♪♪ Alma: Next one is-- if you look under the column "self esteem boosters," I can accept my body as it is.

Alma: You may have heard it said, you know, it takes a village to raise a child, and that is definitely true.

And here at Livingston Middle School, our team, our village, is essential in the lives of the students that we serve.

I am Alma Lopez, school counselor here at Livingston Middle School, where I've been a school counselor for 16 years.

Livingston is located in the Central Valley here in California, just along Highway 99.

We are a primarily agricultural community.

Alma: My mom, who completed second grade, my dad who completed sixth grade, came from Mexico at the young ages of 18 and 21, in hopes of achieving that American dream for their family.

So, when I was a middle school student, I had some incredible people that came across motivating and encouraging me.

So, all of these experiences and opportunities that were afforded to me contributed to me becoming the first in my family to graduate from college.

Alma: ...Sharing everything with the board, how did you feel?

Alma: It was really in college as I met other people that I learned really what I wanted to do as a school counselor, to be able to help students, to able to be in their space on a daily basis, um, and really help them set goals.

Alma: Anybody want to share with the group what was a coping skill that they use when they felt like an outsider?

Alma: I'm in the classroom with teachers, I'm in the classroom with students, I'm attending different meetings and I'm contributing in different ways to the team decision-making that is responsible for our students' success.

The academic piece is a space that has always existed for the school counselor, but in addition to that, we help support our students with their social-emotional wellness.

Alma: Go ahead and come on in, and have a seat.

Alma: So, really getting to know a student and their family and their needs, and then trying to help them or just remaining connected with them while we're looking to help meet that need.

I'm just incredibly honored and humbled to represent the school counseling community as a Latina from California.

I have this privilege to really be, um, a role model in the Latina community who look like me, right?

And who could see themselves in me.

Alma: Good job.

Alma: I believe that the reason that I do it is because I know that I have an opportunity in this community to impact this community.

The belief that young people have a right to have an opportunity to choose what they would like to do with their future.

And so, I love coming to school and I love seeing my students and being able to journey with them as they're figuring out who they are and who they want to become.

And then maybe I can provide a little bit of insight to them along the journey.

Annc: The American School Counselor Association recommends having one school counselor for every 250 students.

However, the national average is closer to 400 students for every school counselor.

The counselor's job includes duties such as: planning and goal setting the students, counseling students, providing referrals for long-term support, collaborating with families and teachers, studying data to identify student needs, and improving equity and achievement for all students.