March 2025

All Schools Have Education Gaps, That Is Why WSCA Encourages You to Submit a WSCPAR

For over 15 years, the Wisconsin School Counseling Program Accountability Report (WSCPAR) has been a continuous improvement document that provides school counselors with the opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to getting results and communicate how students are different due to the school counseling program at their school. The WSCPAR was created and maintained by the Wisconsin School Counselor Association (WSCA).

The WSCPAR is useful for counselors to:

• • Provide concise documentation of effective school counseling interventions
  • Reflect on the outcomes of action plans and assess the current school counseling program to improve, modify, or change services to students
  • Share data to foster relationships with administrators, staff, parents and the community
  • Demonstrate impact on closing achievement and opportunity gaps

• Advocate for programs that close gaps

• Demonstrates alignment with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model

 Check out the video of all the WSCPAR Program of Promise winners on the WSCPAR webpage to be inspired and learn more! Reach out to the WSCPAR Director, Cindy Bourget, at data@wscaweb.org.

Simple Interventions that Work

Sometimes we forget that some of the simplest interventions can be highly effective.  Here are a few favorites:

How the 3-3-3 Rule for Anxiety Can Calm Your Mind

Many of us struggle with anxiety in our daily lives, whether it’s due to work stress, personal challenges, or just the general chaos of the world around us. However, there are strategies we can use to cope with anxiety and keep it from overwhelming us. Enter: the 3-3-3 rule.

The 3-3-3 rule is a super simple technique that can help you regain control and calm your mind. It essentially requires you to identify three things you can see, three things you can hear, and three ways you can move your body.

“It’s basically a way of distracting yourself from your anxiety by shifting your attention to your senses,” says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at Clarity Clinic, Chicago. “By redirecting your focus away from anxious thoughts, it grounds you in the present moment,” says Leigh McInnis, LPC, executive director of Newport Healthcare in Virginia.

In this article, we’ll explore what the 3-3-3 rule is, how it works, and why it can be a game-changer for anyone looking to manage their anxiety more effectively.

The Power of Choice Making

Choice making is a powerful reinforcer. It is also an effective technique to increase student engagement and participation when it is used as an antecedent intervention.

Choice making can reduce challenging behaviors and increase communication, and it can also be used as a tool to effectively set expectations and set limits.

Respectful Redirection

Respectful redirection is a quick, in-the-moment strategy to give corrective feedback to students. You get your students’ attention without making a big deal about it, using a calm tone, neutral body language, and clear, concise wording. 

2×10 Strategy

A research-based strategy to build an authentic relationship AND decrease negative classroom behaviors. Score! Educational researcher, Raymond Wlodkowski, called this “the two-minute intervention” when he originally tested it and found it to be effective in many circumstances with students, reducing targeted students’ negative behaviors by 85% immediately following the intervention, and demonstrating an extra boost to the whole class’ behaviors. 

Operation Prevention

Did you know that for Americans age 18-45, the leading cause of death is fentanyl overdose? The addictive drug is responsible for nearly 70% of the United States’ 107,000+ drug overdose deaths in the past year and is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.  As we are preparing our students for adulthood, how do we ensure they are aware of the risks associated with substances that are commonly used by young people? The Hill shared that the “latest annual national survey, Monitoring the Future, found the use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and e-cigarettes among high schoolers is at its lowest level since the study began. Two-thirds of 12th graders in the survey, which included 24,000 students in total, said they haven’t used any of those substances in the last 30 days, and 90 percent of eighth graders and 80 percent of 10th graders said the same. That dovetails with other research, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found youth drug use fell from 2011-2021, with a particularly noticeable drop from 2019-2021. But while the pandemic-era decrease was not surprising — teen substance use is typically a social phenomenon — what experts do find pleasantly perplexing is the lack of a rebound in the years since.” How does your school support the proactive preventive work to help students make safe decisions when they leave your school system? Some resources to consider as you collaborate with your community and parents on the topic include:

Discover • Connect • Prevent

The DEA has joined forces with Discovery Education to provide no-cost online tools that support every member of the community with the power of prevention. Help kickstart life-saving conversations today with standards-aligned English & Spanish-language resources for students in grades 3-12, plus additional resources designed for educators, families, and professionals.

Real Talks Wisconsin and Dose of Reality Materials

Promote the Real Talks Wisconsin and Dose of Reality campaigns. Order free printed copies of posters and wallet cards to distribute in your community. Quantity limits on all items have been lifted and there is no limit on how many copies you can order. Click here to place your order by March 31, 2025, or until supplies run out. 

The Real Talks Wisconsin: Partner Materials and Dose of Reality: Partner Materials pages on our website feature additional resources you can use to promote these campaigns in your community, including social media shareables, radio advertisements, newsletter articles, and newspaper advertisements. 

The 2025 substance use prevention social media calendar also provides more content to share in your community.