Nicole Jaurequi, Copy Editor
The counselors at Rancho Cucamonga High School do so much for our students and they hardly get recognized for it. From emotional support to fixing class schedules, these awesome people do so much for us and they deserve to hear it.
In a conversation with Mrs. Fotia, one of our many counselors on campus, we talked about the different jobs given to our counselors. She says, “What I love about my job is that it’s completely random. One day I’ll only focus on students’ schedules and academics and another day it’s mostly social, emotional, and mental health concerns.” It’s not well known that our counselors juggle a lot of things every day so that our school runs smoothly, but we thank them for it.
When it comes to finding solutions for mental health concerns or emotional problems, the majority of our school overlooks the fact that our counselors offer free counseling and have access to many other mental health professionals that they can contact on our behalf if we need them to; we just have to ask. Fotia states, “If [students] need somewhere to go, we are here; our doors are always open. We also offer Tier Two counseling, so if a student’s problem is above our level of expertise we refer them to our marriage and family therapist on campus. We also have access to outside agencies like Southwest Community; they come in and work with our students as well.”
Julia Keum, a senior on campus, talks about her experience with her counselor and how helpful it has been to have the counseling resource available. She says, “Mrs. Gomez helped me up through junior year just planning out my classes […]Mrs. Fotia went through the process with me for college applications, starting from weighing [college] options to letters of recommendation and financial aid.”
Our counselors have created a line where students can directly communicate in times or distress, whether it be academic or personal issues. You can reach them at (909) 458-6452! The line will be operating Monday through Friday between 8am and 2pm, the service will not be provided throughout Spring Break (March 23-27).
When it comes to helping our school run smoothly, our counselors are playing a huge part for our students and staff. We rarely appreciate how hard it is to create thousands of schedules and then fix hundreds of them within a couple of weeks. We rarely appreciate how available they are to us for academic help and emotional counseling. We rarely appreciate how much they care for us. It’s time to say a big thank you to our awesome counselors
The Cat's Eye 