Sep 20, 2007 12:30 PM
Forty-five UFT guidance counselors were honored on May 30 at the 21st annual Guidance Counselor Recognition Day for their vital and varied role in helping keep kids on track toward fulfillment and academic achievement.
The counselors, who were recommended by colleagues and administrators, were cited at a ceremony at Department of Education headquarters and feted later that day at union headquarters.
“You are front-line educators who save lives every day,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “You can read the faces and hearts of kids.”
She then called on the DOE to increase funding to hire more counselors, who now serve more than 400 students each on average.
Angela Reformato, UFT chapter leader for guidance counselors, spoke of the “joy we all feel when we touch kids’ lives by empowering them to deal with all kinds of conflicts and challenges.”
Reformato, a counselor at New Utrecht HS, added that it was “noteworthy” that the DOE and the UFT are working jointly on issues related to guidance.
That point was not lost on Chancellor Joel Klein, who said that he was “thrilled to be here saluting our guidance counselors. We definitely want to increase resources, and I am asking for your advice on how we can contribute more.”
Giovanni Oramas, a counselor at PS 10, an empowerment zone school in Brooklyn, said that he found his work “validating.”
“The role of a counselor is complex and varies from school to school,” Oramas said. “There is a lot of glory in the quiet satisfaction of helping kids redeem lost hopes and gain new ones as they take on the world.”
Rita Fray, from PS 753 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, said teamwork was important to her school’s success. “Sometimes things may get a bit tedious or out of control, but we always pull together and make it all work out no matter what,” she said.
The counselors pointed out that achievement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. “A compassionate school administration like ours, which directs needed assets into necessary programs, is a blessing,” said Vicky Kouzounas, of JHS 185 in Whitestone, Queens.