Counselor's Notebook, June 2013

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MASCA

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

VOL. 49, NO. 10

JUNE 2013

President’s Message

MASCA Spring Conference: Take-Aways

By JENNIFER LISK MASCA President

By ASHLEY GARTH School Counselor, Fairhaven High School

D

JENNIFER LISK

I

t has been a personally and professionally rewarding year as MASCA president. Thank you to all who have supported MASCA’s events and initiatives throughout this year. As I have said many times before, this is an exciting time to be a school counselor in Massachusetts. In this issue, a piece written by Katie Gray, MASCA’s liaison to ESE, highlights many of the reasons for this. I encourage you to share this with your faculty and administrators, as well as other stakeholders within your community. The quantitative and qualitative data show that school counselors make a difference. I thank you for making a difference, and I wish you a restful and rejuvenating summer. ■

riving home each day from the MASCA Spring Conference in Hyannis, I reflected on the refreshing energy that came from three days of professional collaboration as well as my first experiences both presenting my own MA Model Implementation poster and reviewing the graduate student posters. The opportunities at MASCA for collaboration with other counselors, administrators, and professionals in the field were endless. This year, a Fairhaven team of K-12 school counselors and RTTT committee members trekked to the Cape for the conference and the Spring RTTT workshop. We eagerly met other counselors and attended workshops to share ideas about general MA Model Implementation, programming, and family engagement.

• Schedule a follow-up meeting with your MASCA team and other colleagues a week or two after the conference to review and share notes and program ideas. Prioritize and plan the implementation of any programs, lessons, or services.

Take-aways

After participating in the MA Model Implementation Institute with a coworker last summer, a colleague and I prepared and presented posters highlighting the college scholarship process and career planning with high school juniors and seniors respectively. (continued on page 2)

• Split up from your team to attend different workshops during each session and then combine workshop notes in a shared Google document. Gather as much information and as many ideas from the workshop presenters as possible.

• Timing is everything. Be realistic about your plans. Maintain your excitement by identifying what can be accomplished this year compared to what you should /could wait to implement in the next academic year. • Family engagement. Consider making school counseling announcements at school athletic events and also performances. Halftime and intermission provide a captive audience. Create a School Counseling Office Facebook and Twitter account to share information.

MA Model Implementation Institute 2013-2014

Race To The Top Katie Gray’s update on Race To The Top (RTTT) is printed in its entirety beginning on page 7.

Two optional sites: • Dean College, July 23 and 24, November TBA • Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 3 dates, TBA Time: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. For information and registration, go to www.masca.org. Registration form is also found on page 4.


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