Counseling that Matters (GSCA 2024 Annual Conference)

Elementary

Inspired by my 80’s childhood and, more recently, the Let Grow Project, I have begun to incorporate lessons on Independence into my school counseling curriculum. Today’s students, overscheduled and over-fearful, are showing up to school more anxious and depressed than previous populations. The disruptions of COVID only exacerbated the problem. However, encouraging reasonable independence and conquering challenges adult-free can lead to increased resilience. Competence builds Confidence!!

All Levels

In the demanding field of education, it's crucial to prioritize the mental health and well-being of school staff. This presentation will explore examples of activities designed to support and promote staff mental health. Attendees will gain insights into practical strategies that can be implemented in their own school communities to foster a culture of well-being and resilience among educators.

High School

This session explores the essential role school counselors play in advancing Georgia's Dual Enrollment Accelerated Career Diploma (ACD) program. Attendees will gain insight into ACD’s framework, receive targeted strategies and tools for student engagement, and examine collaborative tactics with the Technical College System of Georgia. These techniques will allow attendees to better promote, recruit, and support ACD students, leading to higher graduation rates and preparing students for immediate, debt-free entry into Georgia’s skilled workforce.

All Levels

Inclusive Post-Secondary Educational opportunities exist for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Georgia and at more than 300 colleges and universities around the country. This presentation will discuss the academic rigor, social interaction, and career development fostered by these programs. 

Elementary

Mindfulness practice is an evidence-based SEL intervention that can be used at the elementary level to promote student skills of emotional flexibility, empathy, decision-making, increased attention and focus while reducing emotional reactivity, stress, anxiety and depression. This presentation will discuss the research and resources for evidence-based mindfulness interventions as well as ways to connect with the school community, school families, administration and teachers at Title 1 schools to provide support for integrative mindfulness practice.

All Levels

All Levels

Are you supervising a school counselor in training for the first time? Have you provided school counselor supervision for years and just need some new ideas? Both of these and more will be presented in this session on best-practices in school counselor supervision. Learn activities, interventions, and strategies that range from interpersonal process recall to spirituality to artwork to multiculturalism, all with a focus on fostering growth, cultural awareness, and adherence to ethical standards.

All Levels

Want to work smarter, not harder? Learn how to develop and implement an Excel Data Dashboard to monitor, intervene, and impact student achievement. In addition, department/course/teacher effectiveness can be measured through the use of the Data Dashboard.

High School

An innovative approach aimed at tackling vaping among high school students while emphasizing prevention strategies. The interventions centered on the importance of engaging with students who have been caught vaping, not just as disciplinary cases, but as individuals who can benefit from education and support. 

Elementary/Middle

Student well-being is integral to student success.  School Counselors from Ivy Creek Elementary and Jones Middle share how creating comprehensive counseling programs that equip students with resiliency skills, starting at five years and building upon those skills through eigth grade, prepares them for success Post Secondary and beyond . Collaborating to teach students problem solving skills, empathy, diversity and inclusion we foster resiliency in our students preparing them to navigate lifes challenges and overcome adversity.  

All Levels

Discover innovative ways to incorporate props into counseling for both individual and small group sessions. Emphasizing the significance of interactive engagement, this session offers valuable insights and practical strategies, utilizing props, tailored for school counselors to enrich their toolkit and foster dynamic interactions with students.

All Levels

School counselors are instrumental in tailoring support to fit each student's unique journey towards academic and postsecondary triumphs. The hallmark of a successful school counseling program lies in its ability to elevate all students' performance and to bridge gaps in educational achievements. This workshop is designed to empower school counselors with strategies to utilize the comprehensive school counseling framework effectively, enhancing their ability to positively affect student academic outcomes and overall wellness.

All Levels

This session reviews research linking student safety and mental health and provides suggestions for systemic solutions.  Developing systems of support, identification of concerns, and response not only supports mental health, but acts as primary prevention for potential acts of violence.  

High School

Are you looking for a way to support the mental health of your high school students? A calming space may be just what your counseling department needs. Gaining popularity in recent years, these retreat areas provide students with a short-term break.  They gain composure and are able to reenter the larger school with renewed strength. Come get ideas on how to start a program at your school with little to no resources.

Middle/High School

The primary purpose of this presentation is to provide best practices to engage students from various ethnic backgrounds within a high school setting to improve graduation rate. We will share a model for providing support for all students through the collaboration of student and community partnerships to support students. A planning model will be shared providing best practices to engage students from different ethnic groups to address SEL needs and improve the graduation rate.

Elementary

Welcome back for the 26th year of BOOK-A-HOLICS! We’re celebrating 26 years of school counselors using fantastic children’s literature to enhance our counseling programs! The self-proclaimed President of Book-A-Holics Anonymous is back to bring you dozens of children’s books and ideas for using them in your counseling program in this practical and fast-paced workshop! With a complete bibliography of books arranged by subject, you will leave with LOTS of ways to become a Book-A-Holic yourself!

Elementary/Middle

Participants will explore innovative ways to help students cope with challenges and develop resilience. Through interactive discussions and hands-on activities, attendees will learn to think creatively about counseling approaches, incorporating art, play, and other non-traditional methods. The session will emphasize the importance of meeting students where they are and tailoring interventions to their unique needs. By the end of the session, participants will have creative strategies to implement in their counseling practices for students.

High School

With 26 colleges and universities across the state, the University System of Georgia (USG) provides a wide range of opportunities for students to participate in dual enrollment while in high school and to continue their education after high school graduation. Join this session to learn more about the University System and the resources designed to help students and their families explore and pursue their postsecondary options in Georgia.

All Levels

While school counselors are providing CBT-based care to students experiencing anxiety, collaboration with teachers is imperative to effectively help students learn to manage their anxious feelings successfully. Hear how some of the most commonly used classroom and 504 accommodations may be doing more harm than good. Learn more effective, empowering classroom and 504 strategies to share with teachers and other school staff in order to help students build skills, reduce avoidance behaviors, and gain confidence.

All Levels

Community circles help create an environment that fosters a sense of community, belonging, and support.  Restorative circles help maintain that environment.  Conflicts arise in every classroom on a daily basis.  How can we use these circles to help students build resilience, empathy, and understanding of themselves and the world around them?

High School

The Promise Career Institute allows students to experience a transformative educational journey that goes beyond traditional high school education. Students take nine core academic courses while focusing their remaining coursework training in high-wage, high-skill, in-demand career fields. Through an innovative curriculum developed through our partnership with Atlanta Technical College, students can earn technical certificates of credit by taking college courses while enrolled in high school and graduate with an Accelerated Career Diploma. 

Elementary

Come dive in with data...don't be afraid to rock the boat! Are you looking for ways to support your school counseling program? Whether you are a novice or a veteran of the world of data, look no further! This session will explore the various ways to collect, utilize, and analyze data to guide your comprehensive school counseling program. 

High School

The Georgia Department of Public Health reports from 2019-2021, the total number of opioid-related overdose deaths increased from 853 to 1,718, an increase of 101%. These increases were driven largely by fentanyl. Students and parents must be educated to know the dangers of taking ANY pill. 

Dr. McDermott understands these dangers on a personal level, as her own son struggled with addiction, which led to his death by a fentanyl overdose in November of 2023.

Elementary

Calling all elementary counselors! Participants will learn how to hold an engaging and effective one hour career day based on the 17 Career Clusters.

Elementary

Play is the language of children. It’s how they learn; it’s how they communicate. It’s the most developmentally appropriate way to work with children. Play truly MATTERS. In this session, you will hear about how to utilize play centers in counseling lessons, play-based whole group lessons, and play-based small groups. Walk away with ideas you can implement when you return to your building!

All Levels

Discover how you can make your program more visible with various tools such as podcasting and a school counseling website. Learn ways to enhance your school's counseling department's visibility and make connections for professional development with other school counselors across your state.

All Levels

The impact of the stress and anxiety epidemic among our nation’s students is felt in all areas of the school experience. As school counselors, we have an opportunity to help students learn coping skills to manage stress, build resiliency, and practice strategies to de-escalate. By working with students experiencing stress and anxiety in small-group settings, we can teach students how to acquire healthy coping skills to return to calm and return to the classroom. 

Middle/High School

Come learn how to support your neurodivergent students. You will learn what neurodivergent encompasses, discuss the research, and have tangible tips and strategies for specifically supporting adolescents in the classroom and in the counselor's office. The primary aspects of neurodivergence will be on students with language based learning disabilities and comorbid disorders.

Elementary

School counselors are often asked to support attendance especially since attendance affects a school’s CCRPI score.  Attendance incentives and programs can be challenging in elementary settings because it is often tied to perceptions and practices from parents and caregivers.  COVID-19 has also impacted attendance across all levels with schools reporting widespread attendance issues that they did not have before the pandemic. Learn how an elementary school decreased chronic absenteeism by 30% in one year.

Middle

Historically Black Colleges and Universities offer diverse culture, eduction and experiences that many students are unaware of due to lack of exposure. This presentation aims to assist school counselors in combating prejudice and classist beliefs about these institutions while exposing their students to these spaces of higher learning. By equipping them with history, data and activities to introduce their students to HBCU’s.

Elementary

This presentation delves into the transformative impact of student leadership roles on student development, specifically focusing on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), academic achievement, and behavioral outcomes. By examining strategies and practical examples, participants will gain valuable insights into how intentional leadership opportunities can nurture students' holistic growth and contribute to a positive school climate.

All Levels

To provide impactful services that equitably serve all students, it is essential to show stakeholders why and how the work school counselors do matters. To share our impact, data and the presentation of data are essential tools. In this session, there will be a presentation of various methods of data collection that fit into the day of a busy school counselor as well as strategies to present this data and share it with various stakeholders. 

All Levels

“Encourage” means to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope. Students, school counselors, and school communities face challenges that jeopardize wellbeing. Anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and hopelessness often hamper our mission to provide students with counseling, instruction, and advocacy for career and life readiness. We can’t eliminate all fears, but we can use effective preparation to inspire courage and improve outcomes. In this session, we will use 8 Encouraging Es to disrupt fears with comprehensive action planning.

Elementary

As generations change, lifestyles evolve and students are becoming increasingly uninterested in counseling lessons. Join me as I introduce fun, hands-on, interesting, and relevant topics and classroom lessons to utilize in the elementary setting. Audience members will leave with information on engaging classroom lessons that can be implemented immediately. 

Middle/High School

Are you experiencing an increase in enrollment of multilingual immigrant students? Do you often wonder how you can best support multilingual learners? This session will provide information about immigrant students and their unique challenges. You will walk away knowing more about this population’s needs and how to integrate inclusive practices into your comprehensive school counseling program. Overall, this presentation will help support the climate and culture of your school from a multicultural approach.

Elementary

Trauma-affected students pose unique challenges to school counselors, especially after COVID-19. Children who have been raised with a history of trauma have learned to prioritize their safety by living in a state of hyperarousal, a subconscious preparedness to defend themselves. We will describe the characteristics of trauma-affected students' behavior in the classroom. We address ways for the school counselor to support these students.

Elementary/Middle

How many years can school counselors come up with Fresh Ideas for your counseling program?  At least SEVEN!  Join us for the 7th Annual Fresh Ideas for school counselors to hear from experienced elementary and middle school counselors in an engaging and exciting presentation of what works for them!  Ideas for classroom lessons, school wide programming, and individual counseling will be presented for you to take back to your school for immediate use!

High School

In today's educational landscape, understanding and addressing the unique needs of adolescent boys is critical. As counselors, our role extends beyond academic advising to providing holistic support that nurtures their emotional, social, and psychological well-being. This proposal aims to delve into the challenges faced by high school boys and present strategies for effective counseling, drawing from my experience working at an all-male high school.

All Levels

School counselors practicing in rural communities encounter unique elements in their schools and communities. Culture, values, history, expectations, connections, and the constant fish-bowl presence of practicing in a rual community present benefits and challenges. Join this interactive group to look at typical ethical dilemmas that occur in the work of school counselors in rural settings. Learn how to maneuver these ethical challenges while meeting student needs and providing counseling that matters in rural schools.

All Levels

This session aims to explore the ways in which students process grief through loss of loved ones. The purpose of the session is to take a deeper look into what exaclty takes place, how to identify the stages of grief/loss for students, and how to effectively assist students throough such a hard  and unpredictable time. 

All Levels

In this session, participants will go through the journey of a school counselor supporting students affected by cancer. Cancer affect more families frequently. Counselors can offer the best support for these students, and their families at school.  

A cancer survivor myself, in 2022  one of my students was diagnosed of stage 4 Osteosarcoma in 2022, I found ways to educate students about his diagnosis, advocate and support students directly affected by cancer. 

All Levels

As school counselors, we teach social-emotional and academic skills in classroom or small group settings even though not all school counselors have a background in teaching. This interactive presentation will show how school counselors can apply a step-by-step, intentional instructional design process, in conjunction with ASCA action plans, to design robust, impactful classroom lessons or small groups. Please bring an idea of something you would like to impact at your school to the session!

High School

It's not always where you start, but where you finish! Come hear from admissions representatives from several Georgia colleges and Georgia Transfer as well as 2 high school counselors about options that matter for your students! We have all worked with students who either didn't get into their first-choice college or decided too late to focus on their goals. Join us to learn all about the transfer opportunities available across the state-their possibilities are endless! 

All Levels

There is an increased need for mental health support for students, but school staff is seeing a shortage of clinicians. We must re-examine the role of school counselors as mental health professionals who are positioned and accessible to meet students’ mental health needs, because often they are the only individuals with mental health training in school settings. Having school counselors also licensed in mental health treatment, expands capacity to meet mental health needs for students. 

All Levels

"The Voice" is a reality TV show where data is blindly gathered about singers by listening to their voice. Like the show, our strongest skills are listening and our strongest data should come from prioritizing the voices of the students we serve. In order to not blindly follow data, we must rethink our approach to uplifiting student voice and explore interventions that ultimately impact student growth and outcomes. 

Elementary/Middle

Everyday we work with students who have experienced and/or are experiencing trauma. In this session, we'll explore the effectiveness of art and play therapy techniques in helping students process trauma. Once we've learned these techniques, we'll learn how to effectively implement them as school counselors with an already busy schedule. Whether you're a new counselor or a veteran, you'll come away from this session with fresh ideas and motivation to implement them.

All Levels

Opportunities for addictive and risky behaviors are escalating for our students, including drugs and alcohol, screens, disordered eating, social media, self-harm, and more. School Counselors can play a powerful role in preventing and intervening in self-destructive choices, starting as early as kindergarten. Gain a greater understanding of the toxic forces influencing risk factors, and proven approaches for helping our students develop addiction resistance, including tools and resources to use in individual, group, or classroom settings.

All Levels

Both mindfulness and solution-focused brief counseling are prevalent in counseling. Learn how to align the two approaches, integrating mindfulness-based interventions with a solution-focused approach.

All Levels

Effective change starts with data. In this highly engaging session, we will discuss the importance of collecting and analyzing data on student outcomes, unveiling opportunity gaps, and using this information to drive decision-making through tiered supports. This highly engaging session delves into innovative strategies and best practices to implement an equitable and accessible K-12 college and career readiness system for all students.

Middle/High School

School counseling involves “expecting the unexpected,” but what happens when multiple, unexpected, traumatic events impact your school community in a short period of time? How do you effectively counsel, while caring for yourself and your counseling team, when your school is in the news due to these events? This session will discuss complex collective trauma and will include school-wide, student-focused, and adult-focused social-emotional support using culturally relevant practices.

All Levels

Hop in the car and take a road trip with us through the journey that is implementing a comprehensive model. Stops include the benefits of a comprehensive model, the components of a comprehensive school counseling program and steps needed to implement a comprehensive school counseling program. Life is a highway full of potholes, speed bumps and traffice lights but with the right tools, it can be a smooth journey!

Elementary

As school counselors, we perpetually dash from one activity to another, striving to meet the diverse needs of our students. Yet, maintaining a toolbox brimming with captivating activities can prove challenging. Fear not! Join seasoned school counselors who will generously share a treasure trove of effective, ready-to-go activities. These gems can seamlessly enhance your classroom lessons, invigorate small group sessions, enrich individual counseling, and empower your peer leader programs.

Elementary/Middle

In the aftermath of COVID and with the constant accessiblity of technology, students come to school lacking essential social-emotional skills to successfully navigate a classroom. By implementing a condensed model of lessons specifically focusing on one skill like sharing, asking for help, or calming stratagies my school has seen improvements in student behavior and increased pro-social interactions. This presentation will detail lesson need, development, and process to allow counselors to immediately implement in thier schools. 

High School

This session will explore the ways in which school counselors can better prepare students for post-secondary success, specifically in the career and technical fields. Often limited by their own experiences and knowledge, school counselors tend to focus on 4-year academic degrees when discussing post-secondary options with students. However, Georgia's industry is CTE-focused, with a high demand for skilled workers. Partnerships and strategic planning will also be recommended.

Counselor Educator/Supervisor

This session is focused on bringing a standard of professionalism in school counseling. Participants will learn about supervision models specific to school counseling, how to conduct supervision sessions in schools, and how to maximize your potential as a professional school counselor. 

Middle

Military-connected students face many unique challenges in their educational journey. School counselors play a vital role in assuring the school climate is responsive to these students’ needs and celebrates their contributions to the school community. This presentation highlights how counselors can create a positive environment for military-connected students through school-wide initiatives, extracurricular activities, staff development, and military collaboration.