President’s Letter: Unlocking Our Potential

Welcome to the 2018-19 school year! I don’t know about you, but I love new beginnings and opportunities to implement both new ideas and old ideas in new ways. The theme for this year’s ALSCA Governing Board is “Unlocking Our Potential.” A new school year provides a wonderful time for us to recommit to growing as professionals and to advocating for both our profession and our students. If we commit to these two things, we can unlock not only our potential to impact others in a powerful way, but also our students’ ability to succeed and take the next steps on their journey.
 
From brand new school counselors to veterans in the field, we must all be committed to ongoing, intentional and meaningful professional development. We must also be committed to hearing and learning from each other. So many amazing people are doing outstanding work in schools across our state. As veteran counselors, we must be just as willing to listen and learn from new counselors as we are to provide direction and advice. By putting our vantage points together, we can make a difference in the lives of others, most notably in the lives of our students. One of our assets in Alabama is that we have so many different types of communities, school districts and schools. Although making a difference or impact in some areas of our state may seem harder than in others, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” If we embrace this belief, we will undoubtedly make a difference!
 
This summer, I had the opportunity to grow professionally and as a state leader. I attended ALCA’s summer executive board meeting and am very excited to be working and learning alongside so many terrific leaders from across our state. I also traveled with other ALSCA governing board members to Los Angeles in July for ASCA’s Leadership Development Institute, Delegate Assembly, and Annual Conference. This was a fantastic time for growth and learning as we met with leaders from all 50 states. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at Critical Issues, September 13-14 at Birmingham-Southern College, and at the ALCA Annual Conference, November 14-16 in Birmingham.
 
I am very humbled and honored to be serving as your 2018-19 ALSCA president and look forward to working with our amazing school counselors, school counselor supervisors and school counselor educators throughout the upcoming school year. We have a wonderful group of advocates in our state at all levels, and my hope is that we will lean in to this new year with openness to new ideas and new approaches. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of your ALSCA Governing Board members should you need us. I hope you have a fabulous year and grow and learn in ways you didn’t imagine possible!
 
“Educate patiently. Advocate Passionately. Inspire Consistently.” ~ Anonymous
 
Contact AnnaGrace Baldwin, Ed.S, LPC, ALSCA President at abaldwin@homewood.k12.al.us