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| 2020 SD Counselor of the Year Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia |
My blog turns five years old this year and I wanted to celebrate by highlighting the person that got me started on this blogging journey and that person is Ms. Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia!
Please let me tell you why there is something special to write about Ms. Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia. She is a dear friend that I have known for a long time and she is the San Diego County's FIRST EVER recognized Counselor of the Year in the high school category and on top of that, she is PINAY! Woo hoo! Way to represent the Sweetwater Union High School District, the South Bay and the Fil-Am community!
Lysabeth is the head counselor at her alma mater, Sweetwater High School. Before becoming a counselor she was a middle school and high school English teacher for several years. Counseling is in itself an all-encompassing job, but out of 900 school counselors who were up for the title, “what stood out about Lysabeth ...was her...passion, leadership, and the above and beyond work [she does] to positively impact their schools,” said Tanya Bulette, counseling coordinator at the San Diego County Office of Education.
I asked her some questions about being selected for this honor:
1. What/who inspired you to become a school counselor?
When I was in college, I was an avid tutor at Granger Junior High School and National City Middle School. I really enjoyed working with young people so I decided to pursue a career in education. My plan was to teach for a few years and then maybe pursue career advancement as a school administrator. But as a teacher, I realized being an administrator wasn't a good fit for me. I did have fond memories of my high school counselors. The school counselors at my high school are some of my greatest mentors. Thus, I decided to pursue my master's degree in educational counseling.
2. What brings you joy in your job?
I love being able to work with students one-on-one to plan for their future goals. Many students have dreams and goals that they feel are unattainable. I am able to give them to tools to help them achieve those dreams and goals.
3. What is the biggest challenge in being a school counselor?
My biggest challenge is not being able to address the needs of all my students. As a school counselor, I have a caseload of 360 students. Because of such a big case load, it is hard to find the time to have one-on-one, meaningful interactions with all my students.
4. How do you spend your time outside of work?
I have a blog where I document the fun things I do with my family. You can check it out at www.GarciaMemories.com. I've also started a small business venture which was inspired by the wellness initiatives I've done at Sweetwater High School. Visit us at on Instagram @InhaleBeWell. Other than that, I love just spending time with my family and friends.
5. A year from now how do you think you will describe being the first ever SD County Counselor of the Year?
It was a great surprise, and a huge honor! The best memory is walking into the principal's office with so many of my colleagues and students there to greet me and congratulate me. If you've seen the pictures and videos, I think I facial expression explains it all! Haha!
Seriously though, it was such a validating moment knowing all of these people who I work with value the work that I do. In addition to that moment, I was able to address over 400 school counselors at our annual school counselor leadership conference for San Diego and I was featured on a morning segment for KUSI news as well. I feel like the "Miss America" of the school counseling world. I was scheduled to tour around the county and advocate for school counseling before the COVID19 protocols were put into place. We were told that there would be other events in the future to attend to speak on behalf of school counseling. ("We" refers to Lysabeth and another counselor, Edward Gigliotti, who was selected as the K - 8 representative.) It's a great platform to be able to advocate for the great work school counselors do.
What else can I tell you about Lysabeth and the work that she does? Lysabeth and I have been members of the same committees, namely the Sweetwater
District Magkaisa Filipino-American Student and Parent Conference committee and
the Sweetwater Filipino Educator Karangalan Scholarship committee for many years. The
Sweetwater District has around four thousand Filipino-American students
enrolled, making our students the second largest ethnicity. The first Magkaisa
conference was held in 2001. It came about as a response to the growing concern
towards our Filipino-American students having mental health issues and stress
associated with generational parenting styles and expectations.
At that time, many
of our students were experiencing suicidal ideation. Sadly, they still do
today. The Magkaisa conference is something unique to the Sweetwater District
and students from neighboring districts are also invited to attend. This conference is generally held on a
Saturday and attendance has been upwards of two thousand students and parents. Along
with parenting workshops, parents and students are also exposed to career and
college presentations from local universities and community members. Lysabeth has been the
chairperson of the conference and a mainstay member of committee since its
inception. Being the organizer of such a
large-scale event is no easy feat, especially when many of the supplies needed
rely solely on donations and recruiting speakers for the presentations depend
mostly on the community connections and relationships built over the years. The
conference has been an excellent activity for our students and parents because
of Lysabeth's involvement.
In addition, Lysabeth has been the chairperson
and a committee member of the Filipino Educator Karangalan Scholarship
Committee for just as many years. Recognizing that although Filipino-American
students may be able to get into college, funding tuition may be difficult for the
families. The purpose of the scholarship is to help aid families with the
further goal of raising the retention rate of Filipino-American students
graduating from college. As the Karangalan chairperson, she has
had the responsibility of facilitating the process of soliciting donations,
publicizing the scholarship to qualified applicants, reading the applications, selecting
winners throughout the district and presenting scholarships. This is another example of how Lysabeth gives
back to students and their families. Furthermore,
much credit goes to her technology savviness as she has been the webmaster and
social media manager for both the Magkaisa Conference and the Karangalan
Scholarship.
Yes, technically she is an academic school counselor but
her specific work in recognizing the social-emotional needs of students is
especially deserving of acknowledgement. Lysabeth is kind, caring and compassionate
and genuine in her interactions with her students and families. That Sweetwater High School students see someone at their school who
lived in the area, attended the same high school, went on to higher education,
and has been able to achieve success in so many areas is so inspiring! It is a bonus that our Filipino students see
someone who looks like them.
Along with her work responsibilities, Lysabeth is
a devoted daughter to her aging parents, a loving and caring spouse and mother of two boys. She is one of the most giving,
selfless, and tireless people I know. I admire her
humility and her tremendous effort to give credit to others. She is not only a
Super Counselor but indeed a Super Human. I am proud to call Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia
my professional peer, my colleague, and my friend. My life has been enriched with her in it. I get to spend time with her at work-related events and also at social events through the world of blogging! Our families even met up for dinner in Manila, Philippines at Christmas time a couple of years ago! I know she is going to be a great ambassador for high school counselors this year! Many Many Congratulations to Lysabeth!
