Interview w/ Mike Kirchner, Residential Program Director at Hillcrest Center

Name: Mike Kirchner
Position: Residential Program Director
Campus: Hillcrest Center
Years in Current Position: Less than 1
Previous Positions: Assistant Program Director at Hillcrest Center, Assistant Program Director at Highpoint, Business Manager, Highpoint Program Manager, Career Development Coordinator, Physical Education Teacher, Clinical Case Manager, Child Care Worker.
Years with Hillcrest: 21

Do you remember how you learned about Hillcrest?
I was finishing up college and just needed a job. And I saw that they were advertising [open positions] and stopped in, filled out an application. Off to Hancock I went and I was a CCW at the old ITU. The funny thing is, at the time I didn’t know what I wanted to do in terms of a career, so Hillcrest was a temporary job until I found something else…yeah.

Did you have a background related to the job? 
In college, I majored in sociology and minored in physical education. Prior to Hillcrest, I was working part-time for a few years for the Town of Lenox supervising their after-school program and summer program. And I really loved working with kids. I did many years of coaching baseball and football when I was in high school and college, everything fell into place and it all worked out.

What appealed to you about the job when you were applying and going through training?
I was just very motivated. It’s funny how things work out, like I said, it went from me just needing a job fresh out of college to my career. It’s the only full-time job I’ve ever had. People talk all the time about all the opportunities to advance [here at Hillcrest.] And I’m another example of that. I’ve been here long enough now, where I look back and I feel like a lot of the best people we have started at the bottom and worked their way up to where they are now. So they really understand the ins and outs of our programs and what we do as a business. It’s because of this that I feel we’re very successful in what we specialize in, treating the hardest to place kids. 

How is your role as Residential Program Director different from the Program Director position in the past?
It’s really not. The title change is because of the focus on the residential campus versus the newly created, Independent Day Program or IDP. So the big difference is I don’t oversee the academic shift anymore. Allison Galambos, in her new role as Director of Day Operations, oversees all of the academic programming at the Academy. My responsibility is to focus on everything that happens here on Old Stockbridge Rd. Primarily, the residential and overnight shifts. But the duties are the same, minus the academic programming. 

What was the happiest or most rewarding moment for you while working for Hillcrest? 
I don’t have just one, it changes. I remember…I was so happy as a Phys Ed teacher. I had so much fun with the kids, creating lesson plans, summer programming for block schedules and we would have 16 to 20 kids sometimes in a PE class. I just had so much fun day in and day out and back then, the students we had benefited so much from having PE five days a week.

Now, in this new role, I do some residential hours. So I’m here until 8:00 pm at night a couple of nights a week. And the coolest thing for me is that the [craziness], the nonstop meetings and dealing with complicated issues…it goes away for the most part after 5:00 pm. And I get to go and sit in dorms and watch the staff working with the students. When I get to sit there and watch the staff perform their magic, it’s super special. To be able to just sit back and take it all in, connect with the staff and students without an agenda, that has been eye-opening for me. It’s not that I’m THAT old yet, but I’ve been around here for a while now. It’s very interesting to see that work being done…like I said, I like to use the word “magic.” Especially with the ASD kids. It’s amazing what some of our staff do and what they are capable of doing, they are just so special. That’s the difference with my new role, all of our staff on every shift do amazing work, but this is the first time I have had dedicated time to really watch “the magic” and process that.

What is the hardest part of your job? 
The most difficult part of my job is striking a balance between the time I give to my family and the time and commitment I put into my job. The other challenge that is directly related to work is any time a student is “in crisis”, or when a staff member is really struggling or “in crisis.” This may become overwhelming, but to overcome these challenges has its own charm!

What surprised you the most about the job?
Nothing really surprised me about my new job, this is my twelfth year in campus administration. But when I think back to day one, for me it’s just the intensive level of care that the kids here at Hillcrest need. When you’re fresh out of school and have never had a job working with kids this intense, to come in an environment where we treat the absolute hardest to place kids…it’s very eye-opening and it can be overwhelming at times. It quickly becomes part of your life, part of what you do, part of what you try to fix. It does get easier as time goes on, and I feel like I am pretty good at slowing the game down when things get chaotic, and that is what I preach to the people under me when decisions need to be made. 

Your campus is the only one where residential students leave regularly for other locations (school). How is that process managed? 
So every morning, the overnight shift starts getting the kids ready for school. Our academic shift comes in at 7:30 a.m., usually by 8:00 a.m. they’re working with the overnight staff to finish getting the kids ready.

Typically by 8:15 a.m., all the kids are transitioned to the vans and soon after that, the caravan of seven vehicles takes off out of here and heads for Columbus Avenue. And then the same thing happens at 2:30ish there at the Academy. It’s pretty wild to watch, most mornings go pretty flawlessly. There are always a couple of issues or hiccups, but the staff supervisors do an amazing job of pulling this off every single day.

What kind of hiccups would be expected?
Oh you know, a kid takes too long in the shower, or making sure we have enough staff to pull off the transport. Sometimes we have a restraint at departure time. Maintaining our ratios…we have [regulated staffing numbers and even higher self-imposed staffing numbers] for safety reasons. And again, the supervisors and their staff do an amazing job. ASD is just different. Our kids, with their challenges, are very routine-oriented. But the team in place makes it work pretty well every day. 

Who is the most influential person in your work life right now? 
During my time at Hillcrest, I’ve had a lot of wonderful people to either work alongside or work under. I’ve had great models to watch and learn from. Over the years, I have been supervised by four of the current executives…Ashley, Chris, Mark, and Michele. I’ve learned a great deal from them all. I don’t have just one person to highlight.  Influential, for me right now, I’d say the two Residential Coordinators at Hillcrest Center, Ed and Eliyah. They’re special people. They care about these kids as much as anyone, if not the most. The time that they put in, the heart they put in, the environment that they want for the kids, that’s inspiring. They’re special people and I am not sure I would be in my role without these special people. When I chose to pursue this position in leading Hillcrest Center, I had a plan that I thought might work, but I needed a few special people to help make my plan a reality and we are rolling! We are just getting started and I am excited to see where we are headed.

Do you have any advice for new employees? 
I always tell new staff there’s so much to learn. Ask a lot of questions. Take it all in. Find ways to add value to the program. A lot of our staff are so talented. [Many years ago we developed our] Learn More, Earn More program. People can be compensated for running clubs and/or activities. Having the new staff express their talents in ways that benefit the kids…I’m always encouraging new staff to do that. 

But you know, just take it all in. You can’t take the rough days home with you, try and leave those days at work. Give yourself time to learn. Do the right thing and make appropriate choices. Most importantly, be here for the kids. Those are the things I tell new staff.

What kind of person do you think succeeds at Hillcrest? (either direct care, leadership, etc)
Again, being here for the kids. I like to believe that most of our staff are here for the right reasons. Just caring, compassionate, patient people. They make the best staff.

I think you have to have those [qualities] to be a leader as well. But the leadership is a little different. Confidence comes into play and like I said earlier, being able to slow difficult situations down so you can make the right calls is key. Obviously, we have to do the right thing. It’s a little different once in leadership but not a great deal, but it comes with time. 

Are there any new or upcoming changes to the campus you’d like to highlight?
The reorganization is new. With that, we’ve added a second residential coordinator. That person is Eliyah. She’s focusing on training compliance and most importantly, student activities on campus. And that’s where her passion is demonstrated. We’ve just created a “Center Cinema.” It’s not your typical cinema. It’s full of bean bag chairs where our kids can lie down. Especially with our kids on the autism spectrum, for sensory reasons. It’s a nice room with surround sound and a giant TV and we do popcorn. It’s new but I think it’s a big hit! 

And we’re getting our school store back up and running. We have what Eliyah calls “The Crafty Corner,” a room dedicated to arts and crafts. The whole purpose of all of this is to get the kids and the staff more involved in activities every single day after school and on the weekends. 

It’s only been a month, but we already have those activities going on. Ed focuses on the programmatic side of campus and is my right hand behind the scenes. The monster “staffing” is his primary responsibility and Ed manages travel and purchasing too, but any admin knows that we all wear many, many hats.

As I said, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside some really good people during my time at HEC. Thankfully, I have that now with Ed and Eliyah, and they’re amazing together. So to watch them, they feed off each other’s energy, they’re on the same page most of the time, and it’s making for a better program overall. 

Do you have any favorite stories about the kids?
Feel good story…when I was at Highpoint, occasionally, we’d have a local student discharge. And I’ve run into them unexpectedly outside of Hillcrest. You never know how a former student would react to seeing you. When they say “thank you for helping me” or, “You always treated me well.” Stuff like that, it stays with you. 

Funny story…I do remember a student from NYC going crazy about a flock of turkeys in front of the school building at Highpoint. He was yelling, “Oh my god. Those are the biggest pigeons I’ve ever seen!” That was funny and very eye-opening as well.

Here at Hillcrest Center, it’s watching the kids change for the better. They come in and their aggression can be high, or their self-injurious behaviors can be high. A year or two later, you see drastic changes. It’s a good feeling and you know the work being put in is worth it. 

Anything else you’d like to add?
I have such a different perspective now that I have been here for over 20 years. As I enter the second half of my career, I am fortunate to have such a great team around me. Most people know that I’m just me. I’m a simple and quiet guy, I have never enjoyed personal recognition. It’s appreciated, don’t get me wrong, but I enjoy recognizing others for their great work, that makes me happy. I make sure I have a relationship of some kind with everyone and try to recognize everyone in some way. Housekeeping, maintenance, food services, clinical, nursing, education, direct care etc.  Everyone has a tough job and it takes all of us. I am only as good as the team I put on the field, making the team better is how we make the program better. Providing the environment for your team to grow and thrive is what I believe in. That’s what I want for the administrative team I work alongside of, for the supervisors and assistants under me, and for everyone else who puts the time in to make the best possible environment for the kids at Hillcrest Center. Hillcrest has been very good to me over the years, and I have been very good to Hillcrest.  I am proud to say that!

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We’re looking for dynamic, compassionate people to join our team! Check out our career openings. We’re waiting to hear from you. 

Don’t forget to read our interview with Jackie Mercado, Admissions Coordinator at our Administrative Offices.