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Honoree Is A Guiding Light

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By MEGAN HUSSEY

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 9, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Schrader Elementary guidance counselor Irene Araneda has served Pasco County schools for nearly 20 years.

Now she is being recognized as the top elementary guidance counselor in the state.

The Florida School Counselor Association named Araneda its elementary school guidance counselor of the year. She was nominated for the honor by Longleaf Elementary School guidance counselor Bev McKinney.

Spend time with Araneda and you will see why she has earned the respect of her peers.

"I've always been very interested in helping students be successful in developing their skills - their academic skills, their social skills," she said. "We want to help them study better and develop good character traits and anger-management skills.

"As guidance counselors, we work with students as individuals and in groups to make sure they have these kinds of skills."

Sometimes, though, life gets in the way of academic success.

"If they don't feel good about things going on in their lives, they won't succeed in school," she said.

Students come to talk about grief, family changes, anger and issues with friends.

"Sometimes they can't concentrate on their schoolwork because of these issues," Araneda said.

Aside from counseling students individually, Araneda talks to small groups and classes about common issues such as personal safety, substance abuse, anger management and success skills. She recently spoke with students about how the tasks they perform at school compare to adult careers.

"Group work is particularly important because they know they're not alone," Araneda said. "They know other kids have the same issues."

The New Hampshire native has a master's in school counseling from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.

After coming to Pasco County 19 years ago, she worked as a guidance counselor at West Zephyrhills, Quail Hollow and Pasco elementary schools before moving to Schrader, where she has worked for 14 years.

She has been a leader in the Pasco Counseling Association and serves on the board of the Florida Counseling Association. A national board-certified teacher and state-certified guidance counselor, Araneda has written widely used guidance counseling curricula and advises other counselors about learning-focused and response-intervention strategies.

At Schrader Elementary, she chairs the Assist, Believe and Care committee, where she helps students in other ways.

"We help students in need get supplies and gifts during the holidays," she said.

Helping students is at the core of Araneda's professional philosophy.

"We need to let them know that we can all get through it together," she said. "They know I'm someone they can talk to."

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