August 2022

A Message from the WSCA Executive Director

Dear WSCA members,

The WSCA Board and Directors of Operations spent many days away from their families and precious summer break to discuss and plan how to best serve the counseling profession and you at their respective Leadership Development Institutes! Both teams spent time reflecting and thinking deeply about “what is their why” of being a school counselor and what that means as a WSCA leader.

Getting caught up in the how and the what of what we do is natural. With limited time and so much to do, we just have to get stuff done and don’t set aside the opportunity for reflection on the why behind our work. Simon Sinek believes our why crosses our entire being; it is the same at home, at work, and in the community.

I would encourage all of you to take some time before school starts to reflect on your why. When we are able to step back and reflect on what brought us to this very important work of school counseling, my hope is it will reenergize us and help give us purpose when the work is hard and systems frustrating. Here is a quick guide to help you create your why.

I am so excited to see all of you this school year as I travel the state, learning about your schools, your programs, and your why.

~Stacy Eslick

A Message from the WSCA Board of Directors

Howdy! The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Conference 2022 took place in beautiful (but very hot) Austin, Texas. I and fellow WSCA Board Member Erika Spear attended the two-day Leadership Development Institute (LDI) in July. Surrounded by over 4,000 fellow School Counselors, School Counselor Educators, and the like it was an amazing learning experience. As the past school year was challenging for many, a renewal of energy for the profession and tools to continue to move our state’s Board work and association forward was received. The updated ASCA Ethical Standards and how the revisions may affect your school counseling program were just one of the informative topics covered. You may find those here on the ASCA website. At the conference, Dr. Carolyn Stone spoke of how we are change makers and we have the power to use our voices to enhance the lives of so many. Dr. Stone also stated that we must learn and know the rules (laws, policies, etc.) so we know how to use our voices to impact our students and families best.

How may we continue to demonstrate our professional expertise which includes state-level advocacy and being a changemaker? Part of being a School Counselor is doing equity work. Also part of this may include tension and conflict as a social justice advocate in your building and school community; some may have resistance to acknowledging their biases that are causing harm to students, families, and staff of color. At the ASCA LDI, one of the Thought Leadership Speakers Dr. Gustavo Balderas spoke about Maximizing Your Seat at the Table to Effect Change. To summarize some of his powerful words he stated, “Always push to get to the table and ask a lot of questions to voice and advocate for what is best for students and families. You may have to move to move.” As School Counselor leaders we must not be afraid of making our own personal changes as we advocate for systemic changes to benefit all of our students and families. Ms. Alma Lopez the 2022 ASCA School Counselor of the year was also a Thought Leadership Speaker at LDI to which she stated it best, “ We must lean into leadership and show our leadership in action.”

We invite you to explore future involvement with WSCA! You may visit the website here to learn more about how you can Get Involved. And as always something that I say and hold near and dear to my heart, equity is love in action. Keep loving in action this school year, wishing you the best school year ever! Please continue enjoying your summer, hopefully, it is a summer of self-care and rejuvenation! See you soon!

~Mia Tatum-Crider and Erika Spear

WSCA Reminder: Carolyn Stone will once again be working with WSCA! She is presenting our first online learning program on Wednesday, September 21st, from 1:30-3:00 to discuss the updated ASCA ethical standards. Carolyn will also be facilitating two preconference workshops on November 2nd.

The online learning program is a member-only benefit, and we appreciate your honoring this by encouraging those who want to participate in the online learning program to become WSCA members.

A Message from the Department of Public Instruction

We are only a few days away from the close of our CTE Standards survey! Don’t let this opportunity to provide input on what is being taught in K12 education pass you by!

What should you review?

You can find the CTE areas that are being reviewed on this page with a direct link to section IV of the standards for that CTE area to review (hint: look at the pdf, not the excel version). As you review, it is ok to focus just on the learning priorities (not the performance indicators) so that the review is not as time-consuming.

Can I give input on general employability skills as well?

YES! Each survey will have questions about our “Wisconsin Common Career and Technical Education Standards” This is where you will find what we commonly refer to as “employability skills” or “soft skills” or “career-ready skills” If you do not have input to share on one of the CTE areas, there is a survey just for the Wisconsin Common Career and Technical Education Standards that you can find here.

Here are the Original Message and Survey Links

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has announced its intent to review and potentially revise the existing standards that guide career and technical education. It is critical that we take into consideration industry input regarding the existing standards.

Surveys to gather comments on the existing CTE subject-specific standards will remain open through August 11, 2022. These subjects include the following:

Please take the survey that best represents your industry. Each subject-specific survey includes questions on Wisconsin’s Common Career Technical Standards (WCCTS). The WCCTS provides a foundation on which the subject-specific standards are built. These employability or “future-ready” skills are founded on social-emotional learning, global competence, STEM skills, and digital literacy skills and include the following.

Creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration
Career development
Environment, health, and safety
Global and cultural awareness
Information, media, and technology
Leadership

If none of the subject-specific surveys are a good match for your industry but you would like to provide feedback on the employability skills only, you can take this WCCTS survey.

Your input is valued so that DPI makes a decision about these standards that makes sense for Wisconsin students, educators, and employers. Information about the standards review process can be found on DPI’s Academic Standards webpage. See this flowchart for a summary of the process.

Here at DPI, we are proud to partner with stakeholders across the state to gather public comments for the standards review teams. Please feel free to forward this email and/or share the included links with all relevant networks and connections. Thank you for your support in helping us make the standards review and/or revision process successful and relevant to the needs of our field.

Sincerely,

~Karin Smith

Feature Article – New Twist on PreConference

New Twist on PreConference

Andrea Berlin
Sheboygan Area School District, Preconference Director

As you think about this upcoming school year, you are recalling those students that teachers referred because they were at a loss on how to support them in the classroom. Most of these students you really like because they are super good kids, but they struggle with behavioral expectations and the ability to be organized in school. WSCA intentionally sought out evidence-based resources that are affordable for you to bring back to your schools. We encourage you to attend these pre-conference sessions to learn directly from the curriculum developers about the most effective way to implement the programs in your schools.

As fellow counselors, the Preconference Committee knows that this past school year was the most difficult on record for many of you. We also know that many of our students’ functioning and development are several years behind where it was Pre-COVID. So with greater demand on our time and often limited resources, it was important for us to provide an opportunity for you to get an in-depth look at the research-based curriculum that can help support our student’s growth in the areas they are struggling in most now, executive functioning and social/emotional learning. We also wanted to make sure that this opportunity is affordable as well, therefore, the companies that have been invited to share their curriculum with you are doing so at a discounted rate to you.

We have invited Dr. Georgia Bozeday from the Rush University Medical Center to share the curriculum that was developed by the Rush NeuroBehavioral Center (RNBC) on Executive Functioning skills. Her workshops are divided into grades PK-3 and 4-12. To learn more about RNBC and why one of their focus is on Executive Functioning, visit their website at https://rnbc.org/research/education/a-focus-on-executive-function/

Additionally, we have invited Dr. Melissa Mariani from Atlantic Education Consultants to provide an in-depth look at the curriculum for Student Success Skills, with lessons focused on Social/ Emotional Learning. While they offer many different options for curriculum, her workshops are divided into grades PK- 5 and 6-12. To learn more about Student Success Skills, visit their website at https://studentsuccessskills.com/

We invite you to learn more and register for these workshops and all the others being offered on November 2, 2022, by visiting- https://www.wscaweb.org/conferences/2022-2023-annual-conference/preconference-workshops/