Junior Janine Hou steps into a busy room full of California’s leading senators and advisors, ready to tackle her political issue: the lack of a strong counseling system in schools. Hou visited Sacramento from March 15 to 17 and spoke to delegates of the Department of the Education and the Capital.
Hou participates in the California Youth Ambassador program designed to help schools across the state resolve key issues and problems in their systems. This year, their goal was to change the average ratio of 1016 students to one counselor to 250 to one.
“Temple City’s student-to-counselor ratio is better than most schools,” Hou said. “Our ratio is about 400 to one, but it could still improve.”
Arcadia High School has a student to counselor ratio of about 900 students to one counselor, or only one counselor for each grade. Some schools located in the less affluent region of California with minorities such as African Americans and Latinos, only offer computer counseling programs and at times, have one counselor for the entire school. Counselor Ms. Kristin Castro is concerned about our ratio, as well as the lack of interest in visiting the counseling opportunities our school has to offer.
“I serve about 400 students so it’s a little hard to get to know each student well,” Ms. Castro said. “It would be better to know each student personally so I know who they are when comes the time to apply for colleges and make career choices.”
Along with 15 other students selected from the 90 students that attended a summer leadership program, Hou spoke to several important senators and chief justices at the Department of Education and the Capital, including Chief Deputy Superintendent Richard Zeiger. By asking him questions and providing an issue to work off of, the Youth Ambassadors are one step closer to passing a bill that would decrease the student to counselor ratio.
Hou participated in weekly meetings leading up to the Sacramento trip and created questions specifically for San Gabriel Valley Senator Ed Chau. The group also visited the State Assembly floor, where they watched key political representatives debate about recent issues as well as create laws and bills.
“I’m glad I had this opportunity to visit the inner workings of my state’s politics,” Hou said. “It was really enlightening and I feel like I’m making a difference for the youth of America.”
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