[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 5, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING WEEK AND VANESSA IAQUINTA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LINDA T. SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 5, 2019

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate National School 
Counseling Week, and to honor a treasured member of my community and 
school counselor at Norwalk High School, Vanessa Iaquinta. Ms. Iaquinta 
has dedicated over 20 years to empowering students and serving as a 
role model, mentor, and advocate to students and their families in our 
community. She always goes above and beyond what is expected of her to 
serve the students at Norwalk High School.
  In addition to her role as a counselor, she has taken on many 
leadership roles. Ms. Iaquinta leads the AVID program, which serves 
over 200 students and has been immensely successful under her guidance, 
achieving an inspiring 100 percent college acceptance rate. She also 
serves as the counselor for the Project Lead the Way, which offers 
students interested in the medical field the opportunity to take 
classes and field trips to help them achieve their college and career 
dreams.
  Ms. Iaquinta developed class presentations to help students create 
four-year plans, discuss graduation and college requirements, and 
provide other resources to support students in planning for post-
secondary school. She also organized the other counselors to provide 
evening appointments for parents who otherwise would not be able to 
meet with counselors to discuss their child's academic performance and 
progress. Ms. Iaquinta truly cares about students and wants them to 
succeed. She has contributed to Norwalk in many ways, and works hard to 
bring new ideas and programs to the school that will benefit the 
students.
  Norwalk High School is a special place because of dedicated 
professionals like Ms. Iaquinta, and I couldn't be more proud to honor 
her today. If more people were like Ms. Iaquinta, the world would be a 
much nicer place. In honor of National School Counseling Week, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in thanking all the school counselors who are 
making a positive impact in the lives of our students.

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