ORLANDO, Fla. — American School Counselor Association (ASCA) data shows there are still not enough school mental health counselors to meet student demand.

ASCA recommends at least one school counselor for every 250 students. ASCA data shows right now in Florida, there’s only one counselor for every 434 students. And at some schools, there are even fewer counselors than that.

A community partnership between UCF and 13 Florida school districts aims to match more mental health counselors with students.

At OCPS’s Academic Center for Excellence in Parramore, school administrators say there is only one full-time mental health counselor for the 1,000 students who attend the school. But starting this school year, UCF graduate students are beginning to help fill more of the need among students for counseling.

Walking into a school and preparing to counsel elementary school students is not what Emily Rodriguez Lopez thought she’d be doing when she was in school.

“My bachelor’s degree is graphic design, yeah, completely different from mental health,” said Lopez.

But after working in graphic design for several years — and working through her own mental health journey — Lopez realized she wanted to help young people.

“Have the resources and the coping skills and everything to help you succeed once you reach adulthood, versus reaching adulthood and then trying to get all those skills — I thought was very fruitful for future generations,” said Lopez.

Lopez is now one of several UCF psychology graduate students trained and working as school counselors in local schools. At Orange County’s ACE school, Lopez regularly joins with her instructor and other grad students as they prepare to visit with students after school. They support each other with their ongoing casework.

“The group support here is very important and we’re also developing, so it’s key into how we develop,” said Lopez.

It’s called the Systemic School Treatment and Response Project — or Project STAR. The initiative’s goal is to add more than 200 more mental health counselors into local schools within five years.

“Identifying students that may have some of these challenges that are bubbling up, and how great that would be if we were able to prevent some of these things before they turn into a full-blown crisis,” said Jania Fuller, Community Partnership School Director for OCPS ACE and Children’s Home Society.

And the idea is to concentrate counselors in schools where students need the help the most.

Fuller says the ACE school’s location presents unique needs among students.

“Parramore has been underserved, and with that comes generational poverty, increased rates of crime, things that really do affect our students, and our families and our community,” said Fuller.

Lopez says in just a few weeks, she’s gone from wanting to make a difference to realizing the difference that she’s making among students.

“When we first got here, we’re new people, so it’s very normal for anybody in any situation to be a little bit more like closed off to like, ‘Who are you?’ and vibe you out a little, but seeing the kids how they progressed through the term and how much more open and close and warm they are to our arrival — it shows we’ve made an impact in their lives,” said Lopez.