I'm a California high school counselor. Everything here started as something I needed on a real school day and couldn't find anywhere.
My name is Johnny M. Dueñas, and I've spent more than 25 years working in public high schools in California — helping students get organized, prepare for college and careers, and build the confidence to thrive after graduation.
I hold three California credentials: Pupil Personnel Services, Career Technical Education, and Administrative Services. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a Master's degree in Counseling, and I've been in schools ever since.
Over those years I've worked with students from every background — first-generation college-bound students, undocumented and DACA students, student-athletes, and teens facing real academic, personal, and financial obstacles. Growing up in a hardworking immigrant family taught me early what it means to build opportunity through persistence, and that still shapes how I work with families today.
Everything in this shop came out of that daily work. These aren't theoretical resources. They're the tools I needed, tested, and refined in a real school office: workbooks and planners for students, college and career planning guides for families, and documentation forms and toolkits for the counselors, psychologists, and administrators doing this work alongside me.
My approach is simple. Students learn best when they participate in their own growth, so these resources ask them to reflect, plan, decide, and act — not just read. And the professional tools are built to be usable on a busy Tuesday, not just complete on paper.
Whether you're a student getting ready for high school, a parent supporting your teen, or a counselor building out your toolkit, I'm glad you found this shop.
A note: this shop was formerly CounselorCornerHQ. Same counselor, same resources, new name — everything now lives under Navigating High School.
Thank you for being here, and for the work you do to support students.
— Johnny M. Dueñas, NavigatingHighSchool.com