MASCA
Counselor’s Notebook
MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION
Vol. 58, No. 5
January 2022
Overcoming Challenges with Kindness and Compassion By Bob Bardwell, MASCA Executive Director
It’s January once again. This is usually a time when many of us make New Year’s resolutions and find ways to make our lives better. Depending on when you read this, some of you may already have broken a resolution or two. It is estimated that at least 80% of folks fail to follow through on their resolutions and usually give up in under two weeks into the new year. For some of us, the ability to set goals for a better life is a wonderful idea but not very realistic. On December 12, MASCA launched a Kindness and Compassion Giveaway promotion. The purpose was to lift up and celebrate our school counseling colleagues who were struggling with work and/or personal challenges. Thanks to the Coronavirus, these past few years have been some of the most difficult,
Inside this Issue: Kindness......................................1 Directory........................................2 Title and Role.................................4 Taking a Listen................................6 Governing Board Elections............7 GRAC Chat.....................................7 MASCA History...............................8 60th Birthday..........................10-11 MA Model....................................12 Conference..........................16
if not the worst years in our lives for many of us. When we launched the idea, we knew that there would be many who would be nominated, but we were not sure just how many. In the course of the ten days when nominations were open, MASCA received 205 nominations representing 172 different individuals. We didn’t care if they were members or not, but were only interested in hearing why the nominator felt the nominee was deserving of a pick-me-up. The only requirement was that the nominee had to be employed in a Massachusetts school in a counseling related position. We also welcomed self-nominations, because who better to know if someone was suffering than the individual themselves? Some had one nomination while one nominee had seven. We heard about many tragic losses of family members due to illness but
also some due to Covid. We heard about personal sacrifice and loss. We learned about the strength and dedication of many of our members and the extra effort that folks have given during these last few years. We heard from some of our newest members struggling with typical first year challenges exacerbated by the pandemic but also from veterans not ever having been so disrupted in their careers. Many of the stories would make you want to stop and appreciate what you have and realize just how well off you might be compared to others. Initially the plan was to only have one recipient, but due to the overwhelming response and inability to select only one, the decision was made to offer additional gifts as well. Five members were asked to review the nominations and rank the top ten to be recognized. This was no easy feat. One member remarked, “It was VERY difficult, to say the least. I spent about three hours reading and re-reading and then pulling multiple recommendations alongside each other. My goodness, we have some incredible individuals working with our students, don’t we???” Yes, we do. All 172 nominees received an email letting them know that they were nominated but not by whom. (continued on page 3)
