President’s Letter: Learning and Connecting with NvSCA

It seems as if we blink and the end of the school year is upon us! What a year it has been – the good days, the hard days, the “what am I doing” days, the celebratory days – all are important and allow us to grow personally and professionally. I hope you can take time to reflect on this year to honor your achievements and to make a plan for setting professional goals for growth.

Our 2019 NvSCA conference took place the first weekend in March at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. A record-breaking number of school counselors – just under 300 – attended from across the State. It was great to see so many school counselors from public, private and charter schools! We were honored to have Dr. Jesus Jara, Clark County School District superintendent, and Linda Cavazos, Clark County School District trustee, kick off the conference with sincere words of understanding and acknowledgement regarding the critical work school counselors provide to our students each day. NvSCA looks forward to continuing to partner with district leadership from across the State. Dr. Eric Sparks, assistant director of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), also spoke at the opening session to provide us with updates and officially release the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies at OUR conference! We truly appreciate all the support, time, and assistance that Dr. Sparks and all the members of the ASCA staff have provided to our association.

At the conference, school counselors heard from three inspiring keynote speakers: Tara Rolstad, Dr. John Hodge and Cass Dykman. Each session energized attendees and provided knowledge and strategies to improve their counseling skills. The break-out sessions on a variety of topics were engaging and informative throughout the two-day conference. A highlight of the NvSCA conference is recognizing the NvSCA School Counselor of the Year. This year, Julia Bush from CCSD Burkholder Middle School was the recipient of this honor. Julia’s hard work, dedication, and spirit are contagious and we are privileged to have her making an impact on students’ lives every day! Her acceptance speech was so inspiring that we decided to share it with you in this newsletter. Read more about Julia and her work in this Review Journal article.

Another special moment from the Awards Breakfast was the recognition of past NvSCA presidents – seeing those who built the foundation of our association was truly magical and we were honored to acknowledge their hard work and dedication. I am grateful to Ken Basinger and all the members of the conference committee who worked so hard to make the conference so successful. We look forward to seeing everyone in Reno for the 2020 NvSCA Conference! Let’s shatter this year’s attendance record!

On a personal note, this has been an incredible year serving as your NvSCA president. I have had so many amazing opportunities to build new friendships, advocate for the best profession and grow professionally! I was honored to work with an amazing NvSCA Board that I cannot thank enough for their hard work and dedication to this association. They spent countless hours on conference calls, Google hangout, sending emails and texts to each other throughout the year to do our best for NvSCA! I also thank all of you for your support and the motivation you provided me as we worked to make NvSCA as strong as possible. It has been a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing what is to come!

Contact Kristin Barnson, NvSCA president, at kristinbarnson@gmail.com.