Counselor with Nearly Three Decades of Service at BOCES Enjoys Watching Students Grow

SCHOHARIE – With 28 years of experience at Capital Region BOCES, Jen Russo knows a little about helping students forge bright futures.

“Each year at graduation, I am so proud of the positive choices and decisions our students have made for their future,” Russo said. “So many have overcome obstacles to attain the skills and certifications they earn while with us.”

Russo, who is counselor at the Career and Technical Education Center  - Schoharie Campus, works with students to help them choose the best path to professional success – whether it’s pursuing further education after high school or directly entering the workforce. She also helps the teenagers work through the daily angst of life and develop the coping and other skills needed in professional and personal settings.

“I really enjoy the growth of our students. When they visit as 16-year-olds, they are still very uncertain of what they want to do in the future. By the time they leave, they have a much clearer path.”

Russo has held many jobs at BOCES including Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, during which she helped launch the PAX Good Behavior Game in several area school districts. The program helped young students better regulate themselves in educational settings and cut down on her visits to classrooms to help students focus and manage their behaviors.

Her path to BOCES and helping young students started with obtaining a degree in psychology and drugs and alcohol rehabilitation. 

“I initially worked in a rehab setting and decided I was on the wrong side of the issue and wanted to focus on preventing it. This led me to graduate school and school counseling,” she said.

Russo said attending BOCES was not an option for her during her school days, but she wishes it was.

“Career and technical education was not presented as an option for me while in high school. If it had been, I probably would have chosen Early Childhood or Culinary,” she said. 

Outside of BOCES, Russo follows her passion of helping youth, mentoring middle school students and volunteering with Schenectady County’s “Working Group on Girls” initiative.

She was named a Woman of Achievement through the YWCA in 2012 and also volunteers to deliver lunches during the summer to youth who are food insecure.