Angel Decierdo

Title: School Counselor
Job site: Escuela secundaria Leilehua
Years in the HIDOE: 5
Years in the position: 5

Q: Briefly describe your career path.
A: I used to work as an administrative assistant for Kamehameha Schools (KS). During this time, I got to work with many of their educators and leaders, which inspired me to reconsider my career path. I decided to go back to school in 2017 to earn my master degree in Counseling Psychology at Chaminade to become a school counselor while still working full time. I left KS in 2019 to focus on the clinical requirements for my degree, and eventually graduated in May 2020. I started my career as a school counselor in July 2020 at Escuela secundaria e intermedia Nanakuli, where I also completed my counseling internship. I am now a school counselor for the Class of 2026 at my alma mater, Escuela secundaria Leilehua.

Q: What are your primary duties?
A: Provide counseling in areas of academic performance, social skills, self-esteem and attendance to students using person-centered, solution-focused strategies. We also work a lot with our faculty, staff and other key players on campus and in our community to develop programs and systems to ensure student success. Also making sure they meet all the credit requirements for their high school diploma.

Q: Favorite part about the job?
A: Being able to see my students grow through their challenges as they navigate through high school. It’s rewarding to see them develop their identities and strengths, and how they make comebacks after failures/mistakes.  

Q: Most challenging part about your position?
A: It can be hard to balance everything, knowing that you are not just working with students but with various stakeholders and groups. You are sometimes the middle person trying to connect people and resources together.

Q: What advice do you have for people considering this position?
A: Be flexible, be adaptable, and be confident in yourself. A lot of what you do is learned while you’re doing the job, and you have to be OK with learning to work in a very gray area. Even though I’m five years in, I still feel like I’m learning new things every year. Also, it can be an emotionally heavy job, so it’s also very important to take care of yourself.

Q: How does your job support students?
A: Our counseling department is an integral part of the student support team. I work with a great group of people who are some of the best advocates for our students. When we’re not working 1:1 directly with a student, we are going off on home visits to address attendance issues, coordinating student accommodations plans, collaborating with other groups, working on advisory lessons/curriculum, going to family court, volunteering for class fundraisers – the list goes on.