It isn’t often when one’s hobby is their job, but this is the case for Los Altos High School’s (LAHS) newest counselor Jenny Dumas, who brought along over 15 years of experience and a big heart as she walked through the doors of LAHS.
Dumas worked at various middle and high schools on the East Coast and as an independent college counselor before moving to the Bay Area, where she worked as a counselor at Lynbrook High School. She’s now at LAHS and replaced Dafna Adler last December. After being a college counselor, Dumas realized the importance of balance in a student’s schedule, playing a big role in helping students with course selection as a school counselor. She finds joy in being part of the unique growth that every high schooler undergoes during their four–year journey.
“Working with students in a time where they’re getting to know who they are, what they stand for and what they want to do with life after high school is [so powerful],” Dumas said.
When students walk into her office, she wants them to feel welcomed and encouraged. Ever since having her own kids, Dumas has loved helping them and wanted to continue doing so at school as a job.
“I always knew that once my kids came of age, I’d want to go back to school to teach kids of the same age,” Dumas said, “As a counselor, I think about how I would want my children to be supported, seen and heard. Being a mom is the best job. Being a counselor is the next best job.”
Prior to her counseling career, Dumas was a college field hockey Division III coach and later a high school field hockey coach. Although Dumas’s former college players are now young professionals and mothers, Dumas still stays in touch with them.
“I want my students to feel that while we worked together, beyond that they can rely on me,” Dumas said. “The mom of a former player I coached was just diagnosed with cancer. We still chat from time to time and I check in on her and support her.”
Dumas had coached another player she also still keeps in touch with, a Lynbrook High School student who invented a supercapacitor, a device that could recharge a cell phone in 20 seconds. The student credited Jenny as an inspiration for her work on NBC Nightly News, but Dumas insists that all the credit goes to the student.
“[The student] did all the work,” Dumas said. “She was the runner–up in the Intel Science Award National Competition and went on to Harvard, Cambridge and then MIT. She really did it all, I just coached her.”
Dumas’s wife LAHS Physical Education teacher Kieran Raffo explains that Dumas’s high spirits and caring personality make her an effective counselor.
“She has a gift; her humor, her knowledge, everything,” Raffo said. “She just understands teenagers. She’s got a little bit of an East Coast Philly vibe, but she’s also extremely kind and just wants what’s best for whoever, whether it’s her family or friends.”
Since she wants the best for her students, Dumas is constantly working beyond regular working hours to make sure their needs are being met.
“She’s always, always working,” Raffo said, “Even if she’s just home, she’s usually checking emails, responding to students, just wanting to make sure that her students have all their needs met and that she’s there for them.”
Kindhearted and passionate about bringing the best out of students, Dumas received a warm welcome from the LAHS counseling team and the community as a whole. She expresses her enthusiasm for being a part of the Counseling team and the opportunity to learn and connect to the LAHS community
“I’m happy she’s here,” counselor Tamesha Wise said. “She knows her stuff, she has a great sense of humor, she’s thoughtful, she’s caring and she’s just great to be around. [With her,] I feel like we’re more cohesive as a team. She’s a part of our LAHS counseling team family, and I hope she’ll be here for a very long time because I enjoy working with her.”
“I just love helping others,” Dumas said. “Cliché, I guess, but it is the truth.”
