Hollister
– To many, the idea of spending the workday talking to
often-troubled students at local schools is stressful enough. But
when counselor Elena de la Puerta leaves her office at San Andreas
Continuation High School, her work is just beginning.
Hollister – To many, the idea of spending the workday talking to often-troubled students at local schools is stressful enough. But when counselor Elena de la Puerta leaves her office at San Andreas Continuation High School, her work is just beginning.
More than three years go, de la Puerta volunteered to coordinate the Hollister Youth Alliance’s youth programs. De la Puerta meets with six to eight teenagers twice a week to help them with homework and provide general guidance. She also organizes trips and events, and she sits on the alliance’s board of directors.
On top of her job and her volunteer work, de la Puerta is a single mother, so she stays busy. But de la Puerta, 33, said she loves the work for a very simple reason.
“I believe in the youth,” she said.
Working with potentially troubled teenagers has its rewards, de la Puerta said. She recalled one girl who, with de la Puerta’s support, was one of the first members of her family to graduate from high school and go to college.
According to youth alliance director Diane Ortiz, there are many youths who participate in the group’s programs and attribute improved grades or other successes to de la Puerta’s encouragement.
“They don’t want to disappoint her,” Ortiz said. “She challenges them to be more and to believe in themselves.”
Despite her successes, de la Puerta said she discovered her commitment to at-risk youth in a roundabout fashion while working at a battered women’s shelter in Gilroy.
“I received phone calls from teenagers … and I started to realize the need for youth counseling,” de la Puerta said.
Now, working with at-risk teens – de la Puerta is also a counselor at Santa Ana Opportunity School and Pinnacles Community School – dominates her life on and off the job. De la Puerta acknowledged that the work can be tough, but she said regular trips to visit her family in Spain help clear her head. And when teens manage to do well, those success stories keep de la Puerta motivated.
“You’ve got to get up close and personal,” she said.
