The school system is a large part of the life of the community of Perry. A great number of stories published by ThePerryNews.com and other area media are generated by school events.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
Anne Horgen and Angelica Cardenas, guidance counselors at the Perry High School, came to the May 15 luncheon meeting of the Perry Kiwanis Club to discuss their roles within the Perry school system.
Horgen and Cardenas are two of the three counselors at the High School. They discussed a few of the many programs they direct to help students.
One program is the school food pantry located at the high school. All of the schools use this pantry. There is also a student-needs program, which funds personal-needs items for students and also help cover costs of services that a student may need to pay.
The school faculty also sponsors jeans in December, when staff can wear blue jeans on specified days in exchange for paying a fee that goes into the personal-needs fund. Horgen said it is difficult to raise money for this fund from other sources.
The food pantry uses backpacks to send home food and personal-care items with students. Backpacks are packed with items, and the students discreetly pick up their backpacks in a private place.
Since poverty can be a cause of shame in some teens and an instigation to teasing or bullying in other teens, several other students sport the same style of backpack so those students using the food pantry or personal-needs supplies can remain inconspicuous.
Horgen and Cardenas said there are two part-time counselors who provide mental health services to the students at the schools. They said there is a far greater need for services for students than the school is able to meet. A shortage of mental health counseling has been an issue in Iowa for quite some time.
Perry High School recently sponsored a college decision day, the counselors said, along with 50 other schools in Iowa. Seniors who have picked out a college to attend or a branch of the military service to enlist in were recognized during the day and treated much like an athlete signing a letter of intent. They said it was very popular with the students, and the seniors got to have a cookout.
Both counselors also discussed the importance of the Senior Awards Night, held this year May 16, when many students were awarded scholarships. Cardenas, who graduated from Perry High School in the late 1990, described how important it was to her when she was awarded a scholarship.
Cardenas said she was not the best student and had a hard time with her studies. Most of this was because she was struggling to learn English at the same time. She remembers how good it made her feel to receive a scholarship.
“Someone thought enough of me to give me this,” she said. “This was a life changing experience for me.”
Every seven years, the school is able to offer a Gear UP program for students. This program offers six years of support and services to a class of students. The goal is to get students interested in attending college or learning a trade or skill they can use after they are out of school. This does not necessarily mean only a four-year college. There are currently 12 school districts across Iowa that participate in the Gear Up program.
Horgen and Cardenas also arrange for students to make college visits and participate in programs that expose them to college and other career opportunities as done, for example, by STEM-I Cubs and visiting the Plumbers and Steamfitters Training Center.
Similarly, the Fight (Fire) Like a Girl program held at the Ankeny DMACC exposed high school girls to the firefighter profession. Horgen and Cardenas said none of the Perry girls had an interest in firefighting. They all felt the equipment that you had to wear was too heavy.
Another popular event that graduating Seniors have participated in since 2015 is the Senior Walk. On the Friday before graduation, seniors dress in their cap and gown and walk through the Perry Elementary School, giving the elementary students high fives.
Both seniors and elementary students love this day, Cardenas and Horgen said. The counselors said this is one event that all of the seniors will attend because of how enjoyable it is.
Welcoming Horgen and Cardenas was four-year Perry Kiwanis Club member and President Vince Sturm.
