For image above: (from first to last) Avina, Hua, Cerles and Magaña
Three new full-time counselors, Wendy Avina, Javier Magaña and Erica Cerles, have joined the Aragon counseling office this school year. In addition, Aragon has a new Career and Technical Education coordinator, Queenie Hua.
“It has been amazing,” Cerles said. “I have fallen in love with the community. Everybody I have met has been super nice and welcoming.”
For the new counselors, getting acquainted with Aragon was tricky at first.
“It was a little hard figuring out how to do schedule changes at Aragon because … I’m coming from a different district,” Magaña said.
Juniors and seniors who had switched counselors in the past may have been matched with a different counselor again this year. To ease this transition, Magaña plans to check in with all his students.
“Something I do want to implement is having a randomized check-in wheel with my caseload of students,” Magaña said. “I [can] make time to meet them. I believe that students should get to know their counselor.”
Cerles plans to focus on social-emotional learning.
“I’m hoping to bring things from my past experience to educate students more on … tools they can use if they are stressed or overwhelmed,” Cerles said.
Avina, who was an English language development counselor last year, hopes to use her experience to connect better with her students.
“We had a group that would meet once a week,” Avina said. “We would talk about their goals, stress, motivation [to] … bond [with] someone on campus. That’s something I want to implement here [and I’m] hoping to see if I can make a group for first generation students because I [was one as well].”
As the new CTE coordinator, Hua hopes to motivate and inspire all of her students at Aragon.
“My main role is to support the teachers and the students in the CTE pathway,” Hua said. “[I] also work with the students to aid in the development of important skill set[s] that are necessary to build a solid foundation in a career path, [and] … guide them in determining their interests and abilities. My hope is to be able to inspire and encourage long-term growth [in] student[s].”
Some Aragon students had positive feedback about their new counselor.
“Whenever [Avina is] available, I talk to her and a lot of conflicts are resolved quickly,” said junior Daigo Hayashi.
The challenges of moving to a new school are difficult, but the new members of the counseling office have made an effort to connect and aid the Aragon community.
