Sharon Levanoni

Position/Title: School Guidance Counselor

Name of School: P.S. 142, The Amalia Castro School

DBN: 01M142 Superintendent: Carrie Chan

Personal Statement: I have been a guidance counselor for 22 years. Initially, my career began as a guidance counselor in a residential facility in upstate New York, for boys ages 12 - 18 convicted of crimes. This experience made me realize how much I wanted to help underprivileged inner-city children. After working upstate for four years, I moved to New York City and began my career in the NYC Department of Education. I realize the importance of the formative years and how our youth need to know there are people in the schools who are advocating for them. I especially wanted them to realize the importance of attending school every day. I believe in helping students and their families overcome barriers to attending school, whether such barriers are the result of social-emotional, behavioral, economic and/or family issues. As many of my students are recent immigrants, I also focus on helping them with challenges related to language and assimilation. I have a Masters in School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and am a proud wife and mother of two young children, Alex (8) and Annika(4).

Grades of students: 4 – 11 years old: PK – 5^th grade

Number of years in school: 6

Years in education: 22