Staff Spotlight: Francheska Betancourt
Francheska Betancourt has worked at Synergy Alternative Program for five years and says she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I love the community. I love Synergy. An alternative high school is sticky sometimes, but I love it,” she said.
Beginning as a behavior manager, she then found new opportunities to serve both students and families as the Family Support Specialist.
She said, “This to me is more than a job. I love helping people. I love getting my hands dirty, going out in the community and doing a little bit more.”
More is exactly what she did once she took on this role. In addition to her primary duties of assisting bilingual families and engaging students to improve attendance, she’s gone above and beyond to provide resources and support proving just how much she cares.
“When she started as the Bilingual Family Support Specialist, I think the first day on the job in that new role she said, ‘Dr. Outhouse I want to just be the Family Support Specialist because I want to support our families who speak multiple languages, but I also want to support all of our families,’” said Synergy Principal Craig Outhouse, Ed.D.
She has worked to build trust and strong relationships with Synergy’s students and their families. When students don’t come to class, they can expect a phone call from Betancourt or even a home visit. These efforts have helped improve attendance numbers at the school.
She said, “I always tell my students once you hit that door I’m going to treat you like if you were my own child and I want you to be the best you can.”
While building those relationships, Betancourt noticed a lot of need in the community and wanted to do something about it. She got to work gathering donations of shampoos, deodorants, school supplies, and even food. What was once her office, is now a little free store.
“They’ll come by, ‘Hey Miss, I need this.’ If I don’t have it, I promise I’ll find it,” she explained.
Betancourt says it fills her heart with joy that she’s able to help, even if it’s something small.
“I grew up with a bilingual mother. She didn’t understand a lot of English, so I translated a lot for her. I know what it is for a parent not to understand and also to have a lot of needs like, ‘Hey, I need resources for this or that other thing,’” she said. “I’m willing to provide that for those families and that makes me very happy.”
This month, she’s continuing on in her career at Synergy accepting a new role as the building’s administrative assistant. She will continue to support families as the lead communicator between home and school.
“It’s crazy because she’s doing multiple things at once, but she just seizes an opportunity and she wants to continue to get better,” said Outhouse. “She epitomizes Team Synergy.”