ITP Serves Local Communities in Need
East Palo Alto is only a few miles up Highway 101 from the ITP campus, but in most respects, it is worlds away. In what could be called both an at-risk investment and an investment in those at risk, ITP is making a difference in an impoverished community by offering counseling services to the 12 schools that comprise the Ravenswood School District of East Palo Alto. More than 4,000 students attend kindergarten through eighth grade in the Ravenswood schools. Pervasive poverty, unemployment, lack of adequate health care, and substance abuse are just a few of the many issues that district students and their families face every day of their lives.
Directed by ITP graduate Stephen Di Cerbo, the counseling program at Ravenswood is now in its fourth year. Regarding the work of the ITP student counselors that he oversees, Di Cerbo says, "These kids have challenges that many of us did not have when we were growing up. The Ravenswood district is under a lot of pressure in terms of making academic strides, and if we can free up whatever is interfering with learning, then we are more hopeful about their capacity for learning."
Amy Sharp, a Ph.D. candidate who counseled at Bellhaven, reflects on her two-year stint. "It was tough," Sharp says. "My focus was to be someone consistent in the kids' lives. I listened to them and let them know that they were valued. I really did not try to change anybody's behavior."
Damon Wood, also in the Ph.D. program at ITP and a former Ravenswood student counselor, agrees. "I wanted them to know that I was their ally, not just another adult trying to make them behave in a certain way. I tried to be genuine with them, and although I made it clear that I was on the same side of the table with them, I did try to point out why some of their choices might not have been the best decisions."
Wood cites deep-seated trauma as one of the core issues affecting students during his work at Cesar Chavez Middle School. "I started my practicum just after there was a double homicide involving a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old in East Palo Alto. The 13-year-old went to my school," he says. "So in addition to counseling, I went around to elementary schools within the district and talked to the kids about how to be safe, how to be able to figure out whom in their lives could be trusted."
The ITP student counselors interviewed cited a language barrier as one of many challenges they faced in working with the children of Ravenswood, their families, and their caregivers. Pat Campbell supervises all of the ITP counselors. She describes the ethnicity of the district's population as, "primarily Latino, then African American, and finally, Pacific Islanders." Although a couple of the schools now have resource centers that provide Spanish language translators, basic communication is often difficult among counselors, students, and their families.
Despite the challenging socioeconomic issues of Ravenswood families and the barriers that accompany them, the positive impact of the counseling collaboration between ITP and the school district is being felt. Ruth Woods, Special Assignments Principal for Ravenswood, remarks, "We are seeing better school attendance with the students receiving counseling. These kids are much more cooperative now, and they have developed a strong understanding of themselves and their surroundings. With the addition and expansion of the family counseling aspect, there has also been less emotional upheaval within their homes."
