A scholarship for students who want to become counselors has been created in the name of the late Adela Vasquez.
A longtime counselor and educator, Vasquez spent most of her years with Ector County ISD in a variety of capacities.
Emily Patton, student behavior support coordinator at Midland ISD, said applications will be taken until March 3. They can be sent to [email protected]
The scholarship will be presented at the Permian Basin Counseling Association meeting May 18.
Patton said they decided as a committee to offer one scholarship in the amount of $1,500. It will be $500 for each semester and $500 for expenses, books and clinicals. The scholarship is open to the 17-county area the organization serves.
The recipient also will get a free year-long membership to the PBCA.
Patton said they are seeking a post graduate student who is pursuing a degree in some form of counseling, whether it’s school based or private practice. This is in an effort to draw more people in to the counseling profession since there is such a demand for mental health and support people.
Amanda Lopez, president-elect of the Permian Basin Counseling Association, remember Vasquez fondly.
Lopez was coordinator of social-emotional learning at ECSID and was a crisis counselor before that.
Both Lopez and Patton said Vasquez always mentored aspiring counselors, teachers and students.
“In the past we did award a scholarship,” Patton said. “In fact, our current PBCA resident, Kisha Samsel, was one of the recipients of that …”
After the COVID year, it kind of dropped off because the group wasn’t meeting in person. Then last year, ECISD counselor Cynthia Hermosillo she said she would like to start the scholarship program again.
It was decided to name the scholarship for someone who meant a lot to the program and awarding it to someone who could make everyone follow in the Vasquez’ spirit of inclusion.
Patton said choosing a recipient was going to be tough. She said there are about 20 applicants and they all look good.
Lopez said when Vasquez passed away last January, they all felt her absence and there were conversations about what could be done to keep her spirit alive and continue her legacy.
“… She made such a big impact not just on counseling but education as well. We know how supportive she was of so many counselors, teachers, students — everyone. When someone of that magnitude passes away, we want to acknowledge them and keep their spirit going and so different counselors had conversations about it last year . … A few different people thought a scholarship sound(ed) like a great way (to go) because she loved education; she loved counseling. This will help other people follow in her footsteps, so in the fall when the Permian Basin Counseling Association got back together, we said … let’s really do this …,” Lopez said.
She added that the reason there is an SAS program. SAS counselors are mental health counselors.
In 1988, Vasquez helped write the grant to create SAS counselors, full-time mental health counselors in the district.
“That department wouldn’t exist without her and now 30- plus years later it’s still here. Those kinds of impacts that she’s made are just so huge that it’s hard to quantify all of the amazing things she did for other people. It was never self serving or let me get my name out there. It was never like that. It was how to help kids; how to help teachers; counselors,” Lopez said.
Lopez said Vasquez knew her all her life. When Lopez first got out of graduate school, Vasquez was her licensed professional counselor supervisor and served in that capacity for others as well.
“… I got to know her in that capacity … and because she’s such a nice, supportive person she was always my cheerleader behind the scenes (that) I didn’t even know about,” Lopez said.
She added that Vasquez would nominate her for things. Lopez said Vasquez would notice things about people and call their attention to it.
She said she got to experience Vasquez’ legacy firsthand and her “unending kindness; just one of the nicest people ever. She was just everything you would want in a supervisor — humble and kind.”
