is a Warren Bear and he a Downey Viking. It’s true that opposites attract.) It was George who pulled Carrie into working on the Downey Rose Float.

“I had no choice,” Carrie laughed. “I knew that if I was going to be with my boyfriend, I was doing the float because he was so passionate about it.

“I met him in September and that December I was gluing petals on the float.”

It may have been George that introduced Carrie to the Downey Rose Float Association, but she learned to love the organization on her own.

“I remember thinking, ‘You know, this is kinda cool. I could see myself doing this.’ And it’s just been that way. Even our kids are down there.”

Carrie is also a board member with the Exchange Club Family Support Center of Downey, an organization that works to prevent child abuse, and is a coordinator for the ASSISTEENS, the youth auxiliary of the Assistance League of Downey.

Like her husband, Carrie is confident Downey will be their home forever.

“We have a joke, we’re never leaving Downey,” said Carrie. “We live in Downey, we work in Downey, our families are in Downey, our life is here. And I don’t see any reason for leaving. I don’t see any other city coming anywhere close to what Downey has to offer.”

Carrie Redfox is the superhero kids need