Since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, the counseling position covering students with last names Loh through O has changed hands multiple times. In the spring of last year, former counselor Quan Nguyen took over for Jessica Natonick, before he resigned in January 2023. This semester, the position will be filled by counselor Teresa Hytowitz.
Since her official start date on Jan. 17, Hytowitz has been settling into the position. She says, “I’ve been amazed at the level of support with how busy of a time it is.” She admits that her transition has been overwhelming, but adds that she hasn’t been alone in anything, as “the team is phenomenal.”
Hytowitz knows that while she holds a position as a counselor, she must work to build relationships with Franklin students. “Unless I earn the trust and respect of students I can’t just say I’m a safe space for them. I have to work for it,” she says. Hytowitz became a school counselor in order to provide a safe space for students to trust and confide in, something that she wished she had for herself in high school. “That’s where my light and excitement [for the job] came from,” says Hytowitz.
While attending Lewis and Clark College for graduate school, Hytowitz worked as an intern at Ida B. Wells High School. After school, Hytowitz moved to Nogales, Arizona, and took classes on social justice and learned how to support students in Title I schools. Hytowitz had been writing 504s and attending IEP meetings and was curious to see what they were like at the college level. She took a position at the University of Arizona to support students with learning difficulties and challenges.
After her time in Arizona, Hytowitz started a doctorate in Educational Leadership in Colorado. While the program ended up not being the right fit for her, Hytowitz was still working as a high school counselor in Frederick, Colorado. There she led the Advanced Placement programs, served on the leadership team, and worked with the school’s Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA). Hytowitz says, “When I moved back [to Portland] I needed a change because I was getting a little burnt out with how much I was doing district-wide and at my school.” When she moved back to Portland she was placed at Woodstock Elementary School, and got moved to Ainsworth Elementary School, before becoming aware of the open position at Franklin.
“I love all of the programs that are here,” says Hytowitz of Franklin. “I haven’t been in a high school in a year and a half, but from the clubs, to the affinity spaces, to the programming, to AVID, to the SUN School, [and] the way the departments work together, I was willing to come in at a difficult time.”
The transition period between Nguyen’s resignation and Hytowitz’s hiring was difficult for the Franklin community, especially during a time when seniors are planning their post-high school pathways and freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are forecasting for next year.
Senior Sheadon Ocker expressed a common concern over the counselor switch, explaining that the day he was scheduled to meet with Nguyen to discuss college plans, he received an email notifying him of Nguyen’s resignation. “I just wanted to have an overdue conversation [with Nguyen]. I’m pretty lost with a lot of [college] stuff, [and] that’s the person who’s supposed to talk to [me],” he says. After building a relationship with his first counselor, Natonick, for his first three years of high school, Ocker found the idea of starting over with Nguyen and then Hytowitz frustrating.
Although this was a difficult period, the remaining counseling staff was able to work together and cover the jobs of the missing counselor. During this period, the staff relied on the hard work of Sheila Dygert, the counseling and administrative assistant, to support them. Dygert is able to split up the duties so they are distributed evenly. In addition, school social worker Holly Vaughn-Edmonds stepped up to write letters of recommendation for students with last names Loh through O.
Hytowitz is aware of how the turnover has affected Franklin students, and acknowledges the difficulties of building a relationship with a new counselor this far into the school year. “I can’t control what happened,” says Hytowitz. “Right now I can only do my best to support and be honest and leave space for that frustration. And when it comes to addressing [problems], it’s just [about] being honest and doing what I can and acknowledging: If I don’t know the answer, we’ll find out together.”
