In a testament to the dedication and impact of school counselors, Cristina Alvarez of Socorro Early College High School in the Socorro Independent School District has ascended to the ranks of the state's top school counselors as she's named one of six finalists for the coveted School Counselor of the Year award for 2025-2026, her focus on providing both social and emotional support and academic guidance to students shines through in her selection.
Alvarez, who has been counseling students at Socorro High School for three years now but has given 11 years of her professional life to guiding young minds in total, seven within the district, expressed her feelings on the recognition stating, "I’m really humbled, and I love that I get to represent the hard work that my colleagues and I do at Socorro High School," and she further highlighted the collective effort of the eight counselors at the school, "It’s not just me, there are 8 of us (counselors at Socorro High School) and being a finalist lets me represent the work that we all do daily, serving our students with social and emotional support and academically," according to Socorro Independent School District.
Before her tenure at Socorro High, Alvarez dedicated four years to the students at Salvador H. Sanchez Middle School, which ultimately propelled her eagerness to continue shaping lives at the high school level. It is her enduring passion to remain a pillar in her students' educational journey, witnessing their development from adolescence to young adulthood, and their academic accomplishments, which include earning associate degrees while still in high school.
As the date approaches swiftly, Alvarez will be engaging in the interview process on May 21, a step closer to grasping the state-wide honor and with the results expected to be out by the month's end, her commitment and influential role in the educational sphere could well be further cemented by this accolade, "I decided to move to the high school because of my students in middle school … I wanted to be the person that helped them, and they saw every day," said Alvarez, as per Socorro Independent School District.
