Counselors are a group of staff members whose job is to do their best to facilitate the life of their students. There has been a lot of controversy about whether Counselors at La Jolla High School are doing what they can to help out the students assigned to them. They’re expected to have somewhat therapeutic energy and do the best of their ability to facilitate the life of the students.

However, the retired substitute counselor, Mrs. Behnke, is confronted with the need for staff. She claims that although she wishes to help the students to the best of her ability, she is unable to. There are just too many students under her arm to help out.

Mrs. Behnke explains, “What we are expected to do a lot of times is sort of unreasonable, and the number of students we are responsible for is a bit much.”

This is enforced by the fact that each counselor has to accommodate about 300 students; nevertheless, they try their best to fit every possible student into their schedule. After all, they deeply care about the well-being of the students.

This is proven by multiple students’ opinions on the topic. Sophomore Kason Johnson describes his counselor as someone easy to approach and easy to talk to. He is satisfied with them; however, he does acknowledge that he wishes availability for a meeting was better. Johnson states, “Sometimes when I need to talk to my counselor, they’re not there, or they’re too busy.”

The reason why this whole controversial idea exists is due to the counselors’ lack of availability, which can only be solved by hiring more staff. Once this problem is solved, then students will be able to fully profit from their counselors, either educationally or mentally. Nicole Gabarez, a senior who has significantly benefited from her counselor, was able to get emotional support and switch classes without difficulty. Much like several other students, she confirms the helpfulness of her counselor and is happy to have such people helping students. Counselors are true lifesavers for many students, they’re there to help and better the lives of La Jolla High School students.