John Wesley North High School - Aurora Yearbook (Riverside, CA)

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— r ■ ■ ■ Telling jokes was a familiar way to break the By the wave of his hand, Mr. Anderson silently everyday tension in the front office. Mr. Aros signals for a students entrance into his room, smiles amusingly at a witty remark. counselors 159

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Counselors Try To ' Deal With It ' Lazy students, grumpy teachers, demanding parents . . . who needed it? It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. Luckily there were four brave souls who dared . . . The counselors were very familiar with the word busy . The job of dealing with the whole student, as Mr. Anderson stated, was a hard, but rewarding job. According to Mr. Aros, Counseling techniques vary. Because of this, each of the four counselors had to use his own strategy in working and relating with the students. By the use of laughter, sincerity, and parent-like advice, they broke the necessary barriers for communication. Our job is to help the students, par- ents, and teachers, and try to find the best success for the students, stated Mrs. Renne. The counselors played a very important role in helping the students out with matters such as planning high school schedules, preparing for college, and advising them on their future. Without the counselors, the school would pro- I ' ve encountered just about every problem but murder. — Mrs. Renne bably survive, but some of the students sure wouldn ' t, commented Miss Duncan. Even after school was over each day, an important part of counseling was yet to be done. The counselors try to involve themselves a lot with their students ' activities at school so that they can get to know them a little more personally, said Mr. Anderson. They all felt that this was a very important part of their job. The counselors found many rewards throughout the year including such things as seeing their kids graduate, and knowing that they had some part in helping them to become productive members of the community. Seeing kids survive, and watching them come out of it with a good attitude is well worth all the effort I put into the job, said Mr. Aros. If given the chance again, would they still become counselors? Mr. Aros related the feelings of the foursome with an enthusiastic definitely! When thinking of the success of the Academic Decathalon Team that she advised, Mrs. Renne ' s face beams with pride. 158 faculty

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So Many Students — So Little Time! I may not work with students directly. But that doesn ' t mean I don ' t care about the ones I ' ve met. I work behind the scenes. Not many students realize what I do or how hard I work, stated Mrs. Bittner, the USL bookkeeper. There are so many students with so many needs and so little time, expressed Mrs. Okon, the health clerk. Mrs. Okon not only ran the health office alone four days a week, but she also dealt with many of the minor, yet numerous concerns of the several students who ventured through her office daily. She took temperatures, called parents, and expressed concern and encourage- ment. Even though the problems seem small, someone has to do it. I like my position and I feel people need me, she stated. There ' s so little time and so much to do. I only wish everyone could realize all that the staff does. I only wish we had more time. Mr. Uriarte She was also in charge of clerical duties such as keeping current records of every student enrolled at North. Each Friday Mrs. Judman, the regis- tered nurse, was stationed on campus and occupied herself with the more major health concerns. Another person who held an equally demanding position was Mr. Uriarte, the School Resource Officer. Since he was assigned to the campus only three days a week, many students found it close to impossible to track him down. I ' m always available to the people who need me. But I ' m usually occupied with a student. I ' ve gone to extremes to help students, to get them back on the right track. All the staff will do that, even if it takes more time than we have. I wish everyone could realize all we do, Mr. Uriarte concluded. The School Resource Officer, Mr. Uriarte, is on assignment to North from the police depart- ment. It is a volunteer assignment that changes every two years. Being at North only on Fridays and at other schools the rest of the week left the school nurse, Mrs. Judman, with plenty to do. 160 faculty