Natasha
Brazil, Maureen Gonzalez, Jasmin Grabowski and Stephanie Petrou are four of 18
new Academic Advisors working closely with high school counselors at five
Spring Branch ISD secondary campuses.
The
brick walls in the big college and career room at Spring Woods High School
display colorful higher education choices – University of Texas oranges,
Stephen F. Austin State University purples, University of Houston Cougar reds,
as well as dozens of other college logos and team colors.
For
the four young professionals, or Academic Advisors, who meet with students
daily in this comfortable, second-floor room – called the “To and Through the
Woods Center” – connecting college logos and colors to more senior Tiger names
is one of the key goals this school year.
The
non-teaching Academic Advisor positions were created to help meet the
district’s T-2-4 goal to double the percentage of graduates who complete
military training, technical certification, or two- or four-year college
degrees.
The
counselor-to-student ratio in Texas has climbed to more than 1 counselor to 450
students. Advisors help close the gap in specific college and career guidance
needs so students do not “fall through the cracks” before graduation.
“They
are trained with a very specific set of skills, and have acquired knowledge
directly related to the college-going and career search process,” said Erika
Scott, SBISD’s To and Through Facilitator. “While advisors are not certified
guidance counselors, they do support the counseling teams and work
collaboratively with them to ensure every student has every opportunity to be
successful.”
Scott
most recently worked for three years as a program director for Texas A&M
University’s chapter of the College Advising Corp. She earned a master’s degree
in higher education leadership from the University of Arkansas, and she has
worked in admissions and student affairs at several universities, as well as in
college counseling at YES Prep Houston North Central.
She
views the addition of the new advisors in SBISD as a “cutting edge” national
initiative, one of the few non-grant funded efforts of its kind to bridge the
student gap between high school graduation and postsecondary education and
training. In general, SBISD’s Academic Advisors will help reach out and support
hundreds of students as they plan for and then pursue future education and
training options.
They
will provide students with direction, support and encouragement. They’ve been
trained in specific skills including, but not limited to, reading and analyzing
student transcripts, secondary grading expectations, academic plans, navigating
the college application process, and online guidance and career planning tools
like Skyward and Naviance.
For
Natasha, Maureen, Jasmin and Stephanie, this means helping to build a stronger
college-going culture at Spring Woods High. They’ll help senior Tigers complete
college applications, understand the financial aid process, and transition from
high school to college, technical school or the military.
Stephanie
Petrou, a Texas Lutheran University psychology graduate, worked in a community
mental health center in Houston. “I realized that substance abuse and other
problems that people develop all start at a young age. I wanted to work in a
high school to reach that population early to make a difference,” she said.
“Academic
advising seemed like the perfect fit to me. I can relate to the kids because I,
too, struggled with actually getting to college, but when I made it I excelled
and really loved college life!” Stephanie said.
“I
would have loved to have a person in this position when I was facing being a
teenage mom,” said Maureen Gonzalez, a 2009 Spring Woods High graduate who had
a child while attending high school.
She
graduated from Spring Woods High with two scholarships, then first earned a
Houston Community College associates degree, followed by a bachelor’s degree in
criminal justice through the University of Houston-Downtown this past May.
Maureen’s
interested in pursuing a master’s degree in counseling. “Coming back to Spring
Woods High School was important to me. I know the school demographics, and
knowing the students and their families is important, I think. Our job here is
to make the process easier to navigate – for students – and to support the hard
work of our counselors,” Gonzalez said.
“They
are awesome,” Spring Woods High Associate Principal Debbie Silber says. “These
young people are definitely what we need. It’s incredible that we are able to
have them here.”
At
Spring Woods, the advisors are part of a weekly campus program called T-2-4
Success Class, where students in all grades meet for 90 minutes to focus on
career and post-graduation planning with teachers and the new advisors.
“I
see kids ask questions. I see awareness. I see connecting going on. Some kids
do not connect with traditional counselors. Most of the advisors are young and
so they connect with many of the students,” Silber adds.
Lawanda
Jenkins, Spring Woods High’s lead post-secondary counselor, is working with the
advisors, too. She praises their young outlook, ambition and energy.
“They
are excited about being with the kids, and what they are all doing. They have
different backgrounds and different experiences, and they all have their own
strengths. Here at Spring Woods, we are proud of them,” she said.
Support
for SBISD’s 18 academic advisors comes from the top. The SBISD Board of
Trustees approved the new positions as a funding priority, and leadership took
a role in bringing them into the district with support and encouragement.
When
Superintendent of Schools Duncan F. Klussmann, Ed.D., toured the district with
new hires on a school bus last spring, they took notice of his interest in
their initial training and successful start.
“That
impressed me a lot,” Jasmin Grabowski said of the district tour and training
sessions led by other SBISD leaders last spring. She grew up in Germany, earned
a bachelor’s degree in German from Texas State University in San Marcos, and
then tutored math in the Houston ISD’s Apollo Program for some years. “I’m
interested in being a school counselor now,” she says.
“For
me, it was a perfect moment, perfect timing,” said Natasha Brazil, who wants to
pursue a career and master’s degree in counseling, too. A 2012 graduate of Sam
Houston State University, Natasha left Dallas to serve as an Academic Advisor.
How
will Facilitator Erika Scott measure success? First, by improved numbers for
all graduates, of course, but also by an overwhelming response from leadership,
counselors and teachers that the work of the advisors is significantly
impacting the district’s T-2-4 goals across all campuses.
“I
would like to see us establish high standards and expectations for all students
along with best practices in academic and college and career advising for a
public school system,” she said.
“I
would also like to hear from students that their own experiences through the
T-2-4 process were empowering and that the support of the advisors helped them
succeed. I’d like to see that having the advisors becomes invaluable to
students and to counselors the same way we know counselors are invaluable to
this work and to leading these teams,” Scott said.
SBISD
Academic Advisors:
Memorial
High School – Amanda
Boni, Pia Venegas, Chelsea Champion, Allyson Clark
Stratford
High School – Iliana
Espinoza, Bridget Azzam, Todnesha Brown, Nadine Smith, Gerald Thomas
Spring
Woods High School –
Natasha Brazil, Maureen Gonzalez, Jasmin Grabowski, Stephanie Petrou
Northbrook
High School – KaNani
Coleman, Jackie Garcia, Amanda Louis, Deannah Stinson-Reese, Johnny Gonzales
Westchester
Academy for International Studies
– Margarita Abarca, Devan Bell
