By Nicole Johnson
Melissa Stebbins, Div. 481, scrolls through Twitter when something catches her eye: a tweet saying that her counselor, Ms. Fuerte, was fired, along with many other Lane counselors. Fighting back tears, she emails Ms. Fuerte to make sure that her counselor was in fact fired, and receives an automated email confirming the rumor.
Stebbins, along with students from seven other divisions, learned that not only had they lost many teachers due to the budget cuts that CPS faced this summer, but also their counselors, with whom many had forged deep bonds with over the years.
The news of the loss of their counselors sparked angry reactions in many students.
“I was extremely upset,” Stebbins said. “It almost brought tears to my eyes. One because I liked her, two because I know she has a family so [being a counselor] was an important job for her to have, and three because I didn’t know who was going to write my college recommendation letter.”
“I was upset because I’ve been going to the same counselor for three years,” said Yesenia Martinez, Div. 481, “and just this year I have to get to know [my new counselor] again and start the process all over.”
Other students are also concerned that a letter of recommendation written by a stranger may hurt their chances for college acceptances and scholarships.
Evelyn Wronkowski, Div. 480, who also had Ms. Fuerte as a counselor, said, “I didn’t even know we needed a letter of recommendation until last week. [The letter] probably won’t be as good because [my new counselor] doesn’t know me yet.”
“I was worried a little bit [about the college recommendation letter],” Martinez said, “but then she told me she was going to make the letter of recommendation as good as possible even though she’s only known me for a couple of days.”
Stebbins had known her counselor since freshman year, and feels angry that someone who had been such a big part of her life is no longer around.
“She knew me so well. She has seen me progress through the years and go from all honors, to when I slumped and messed up my freshman year to where I was all regulars, and then kind of come back junior year, and finish my senior year with four AP classes,” Stebbins said.
Since the number of Lane’s counselor positions was reduced to 8.5 from 12, it took much longer than usual for some students to make schedule changes or appointments with their counselors in the beginning of the year. In the first week of school, the line to get in to the College and Career Center to speak with a counselor stretched down the hall. The changes with the counselors also caused confusion for students who had never met their new counselor before.
“It was difficult,” Wronkowski said, “because I had to look at the website to see what [my new counselor] looked like so I didn’t go to the wrong person.”
“It’s inconvenient,” Martinez said, “because you have to find out who your counselor is and then come and meet the person again and it’s a new year so I’m kind of under pressure for the whole process.”
The meetings with the new counselors were a big change from what students were used to, and some felt a little awkward seeking guidance from a stranger.
“It was a little awkward to be honest,” Wronkowski said. “I thought more of my getting-ready-for-college stuff was going to get done[…]I just had different expectaions for the meeting, like things were going to be different.”
“When I first saw her it was [awkward],” Martinez said. “but [my new counselor] seemed really nice and she’s a good person.”
Students are not the only ones dealing with the new changes to the counseling department. The lay-offs in the counseling department also had a negative effect on the counselors themselves.
Mrs. Dulberg, one of Lane’s counselors, had 14 divisions last year, and now has 17 divisions this year. She feels that with more students, there is less of an opportunity to make time for all of her students.
“We’re not going to be able to give the students as much time as we would like,” Dulberg said. “It makes me feel guilty. I have more students to think about with regard to post-high school planning, more freshman to worry about staying on track, and more juniors thinking about preparing for the ACT.”
Dulberg also believes that with fewer staff members, it is harder for students to figure out who their counselor is and where to go, and that the new system put in place to compensate for the lack of counselors can be a little confusing for students.
“I think that the new system in here is challenging for kids because I think they feel that they can’t see us because it’s so confusing,” Dulberg said. “We don’t have somebody dedicated here in the counseling office to helping the flow of students.”
Some students like Stebbins took it upon themselves to try to get their old counselors back.
“I emailed Dr. Dignam and basically asked him to rehire [Ms. Fuerte],” Stebbins said. “I was telling him all the good things she had done and how she had inspired me and so many other people. He replied saying basically what he had said at the rules meeting about budget cuts and he said that he was glad I had emailed him and how I was sincere and genuine. He said there was really nothing he could do, but if he were able to rehire people, he would keep her in mind. Which was my point because if he was like ‘Hm who should I rehire? Oh yeah Ms. Fuetre because that Melissa girl emailed me.’”
Juwaan Santana, Div. 552, waited in the counseling office to meet with his new counselor, Ms. Bantz, to try to get a workers permit, worried that his old counselor, Ms. Schanatterbeck, would have been able to help him more.
“She kind of understood my situation and knew enough about me so she probably would be able to help me out more,” Santana said.
For Stebbins, the entire depressing situation goes back to the economic and political issues facing the city.
“It’s like DePaul gets this brand new stadium. Thank you Rahm Emanuel. And what’s the point of that? They just gave DePaul like $3 million dollars and it’s like ‘well there goes all of Lane’s counselors into a stadium.’ And I vented through Facebook, ‘cause you know, that’s what teenagers do,” Stebbins said.
Although the changes came as a surprise, Lane students are choosing different ways to make the best of the situation by scheduling meetings with their counselors or just trying to get to know them.
“Before we met I emailed her a few times just to set my appointment and help us get to know each other a little bit,”Wronkowski said. “I’m keeping in contact with her since I still have stuff that I need to get done.”
“I went in [to the counseling office] once,” Stebbins said. “I’m going to go in there again. Just kinda pop in there periodically so she kind of gets a sense of who I am.”
“I was trying to do college applications,” Martinez said, “so I kept coming back to her for like a week and I came like every day [that week].”
Without her counselor, Stebbins will also miss out on a tradition that Ms. Fuerte had with her students.
“I don’t get to paint her wall, or what I liked to call her ‘wall of shame,’” Stebbins said. “She would give her favorites a brick on her wall in the college and career center to paint on. I was going to paint a dragon at the end of my senior year because freshman year I told everyone that I liked dragons and she still calls me ‘dragon girl.’ And I can’t now because the door is always closed and the paint is gone.”
For both students and counselors, the budget cuts made a huge change, and both are still learning to cope.
