Gulnar Husain
We are excited that CIS Site Coordinator Gulnar Husain has received national recognition for her work within Arcadia Elementary School. She joins the ranks of only a handful throughout this country to receive an Honorable Mention for the prestigious Unsung Hero Award. Today’s post features Gulnar and originally ran in Beyond the Classroom, the blog of national Communities In Schools.
Gulnar Husain could easily have the title of “Dispenser of Warmth and Kindness,” given the way she is described by her colleagues. She has been the site coordinator at Arcadia Elementary School in Kalamazoo, Mich., since 2007. Before taking on that role, she worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer, a VISTA volunteer and a paraprofessional at Arcadia and another school.
Arcadia Recyling Team with CIS Site Coordinator Gulnar Husain
“Gulnar is one of those unique individuals who works tirelessly and patiently, connecting all the dots for each student—school, community, family—so that all an observer sees is the unbroken line, forming a perfect circle of support around the child,” said her supervisor Deb Faling, director of social and emotional health initiatives for Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo.
Husain acknowledges that there are parts of the job she finds challenging, mostly the paperwork that can be complex at times. But all of that, she said, is nothing compared to “seeing the joy in a child’s eyes when he gets a new pair of boots or glasses or new clothes or a book, that is worth all of the effort and hours it took to be able to provide them.”
To see the children literally jumping for joy keeps this dedicated site coordinator in her office for as many hours as it takes to ensure that Arcadia’s students are attended to and nurtured. “I wear many hats but they all have to be piled on my head one on top of the other,” she laughed as she noted the importance of being a multi-tasker.
Gulnar and Principal Socha
Arcadia’s principal, Greg Socha, observed, “Ms. Husain has a job to perform and a child to help. She quietly persists in her tasks.”
Having lived in the Kalamazoo community for 32 years, Husain uses her connections and friendships to support her students. Whether it’s something basic like donated clothing or bringing in volunteer mentors and tutors—or addressing larger needs like counseling or medical care, Husain finds a way to make it happen.
She is determined to provide a listening ear and open door throughout the day. “If a student shows up when I am in my office trying to meet a deadline, I set the deadline aside. If a teacher or administrator needs something, I take care of it. And when a parent comes to me, I do not put them off either.”
Gulnar Husain (left) with Lauren Knibbs, CIS intern through WMU School of Social Work
She enjoys watching her persistence and presence pay off as it did when a child needed counseling. She didn’t have a counselor on call, but she asked her director, who connected her to a counselor from Family & Children Services, who then sent someone to meet with the child and the mother in the school. “The child loved the counselor and so did the mom. At the end of the year, the mother came in with flowers and lunch for the counselor and asked me to take pictures of the three of them.”
Tags: Arcadia Elementary School, CIS, Communities In Schools, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Gulnar Husain, interns, Kalamazoo Public Schools, Lauren Knibbs, unsung hero
