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Miami Palmetto’s college counselor Harry Nerenberg was supposed to retire in 2018. Now, in June 2021, Nerenberg says goodbye – but this time retirement will be for real.
He made a huge difference in the life of his students – both as a teacher and a counselor.
“I love watching the light bulb go on,” he says. “Watching a kid get clarity is amazing.”
He says the kids themselves are amazing. He was just guiding them through the process. One his biggest joys was when a student would say, “Counselor, I do want to graduate high school.” Or when he’d help a student decide which college to attend.
Nerenberg started teaching in Philadelphia in 1975 after graduating from Kutztown University. Three years later, he was furloughed.
He married his wife Debra, went to work at Gestetner Corporation and was transferred to Miami. He was the top salesman in the country two years in a row.
But teaching called him and he returned to the classroom and worked with at-risk students as counselor at J.R.E. Lee Opportunity School. He returned to the classroom as well and earned degrees at the University of Miami and Florida International University.
In 1995 he went to work at South Dade Senior High as the Department Chair of Guidance. In 1996 he and Debra moved to Mangowood, which meant he’d pass Palmetto Senior High on his way to work. He’d hear a voice in his head say: “WORK AT PALMETTO SENIOR HIGH!”
He finally listened and requested a transfer in 2002, and worked as an academic counselor for nine years. Then Principal Allison Harley requested that Nerenberg become the college counselor. He’s one of the few CAP counselors to keep guidance duties.
Nerenberg took the job and ran with it. He did it so well he won the Rosemary Fuller Award of Education from Palmetto Bay. Plus, the entire guidance department’s extraordinary work was recognized by winning the Excellence in College Counseling Award from Forbes Magazine. They were even featured in podcasts and honored during the Super Bowl.
One of the things he loves most about Palmetto is that it represents the whole range of Miami diversity.
The students are also diverse in their needs.
“It’s got the variety – we have all kinds of kids,” he says. “We have kids who struggle, financially and academically. And we have kids who get it right away.”
He’s able to relate to the gamut of students because of the schools he attended in high school and college.
“I wanted to teach at a school that was multi-ethnic,” he says.
He loves to interact with the kids and when they let him know he matters to them, too.
“There is nothing like a thank you note. Nothing like when a kid calls me, my counselor, Mr. Nerenberg. That’s a crowing accomplishment, when a child calls me my counselor.”
He saves every thank you note he’s been given.
Nerenberg credits his fellow counselors for making the Palmetto Guidance office strong.
“The six counselors are so good in helping kids write letters,” he says. “They help kids meet their needs. The goal is to have them go someplace when they leave. For them to be prepared for the world they choose.”
He’s not sure what he’s going to do in retirement.
“If I were a senior in high school graduating, I’d be one of those kids the counselor calls down, and asks, ‘what are you going to do’” he says. “I don’t know what the future holds. Which is okay.”
