Betty Jarvis Guidance Library

The Betty Jarvis Guidance Library, located at Mohonasen High School, was unveiled on December 4, 2006. The library is dedicated to helping students explore for their future — which is what Betty Jarvis did on a daily basis while at Mohonasen.

Jarvis taught for over 36 years, 31 of them being at Mohonasen. For the last five years of her career, she was the Dean of Career Development.

“Betty put Mohonasen on the map for career and school-to-work programs,” said high school Guidance Counselor Rebecca Pauley. “She helped students see the connection between school and the real world.”

Jarvis began the development for many of the initiatives that are still used today. She helped Mohonasen become a pilot school in the “High Schools That Work” program, developed “Career Pathways” where students could take classes and potentially earn college credit, developed the Career Exploration Internship Program (CEIP), and encouraged counselors to develop a career portfolio course that is now part of the business department. Jarvis worked closely with teachers, counselors, administrators, the State Education Department and the Schenectady Chamber of Congress to help support these initiatives for students.

The library is a place where students can go to research careers and colleges through different avenues such as computers, books and college catalogues. It is also a meeting place for college representatives to come and talk with prospective students. In the future, the Betty Jarvis Guidance Library is hoping to have a video library collection to help students with things like interviewing skills.