School counselors adapt their work during the pandemic
EL CENTRO — As a school’s counseling department is heavily based on face-to-face interaction, local school counselors had to quickly adjust when all Imperial County public schools closed due to COVID-19.
The county’s 80 counselors from all of the county’s K-12 school sites worked to adjust within a matter of days, and they have continued to serve students since the closures took place March
17.
The efforts were discussed during a virtual town-hall meeting organized by the Imperial County Office of Education on Friday morning.
The meeting open to the public and showed on Zoom. It lasted about 70 minutes.
ICOE’s safety and emergency preparedness coordinator Alvaro Ramirez provided opening remarks, while ICOE’s director of higher education and adult learning Denise Cabanilla was host of the event.
Cabanilla explained that the Imperial Valley Counselors Roundtable, which is made up of counselors from the Valley’s 16 school districts, typically meets quarterly to participate in professional development.
Once the school closures were enforced, however, the counselors began to meet weekly, focusing on how they could shift to virtual and online school counseling.
Speaker for Friday’s meeting were Irma Avelar, of Central Union
High School; Alyssa Campos, of Southwest High School; Dresden Hester, of Kennedy Gardens Elementary School; Rosa Meraz, of San Pasqual Valley Middle School; Jeanette Montgomery, of San Pasqual Valley Elementary School; Rosa Nava, of Heber Elementary School District; who was also this year’s Imperial County Counselor of the Year; Ellen Okada, of Holtville High School; and Emmanuel Torres, of Holtville Middle School.
The speakers shared their outreach efforts, and the resources they’ve been providing students since the pandemic began.
Hester spoke against the common belief that school counselors are typically held up in their office and only work with high-achieving students or students who need mental health support.
Hester explained that nowadays counselors try to make themselves as visible as possible around campus.
“We try our best to get to know every student,” she said. “So when schools closed, and everyone went home, we needed to continue to be visible.”
Hester, who works with all TK through sixthgrade students at Kennedy Gardens in Calexico, wanted to figure out a way to contact with students — without adding another digital resource they’d have to worry about looking after.
One day, Hester posted a video on YouTube of herself that was aimed toward her students. The counselor shared words of encouragement, and even spoke directly to parents who were watching.
The Calexico counselor quickly realized that YouTube was just the platform she needed. As most kids go on YouTube already, Hester simply promoted her own YouTube channel.
The channel serves as a hub for students and parents alike.
In her videos, the counselor reads children’s books as a read-along, shares breathing exercises for anxiety and provides insight to parents on how they can better help their kids at home.
San Pasqual’s Meraz and Montgomery shared how this year has been quite a ride for them.
They’ve had to adjust to a new virtual way of counseling, while still adjusting to being counselors at San Pasqual, as the district’s counseling department has existed for only two years.
Southwest High’s Campos explained how the SHS counseling department has decided to use Instagram in order to make contact with students.
“We wanted it to be something on their level,” Campos said. “We didn’t want to overwhelm them with more emails.”
Yes-or-no polls -- such as “Are you feeling stressed out?” -- have been posted on the counseling department’s Instagram account.
Campos explained that this method is efficient, as a counselor can simply reach out to the students who answered “yes.”
Scholarship information, school announcements and scheduling announcements are also posted on the Instagram account.
Aside from Instagram, Campos said she continues to make phone and video conferences with students and parents, and she ensures that students have access to resources like county Behavioral Health referrals.
Campos mentioned that she has delivered food baskets and care packages to students who informed the department that they don’t have access to certain items.
She’s also helped provide Chromebooks and Wi-Fi access to students, especially those who live in the rural parts of the county.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” she said. “This is not flawless in any way. We still have students who don’t have 100 percent access to our services, but we are going to continue to provide those services to the best of our ability.”