Counselors: High Schools’ Unsung Heroes : Education: Those who guide students toward college play roles of adviser, accountant, morale booster.

North Hollywood High School college counselor Susan Bonoff tracked down two of her former pupils from 18 years ago to help pay for a needy student to attend Stanford University this fall.

Westchester High college counselor Esther Hugo, who routinely takes students’ financial aid applications to the post office, usually pays the postage, too.

And Birmingham High counselor Jan Livingston is helping a senior--who graduates this week--hastily apply to colleges for the fall.

When the 28,000 members of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Class of 1994 accept their diplomas this week, it is their college counselors who will be remembering the anguish and joy of the last few months. More than half of the seniors experienced the grueling process of applying to college, the emotional roller coaster of acceptance and rejection and, finally, the tough financial decisions.

The district’s 49 college counselors shared in most of the turmoil. Each is part academic adviser, accountant, real estate agent, morale booster and immigration expert.

“The truth is college counseling is alive and well . . . but the job is truly overwhelming,” said Livingston, who works at Birmingham High in Van Nuys. “You anguish with the kids. You want them to succeed. I see them at graduation and I know they’ll go on without me and I’ll never know the results.”

While the college counselors say they advise hundreds of students in their junior and senior years, they do get help from other counselors who help gear students toward college. The district has just one college counselor on every high school campus.

The counselors--considered the unsung heroes of graduation--say they will do whatever they can for their college-bound students. Even if it means calling people for money, cajoling favors from admissions officers or convincing parents that dorm life isn’t all that bad.

They are nothing if not persistent.

“College counselors are just tenacious people,” said Chuck Espalin, director of the district’s counseling program. “They’re changing the lives of these students and it’s a very tough job but a very satisfying one.”

For Jesus Torres, Stanford University would be just a dream without Susan Bonoff. Through tireless phone calls and networking, Bonoff managed to find enough money to help Jesus meet Stanford’s $28,000 tuition.

Even with financial aid and help from Stanford, Jesus was left to pay $13,000 for his first year. He says his parents, who earn less than $40,000 a year, will contribute several thousand dollars.

Bonoff found Jesus a summer job in Silicon Valley, where he will make about $2,000, and he will take out a $3,000 loan. In the end, he was left $4,000 short.

“I was really worried,” Jesus recently as he scanned a scholarship brochure for Latino students. “I basically didn’t want my family in any financial danger. I didn’t think I could go.”

But Bonoff remembered seeing the names of two of her former junior high school English students on the letterhead of a scholarship bulletin. She tracked down one of the students and nervously explained the financial dilemma.

Last month, Bonoff and Jesus met the two businessmen for lunch, and the money will be forthcoming.

“When I call you up 10 years from now when you’re a successful engineer and I tell you I have a student who can’t afford college, will you help me?” Bonoff asked Jesus recently.

“Definitely--without question,” he said quickly.

The relationships between these counselors and their students begin early. Typically, counselors start addressing students when they are sophomores. But it’s the junior year when the push begins.

The counselors guide students in choosing college-preparatory courses and keep after them to maintain their grade-point averages. Most hold college awareness nights for parents and students.

Often, they become aggressive advocates for the students--writing letters of recommendation, calling admissions offices to put in a good word, grilling financial aid officers about denied applications.

The counselors also have the tough job of advising students who are not U.S. citizens. The University of California and community college systems require these students to pay higher fees and tuition. Many counselors say they discuss the process of becoming legal citizens with students frequently.

The counselors also work increasingly with parents who are either reluctant to send their children to college because they never went or who never thought it was a possibility.

Frequently, the counselors say, it is the parents who must be swayed and not the students. “Sometimes I tell the students, ‘Let’s get the application in and we’ll deal with your mother later,’ ” said Steve Kleinberg, the college counselor at Monroe High in North Hills. “Part of it is definitely encouraging parents about the importance of education.”

At other times, it is pure hand-holding. “A mother called me the other day laughing and crying,” said Cassandra Roy, the counselor at Crenshaw High School in South-Central Los Angeles, which sends nearly 80% of its seniors to college. The woman was “laughing because she was happy her son was going to college in Ohio, but crying because he’s the oldest child and the first to leave,” said Roy.

Counselors also find themselves acting as motivational speakers for students who underestimate themselves and aim at “safe” schools. It is then that the counselors also become public relations consultants for other campuses.

“This is really their first year of college--not next year, when they are freshmen,” said Crenshaw’s Roy. “This is when they learn how to jump through the hoops.”

The school district, the largest in the state, sent about 65% of its 24,172 graduates last year to a two-year or a four-year college. The district has not yet compiled statistics for the Class of 1994, but officials say they expect to see similar numbers.

Of the nearly 28,000 seniors this year, more than 57% are Latino, 14% are black, 16.6% are white and nearly 9% are Asian.

With an increasing number of students needing financial assistance at a time when federal and state aid is decreasing, counselors say they must be more creative in finding scholarships and loans. Some students and parents, however, are reluctant to borrow money and the counselors say they are becoming financial-planning experts.

“In the fall, all we hear is, ‘Get me into college,’ ” said Bonoff. “Now all I hear is, ‘Help me pay for it.’ ”

Westchester High is one of the few schools in the district with an academic booster club of sorts, where parents raise money for the college office. This year, Westchester students will receive about $20,000 in scholarships--all raised by the parents’ group.

College recruiters spend days on Los Angeles Unified campuses, often making return visits to meet students and encourage them to attend.

Some schools, such as Monroe, have college outreach advisers who help students complete registration forms and financial applications.

Crenshaw’s Roy said that campus had an unusual problem after the 1992 riots, when the number of recruiters dropped significantly.

“I guess they were scared to come,” Roy said, adding that recruitment has picked up recently.

The Columbia University recruiter at North Hollywood got an earful last fall from Bonoff, who arranged a meeting and ultimately got a free trip to New York for one senior. Roberto Diaz, who will be paying $1,500 to attend the $29,000-a-year school, said Bonoff gave him the push to apply to Columbia.

“Right off the bat, Mrs. Bonoff said I should go to Columbia,” Roberto said recently. “She really pulled for me.”

Roberto, who said his parents earn about $23,000 a year as a parking attendant and seamstress, was worried about attending such a high-end campus. “But it all came together for me,” he said. “I thought New York City would be the greatest, but I didn’t know if I could actually go.”

For Birmingham’s Livingston, the past two weeks have been trying. A student who hadn’t thought about going to college decided at the last minute to apply.

“I believe that every student is college material, and the trick is you just have to figure out which college,” she said. “We just keep doing it because we really care about these kids.”

Higher Learning

The following list shows the 49 high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the percentage of seniors who entered the University of California or the California State University systems. The rates are for the Class of 1991, the last year for which the district had statistics available. The district does not keep data on the numbers of seniors who attend two-year colleges. While officials estimate that about 65% of the Class of 1994 will enter either two- or four-year colleges this fall, they do not have school-by-school breakdowns available. San Fernando Valley schools are in bold type (+).

Crenshaw: 34%

(+) Granada Hills: 32%

(+) Cleveland: 30%

(+) El Camino: 29%

(+) Van Nuys: 29%

Washington: 28%

Marshall: 26%

(+) Taft: 26%

Roosevelt: 25%

University: 25%

(+) Reseda:25%

(+) Kennedy: 24%

Lincoln: 24%

(+) Grant: 23%

(+) Birmingham: 23%

Westchester: 23%

(+) Chatsworth: 22%

Palisades: 22%

Narbonne: 22%

Hamilton: 22%

Eagle Rock: 22%

Venice: 21%

Franklin: 20%

(+) San Fernando: 20%

(+) Canoga Park: 20%

(+) North Hollywood: 19%

South Gate: 19%

Hollywood: 19%

Jordan: 19%

Belmont: 18%

Wilson: 18%

Dorsey: 18%

Los Angeles: 17%

Fairfax: 16%

Huntington Park: 16%

Bell: 16%

Gardena: 16%

Carson: 15%

Banning: 14%

San Pedro: 14%

Jefferson: 14%

(+) Verdugo Hills: 14%

(+) Monroe: 13%

Fremont: 12%

(+) Francis Polytechnic: 11%

Manual Arts: 10%

Garfield: 9%

Locke: 9%

(+) Sylmar: 8%

Source: Los Angeles Unified School District