San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Counselor at center of campus action
Enthusiastic 16-year veteran brings joy, comfort, ‘crazy’ ideas to Maverick Elementary students
Students entering Maverick Elementary each morning at 7:30 pass into a bright yellow foyer beneath papel picado banners. Celia Cruz salsa music plays loudly and the counselor, Jeanette Zuniga, stands at the end of the hall — moving her hips, singing along, raising her arms above her head and shouting “Welcome!” and “Gooooooood morning!”
Students’ yawns turn to smiles; their sleepy eyes light up. Some run up to Zuniga and wrap their arms around her legs. Others continue past her, moving their hips and arms back and forth on their way to class.
Zuniga herself never stops moving.
Her energy is palpable. Administrators and staff walking by stop and join her for a bit, chatting about the do’s and don’ts of the day, stepping to the beat.
“We all dance, and we all have fun,” Zuniga said. “We start the day with joy!”
As Maverick Elementary’s sole school counselor for 16 years, she is a vital part of the school community.
Zuniga teaches character to 501 students, traits like forgiveness and responsibility, how to resolve arguments among themselves and how to self-soothe when stressed.
But the students know her as much more than a teacher or a counselor they can confide in during a designated time slot for a designated issue.
Her presence is woven into the entire cultural fabric of the school. She’s team mom, spirit day leader, morning announcement coordinator, puppeteer, occasional prankster and the Spanish translator at every school event.
Under the legalese title of “504 coordinator,” Zuniga makes sure the school complies with federal law prohibiting discrimination against disabilities. She tests kids for the gifted and talented program. She’s a University Interscholastic League coach.
In other words, the school couldn’t function without her.
“She’s always happy,” said Leila Garza, the principal at Maverick. “She dresses up here in the morning so kids can come in and however their morning has been she is always out there with her music, giving them high-fives, telling them to have a good day, to smile, to choose joy.
“Her tenure here is long, so she knows our community well,” Garza said. “So when kids need something from her, or parents need her to address something, they feel comfortable and safe because she has built a rapport with them.”
Projects that unite
It’s a morning in late May and a lot of small artists, rock stars, police officers, lawyers and doctors are walking around the school.
The students are celebrating college and career readiness by dressing as what they want to be when they grow up. Zuniga created the “career fashion show.”
In the gym, parents watch as their students strut their future career for everyone to see.
“I love it!” Zuniga shouts and claps when she sees a costume she loves. “Oh my god. I love it, I love it, I loooooove it!”
It’s one of many school events that got their start in Zuniga’s head. Earlier she had taped poster paper on the gym’s floor to make a “red carpet.” Retired teachers who know Zuniga’s ideas are worth the effort brought in strobe lights and a fog machine.
“She never says no to any project or anything,” said Eva Villa, the school’s family and community engagement specialist, who works closely with Zuniga. “If at the end of the day, it is for the kids, to keep them happy, to give them a great educational experience, she is all for it no matter if it means staying late hours or working on the weekends, making an extra phone call and doing things a normal counselor wouldn’t do.”
Zuniga admits that she puts in a lot of extra hours, but she says she doesn’t think twice about it. The energy she brings to school, she says, comes naturally.
“I love it, I kid you not,” Zuniga said. “I go home and I crash; 9 p.m. I’m asleep. But this is just me. I’m a morning person. I cannot be quiet. I cannot be serious. That is not me.”
If a student is having a hard day, she’ll spend time on the phone talking to that student’s parents. If a teacher needs help setting up something in their classroom, she’ll stay late.
“We all help each other,” Zuniga said. “They have my back. I have their back. I’m not alone. I had this crazy idea of making this (fashion show) come true and look.”
A confidant for students
Students are quick to describe Zuniga as crazy and fun. These qualities seem to have a leveling effect — they feel comfortable confiding in her because she behaves the way they like to behave.
“Ms. Zuniga is a really nice counselor; the whole school loves her,” said fashion show participant Jimena Galaviz, 9, who came dressed as a makeup designer for the day. “She is really silly and really crazy.”
Other staff at Maverick say Zuniga’s spirit is approachable to students.
“She is really an active listener to kids; she gives them good eye contact; they just feel safe,” said Garza, the principal. “Many times, when kids round that corner and they see her, you see their smile.”
To Zuniga, it is common sense. “I respect them,” she said.
“I always tell everyone these are little people. They need to be respected just like we deserve respect,” Zuniga said. “They have a story. We all know. We all come with a story. And the teachers know.
“We don’t have that type of environment where (the kids) can’t go to me or any of us (adults),” Zuniga said.
Her many years at Maverick are a plus. She knows not just one child in a family but multiple siblings — and sometimes multiple generations.
“The parents want their kids to come, and then that
child becomes a parent and wants their kid to come,” Zuniga said.
Students who meet with Zuniga one-on-one usually talk to her about friendship issues they are having. Less often, it is something going on at home, Zuniga said.
“There are some people that bully in this school so that is why she is here. She fixes the problems,” said Michael Rojas, 7, dressed as a lawyer.
Zuniga has students create a “treatment agreement” where they decide how they are going to treat each other, their teachers and their classroom spaces and then sign it and hang it on the wall.
She said it’s important to make students feel comfortable and not pressure them into speaking to her.
“In my mind, I’m just thinking, ‘How can I best help this child?’ ” Zuniga said. “I might tell them it is OK if you don’t want to say anything. ‘Your teacher said that you are very quiet. I want you to remember I’m here for you. And whatever you tell me it is going to be kept here. I’m not going to tell anyone. So, whenever you are ready, I’m here for you.’ ”
Lena Marie Bell, 10, talked to Zuniga when she was having an issue with a friend.
“I was embarrassed to talk to them front to front and so she found a way for me to solve the problem in a way that I wouldn’t get embarrassed,” Bell said.
“It feels really good (to have someone to talk to),” she said. “Because when you feel bad, she always brings the spirit into school. I don’t know how else to explain it. … She is wonderful.”
Pandemic, mental health
“This is my happy place,” Zuniga said as she walked through the doors of her small portable classroom. “This is where I teach the kids.”
After the pandemic brought mental health to the forefront, Zuniga and Garza adjusted the counselor’s schedule so she could teach guidance classes to every grade 30 minutes each week instead of every other week.
Zuniga was thrilled because it allowed her to have more consistent time in front of the students.
“Now these guys, they are part of my guidance teaching,” she said, pointing to three large puppets sitting on a table. “They are the ones that bring my lessons to life. … I become them.”
In her first year as a counselor, Zuniga went to a conference in Austin and was given two puppets, a small boy named Pedro and a girl named Nicole. Puppets have been part of her classes ever since, acting out lessons on responsibility, integrity, fairness and other character traits.
Other teachers often help her animate the skits.
“All my students know them. All the teachers know them. They have gone on field trips,” Zuniga said.
When she started her career as a pre-K teacher in El Paso, she and a friend both came to believe the biggest impact they were making on kids was through their parents.
“We might as well go get our master’s in counseling because we are literally just helping parents out all the time,” Zuniga said. “That is how it started. Because that is exactly what we wanted to do. Reach out. … Not just teach but reach out and help the parents and the kids.”
During the pandemic, Zuniga did not see an increase in student requests or referrals for counseling, but she did experience many more parents asking her for guidance.
“Some kids couldn’t understand why they were at home,” Zuniga said. She helped parents talk to them about what was going on and gave them activities and ideas about what to do with their kids to keep them learning and having fun at home.
This is also why Zuniga goes out of her way to translate any school event into Spanish for family members who don’t understand English. She wants everyone to be included.
Amelia Bell, Lena Marie’s mom, whose second language is English, called Zuniga “a very nice person, very enthusiastic.”
“She is always ready to help parents and kids, she is very open for everyone,” Bell said. “Even the parents want to get out of their cars to walk the kids into school. … My daughter, even when she was sick, she wanted to come to school.
“When the school has someone like her, everyone comes to this school.”