Diane Bailey’s son is heading to college this fall and her heart was set on “buying a trophy” for the high-school guidance counselor who helped put his feet on the path to higher education.
“But at this time, my money is short,” the Bronx single mom wrote to The Post in nominating William Lessa of Cardinal Hayes HS for the Educator Liberty Medal. “So if you can, help me let this man know how he is appreciated.”
She added, “He’s the type of counselor that should be in every school.”
At the all-boy Catholic high school in The Bronx, whose 1,000-plus students come from all different backgrounds, “you try to individualize each of these kids and let them know they’re a valuable person with much to give in the future,” said Lessa, director of the guidance department.
That takes an ear always ready to listen to a range of problems, from personal to scholastic, a lot of empathy – and time.
Lessa, a married father of two, gets to his office every day at 6 a.m. and doesn’t leave until 4:45 p.m. “I enjoy what I’m doing, so I spend a great deal of time doing it,” he said.
He said he gives the same time to an Ivy League-bound student as to one with less academic achievement.
“That kid needs to know his academic preference is just as important,” he said.
But Bailey said Lessa went the extra distance, returned her many phone calls, and patiently explained to her the process of preparing for Regents, graduation and college applications.
After her son graduated, Bailey went to Lessa and “I said to him he was that brick that always kept making my building get higher.”