New Faces, Same Mission: Guiding Students

Posted on by

KATHERINE ONG
SARAH TAKHAR
Staff Writers

Counselors play an important role in a high school environment. The counselor-student team works together to help the student to graduate. However, this year, some students found out that the counselor they had such a bond with was no longer at AHS.
At the start of the new 2011-2012 school year, students with last names starting with Mod-Pol and the students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) discovered that their counselor, Jacqueline Herrera, is no longer here. Over the summer, she was relocated to Mark Keppel High School (MKHS) and her replacements, Jing Wu and Carol Lam-Jones, now have responsibility over her students.
The decline in enrollment this year led to Herrera’s relocation. Previously, there were 550 students assigned to each counselor, but because fewer freshmen came to fill in for the seniors who graduated last year, Herrera was left with only 225 students. She was transferred to MKHS, where her help was more needed.
Herrera found out that she was being transferred in mid-summer. The reason she was transferred, according to Herrera, was because she had least seniority.
“I miss my AHS students tremendously. Leaving them behind was definitely the toughest part about moving! […] I can’t wait to see them at Prom and graduation,” Herrera said.
Although they had to say goodbye to Herrera, they welcomed Jing Wu. Before becoming a counselor at AHS, Wu served as a substituted counselor at MKHS. Although Wu is new, she was able to adapt quickly.
“[It’s] wonderful; [AHS has] amazing administrators [and] a great staff,” Wu said.
The staff also warmly welcomed Lam-Jones, who doubles as a counselor at Century High School.
Lam-Jones has been able to connect with the students and a few parents she has met with so far. Although spending time here makes it difficult to keep up with her work at Century High School, she still enjoys her time at AHS very much.
“[Wu] is very […] organized. It makes it easy to collaborate with [her],” she said.
Likewise, Wu considered Lam-Jones someone she can work well with.
“[She’s] always on top of things,” Wu said.
Wu meets with their students Mondays through Thursdays and on Fridays (her days off), Lam-Jones takes over.
“I was very shocked and disappointed [that she left],” junior Stephanie Rosalyn Osorio said. “Herrera is one of the best counselors ever. She [has] helped me in many ways.”