Despite all that he is in charge of, Heras somehow“ makes it look easy,” said Donna Navarro, College and Career Readiness counselor. Heras was honored in February as a finalist for the district’ s Excellence in Education awards.

It’ s often not easy, Heras said, but nearly every day brings joy and satisfaction.

“ The best part has been to be part of the journey our students are embarking on, and our families too,” Heras said.

Heras’ team consistently leads the district in number of students applying for college and completing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms to obtain money for college. He has also been the leading advocate at Sunnyside to ensure special day class students( receiving special education services) have access to credit recovery opportunities during regular school hours.

Heras is one of 133 counselors in Fresno Unified who provide academic, personal and career counseling to students and help students stay on target to graduate.

Heras has been a counselor at Sunnyside since 2018 and the head counselor since 2021. Prior to that, he was a program coordinator for the Doctors Academy, coordinated by the University of California San Francisco – Fresno. Doctors Academy is a program for high school students to encourage them to pursue careers in medicine, with classes at Sunnyside, Caruthers and Selma high schools.

Heras was raised in Watsonville by his grandparents, who worked tirelessly as farmworkers, picking strawberries in the fields.

“ At an early age, I saw the value of hard work,” Heras said.

His grandparents encouraged him to go to college, wanting him to have an easier life than they did. He is the first in his family to earn a four-year degree, with his brother, Cesar, following soon after. Cesar Heras is also a counselor, part of the staff at Bullard High School.

Heras also credits mentors in UC Santa Cruz’ s Early Academic Outreach Program with helping him realize that college was possible. Through the program, Heras visited several universities, where he saw young people who looked like him. At age 17, he moved to Fresno to attend Fresno State, where he received bachelor’ s and master’ s degrees.

The encouragement he received in high school led him to pursue counseling as a career, with a desire to give back to his community and mentor students as he had been mentored.

He remembers feeling like he“ wasn’ t cut out for college” and many students still feel that way, Heras said.

“ One thing we can do is help students believe in themselves,” he said.“ One of the biggest challenges is to empower and motivate our kids.”

Heras credits a top-notch team at Sunnyside High School.

“ Without us working together, we wouldn’ t be able to make a difference in the lives of our students day in and day out,” Heras said.

Navarro said one of the reasons Heras is such an effective leader is that he taps into the various strengths of his counselors. He also is open to trying new strategies and encourages a fun and creative approach in reaching out to students.

12 FACES