President’s Letter – DSCA: We Go Through

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year! It is my privilege to serve all of you as the president of the Delaware School Counselor Association, and I could not be more excited to keep my sleeves rolled up and continue working on furthering the progress of our profession in this great state.

I had the opportunity to attend multiple conferences this summer, and although all were educational and motivational, the National Education Association Representative Assembly left me completely awed and inspired. Sitting in that hall with more than 9,000 educators, I was able to witness and vote in favor of numerous new business Items that directly affect school counseling. From communicating the importance of the role of the school counselor, to advocating for the hiring of more school counselors, to decreasing student-to-counselor ratios, we have such a high level of support from the largest union in the world!

DSCA will continue to provide all Delaware school counselors with resources and professional development opportunities. This year, we will emphasize collaborating with other local organizations, legislators and community members in order to ensure that all Delaware public school students have access to school counselors. The Delaware State Education Association (DSEA) has agreed to assist us with resources when they can, and we have already begun having impactful conversations with professionals at DOE and local elected officials. DSCA has recently updated our mission and vision statements, which you can find at www.mydsca.org. As we finalize other important items in the coming weeks, such as goals for the year, we will communicate those to you.

We may be a small state, but we are strong. The students we work with are more resilient and creative than ever before, which is a testament to the example you all set as school counselors. The obstacles we overcome each day, week and year may never go away or get easier, but we continue to go through them with passion and positivity. Some of us are split between school buildings, but we go through. Some have resources cut, which increases our caseloads, but we go through. Some are asked to perform duties that should not be on our plates, but we go through. We experience our own hardships and losses in our personal lives, but find a way to put on smiles, and together we go through.

I feel the song “I Go Through,” by Of A Revolution (O.A.R.) in the video below perfectly portrays these sentiments.



As we begin this school year, I encourage everyone to make sure you are reserving time for self-care, to spend time with family and other loved ones, and to remind yourselves that we are all here for not only our students, but also for each other. Have a great start to the 2018-2019 school year! Delaware school counselors ROCK!
 
Contact Brandon J.S. Townsend, M.Ed., DSCA president, at brandon.townsend@mydsca.org.