January 2017

Executive Director Message:  School Counselors – Answering the Call to be Leaders

By: Stacy Eslick, WSCA Executive Director

The WSCA Coordinator team spent a beautiful fall Saturday together a few weeks ago to plan the annual WSCA conference.  It is an honor and privilege to work with such a dedicated, innovative and hardworking group of leaders.  As WSCA begins looking for new leaders on the Board of Directors and Coordinator teams, it is critical that we build capacity for School Counselor leaders across the state to fill these roles.

When you think of being a leader as a School Counselor, what does this look and sound like? Anita Young wrote an article in the July/August 2013 ASCA School Counselor Journal encouraging School Counselors to label their advocacy, partnership development and collaboration skills as leadership skills.  School Counselors tend to be a humble group, however, I challenge you to promote your leadership skills and be at the table on behalf of the students and families you serve.

Young shares “When school counselors accept the responsibility to lead, they are able to fully engage in transformative tenets and identify system barriers impeding academic success. School counselor leaders:

• use multiple strategies and resources to solve problems
• build partnerships and engage all stakeholders
• navigate through the politics of systems
• advocate for equitable services for all students with a courageous stance
• excel in the use of appropriate accountability strategies to challenge the status quo
• persuade colleagues and build consensus
• identify and accomplish goals with confidence
• exceed expectations when accomplishing tasks
• accept the responsibility to lead
• acquire a leadership mindset

Your challenges may be many; however, leadership will help you overcome the obstacles. Build your leadership capacity to increase your ability to analyze data, advocate for all students, collaborate to form partnerships and affect systemic change. Decide to lead.”

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/LeadershipSpecialist/BuildingLevel.pdf

If you have a leadership mindset please consider getting involved in WSCA, as our organization is dependent on your leadership to continue moving forward.

Warm regards,
Stacy

Angela Goebel

Assistant Board Chair Message: WSCA Elections

By Angela Goebel, WSCA Assistant Board Chair

It is time for advocates and upstanders.  It is time for school counselors.  It is time for WSCA 2017 Board Elections!  Our Elections Committee is preparing information to share with you about our prospective Board Candidates.

We are entering our second year with a new system for elections.  The election format allows current Board Members to select new candidates for the three open Board of Director candidate positions.  The elections committee is in the process of reviewing the candidate applications and selecting applicants that will best represent our Wisconsin school counselors.

Our Elections Committee will be looking for school counselors that are interested in having a significant impact on our profession and that will represent the diverse needs and perspectives within our state.  Our WSCA membership will vote in February for the slate of new Board Directors candidates.  If the membership votes are 85% for “yes”, the election for our three new Board Directors will be complete.

WSCA is a strong and amazing organization with which to be associated. The Board of Directors, in conjunction with our Executive Director and our Committees and Coordinators, works very hard to maintain the strength of the organization.  In part, it is through the amazing Board Candidates that are presented every year that we are able to maintain that strength.  We look forward to our membership participating in the WSCA elections process.

Please feel free to review the board of directors position description in order to better understand the roles and responsibilities. Additionally, to build understanding of the WSCA Board focus, please review the WSCA ENDS Policies. 

Transitioning Back to School After a Long Absence

By Jennifer Binneboese, School Counselor, Department Chair

Washington Park High School | Racine, WI

Students are absent from school for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes students will miss extended periods of school due to illness, hospitalization, truancy or even childbirth.  The transition back to school can be very difficult and requires support from the school staff.  School counselors play a key role in helping students have a smooth transition back to school and helping them feel safe and supported during this often vulnerable period of time.

One of the frequent reasons students miss school for an extended period of time is due to a hospitalization related to a mental health issue.  The local hospital where some of our students have been admitted for self harm, depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns, has an educational liaison who notifies us of admission and reaches out to the counselor to find out if there are any unique educational needs.  We are able to communicate with her about concerns we have had at the school recently and can email or fax schoolwork to her.  She communicates with us about the anticipated discharge date and if the student may discharge to a partial hospitalization program.  If the student is going to be returning directly to school, we try to schedule a meeting with the parents/guardian, student, school counselor, social worker, psychologist and possibly nurse if medication will be taken at school.  We discuss if the student’s schedule needs to be altered/reduced, whom the student can seek out for support in the building, what type of message the student and parent/guardian feel comfortable sharing with their teachers about their return, and how to utilize support staff as needed.  If the student didn’t receive all of their coursework while they were gone, we work with their teachers to obtain the missing work and set deadlines of when the work should be completed by.  In some instances, if the student transitions to outpatient treatment, we give the parent a release of information form so we can share school progress with their therapist and/or psychiatrist to help coordinate their care.

Our school district does have a population of school-aged parents.  We are fortunate enough to have a School Aged Parenting Program (SAPAR), which is available to all students under the age of 21, and includes three registered nurses.  Each of our three comprehensive high schools has one nurse assigned to the program, and they work closely with our expectant students and students who are current parents.  When a student has a baby, she is excused from school for up to six weeks.  Some students do return to school sooner, but some do need the six weeks for recovery.  Some students are out longer than the six weeks because they have to be on bedrest leading up to the birth.  Depending on how long they need to be on bedrest, we will see if the student qualifies for homebound services.  Usually the student, SAPAR nurse, social worker and counselor work together as the student’s due date nears to communicate with teachers and get schoolwork for the student.  The SAPAR nurse brings work from school to the student’s home.  Depending on the time of the year that the student is going to deliver and be out of school, things like final exams may need to be adjusted or exempted.  Sometimes, as a counselor, I meet with the student, parent and SAPAR nurse to discuss what the student’s schedule should look like.  This might include changing their physical education class to a different semester or having the student take the class online.  These minor schedule tweaks can help students tremendously.

When we have a student who has been chronically truant, we try every way we can to get in touch with the parent/guardian.  When we finally connect with the parent/guardian, we try to set up a meeting with the counselor, social worker and sometimes the assistant principal.  We will discuss why the student hasn’t been at school and brainstorm ways to remove these roadblocks in order to get the student to school.  These roadblocks could be transportation, issues in specific classes, bullying/harassment, illness or mental health issues.  Often, students have missed so much school and gotten so far behind in their classes that they have given up and see returning to school as pointless.  As a counselor, I review their transcript and help them determine how far behind they really are.  I discuss alternative programs that might be available to them in the district.  If it is a diagnosed medical or mental health issue, we may look at if a 504 plan is appropriate.  There have been times that I have given a student a reduced schedule for the remainder of the semester in order to get them back into the building and enrolled them in after school credit recovery and/or virtual learning courses to help supplement their reduced schedule.  This has helped get the student back in the building and back into a routine of coming to school daily. It is important to check with your district policies to determine what criteria is required to be eligible for a reduced schedule.

While we know that no plan or protocol is a one size fits all, being willing to think outside the box and advocate for what is best for that student can help make the transition back to school after an extended absence easier for a student.  That transition back to school is always going to be difficult, but as a counselor, letting the student know that you are available for them and willing to help advocate for what is in their best interest shows them they have someone in their corner when they come back to school.

Tricia Norby

Director Spotlight

Tricia Norby, WSCA Director

I am excited to serve on the WSCA board and after six months it seems a little less scary! The road that led me here has been filled with twists and turns. After college, my husband and I decided to attend graduate school in Chicago. I wasn’t aware that in IL you had to be a licensed teacher for two years before entering a school counselor program. Since I wasn’t interested in community counseling, I transferred schools and started a dual education program (teacher certification and MA in educational leadership). After finishing my masters, we moved back to Wisconsin where I found out that I wasn’t eligible to teach without another year and a half of schooling and six more weeks of student teaching.  Ugh. I decided to take a few years off and stay home with my two kids and become a foster parent. After six years, 28 foster kids, and another child of our own, I was asked to help start a local preschool. For four years I was lead teacher at a Christian preschool. During the 3rd year, I decided that if I was going to follow my original dream of being a school counselor, I had better get to it! I went back to school and graduated in 2010 with my MS in School counseling. I had two long-term substitute counselor positions and was then hired by Catholic Charities as an AODA program coordinator and school counselor.

I have been a part-time school counselor at St. James School in downtown Madison for over five years and coordinate the school counseling program for Catholic Charities (as part of my role as Coordinator of Family Programs). Last year, I also finished my 3000 hours and became a Licensed Professional Counselor, opening a private practice over the summer. Of all the different hats that I wear professionally, my favorite days are those I spend at St. James School. I love being a school counselor and I feel that those of us in private schools have been underrepresented in our state association in the past. We have some unique challenges when it comes to support and funding but have the gift of being able to reach our students in a way that isn’t an option at public schools. Since we serve students 3K-8, I am able to see the tremendous growth that occurs during this span and get to know our school families very well.

Being a part of the WSCA board has been a tremendous asset in the work I do as a school counselor. Being a leader in my school and now for the profession will help as I advocate, statewide, for the mental health needs of all students, including those in private schools.