Building Bridges, Leading the Way to Student Success
By Brian Mathieson | November 2018
From February 27 through March 1, 2019, the Washington School Counselor Association will hold our next great conference. Every year, our annual conference continues to grow and improve and this year is no different. If you’ve never been, this is your opportunity to join your 800+ school counseling colleagues at the Doubletree by Hilton Seattle Airport.
To begin, our conference committee has secured three inspiring keynotes. I have seen one of Jeff Utecht’s keynotes on helping schools and parents understand the new connected culture students are growing up in today. He fundamentally changed how I think about the role of technology in students’ lives. For his keynote at our annual conference he is bringing a similar message but tailoring it to our members with input from his wife, who is a Washington state school counselor. Our second keynote speaker is Cesar A. Morales, Ed.D., who is superintendent for the growing Oxnard School District and a former middle school counselor. Among other accomplishments, Morales was recognized by EdWeek with the “Leaders to Learn From” Superintendent Award, a national recognition given in Washington, D.C. Last but not least, our speaker Akil Ross, Ed.D., was named the 2018 NASSP National Principal of the Year. All three keynotes are indicative of the fact that school counselors collaborate with many folks in schools to ensure student success.
Similarly, we carefully select our preconference sessions to ensure that you have the skills to implement comprehensive programs and serve all students. Nita Hill, who recently earned RAMP designation for the first elementary school in the state of Washington, will teach folks to implement their own comprehensive programs. Another one of our Washington state school counseling rock stars, Reagan North, will be back to teach beginning and advanced motivational interviewing techniques. The wildly popular Lyndsay Morris will teach us about proactive counseling practices and Kathy Masarie, M.D., will teach us about compassionate communication skills.
This year we received more requests to give breakout sessions than we could accommodate. Although saying no thank you is always tough for us, we select the very best breakout sessions based on your feedback and to address a balance of the three domains (college/career, academic and social/emotional).
If all this weren’t enough, we have a few other surprises in store including a new conference app, some recognition for our members and a visit from the American School Counselor Association as they promote ASCA Annual Conference coming to Seattle in 2020. This year’s conference is not to be missed. Access registration and details now. I hope to see you all there!
Contact Brian Mathieson, Ed.D., NBCT, WSCA president, at brianmathiesonwsca@gmail.com or on Twitter at @MathiesonBri.
To begin, our conference committee has secured three inspiring keynotes. I have seen one of Jeff Utecht’s keynotes on helping schools and parents understand the new connected culture students are growing up in today. He fundamentally changed how I think about the role of technology in students’ lives. For his keynote at our annual conference he is bringing a similar message but tailoring it to our members with input from his wife, who is a Washington state school counselor. Our second keynote speaker is Cesar A. Morales, Ed.D., who is superintendent for the growing Oxnard School District and a former middle school counselor. Among other accomplishments, Morales was recognized by EdWeek with the “Leaders to Learn From” Superintendent Award, a national recognition given in Washington, D.C. Last but not least, our speaker Akil Ross, Ed.D., was named the 2018 NASSP National Principal of the Year. All three keynotes are indicative of the fact that school counselors collaborate with many folks in schools to ensure student success.
Similarly, we carefully select our preconference sessions to ensure that you have the skills to implement comprehensive programs and serve all students. Nita Hill, who recently earned RAMP designation for the first elementary school in the state of Washington, will teach folks to implement their own comprehensive programs. Another one of our Washington state school counseling rock stars, Reagan North, will be back to teach beginning and advanced motivational interviewing techniques. The wildly popular Lyndsay Morris will teach us about proactive counseling practices and Kathy Masarie, M.D., will teach us about compassionate communication skills.
This year we received more requests to give breakout sessions than we could accommodate. Although saying no thank you is always tough for us, we select the very best breakout sessions based on your feedback and to address a balance of the three domains (college/career, academic and social/emotional).
If all this weren’t enough, we have a few other surprises in store including a new conference app, some recognition for our members and a visit from the American School Counselor Association as they promote ASCA Annual Conference coming to Seattle in 2020. This year’s conference is not to be missed. Access registration and details now. I hope to see you all there!
Contact Brian Mathieson, Ed.D., NBCT, WSCA president, at brianmathiesonwsca@gmail.com or on Twitter at @MathiesonBri.