PSCA's Annual Conference Returns to Hershey
By Emilia Peiffer | January 2023
Pictured above from left: Eric Hagarty; Houston Kraft and Emilia Peiffer; Steve Sharp, Kat Pastor, Emilia Peiffer and Dr. Wendy Rock
We were so happy to return to the newly refurbished Lancaster Host in Lancaster for our 67th Annual Conference! This year’s conference was not only held in person, but also offered a virtual option. Much excitement was in the air as we gathered for quality professional development, networking opportunities and a much-needed respite.
We kicked off with our pre-conference on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. The topic of the pre-conference was a Youth Mental Health Summit, which addressed the mental health challenges encountered by students in our schools and offered several strategies to combat this growing problem. PSCA brought together not only school counselors, but school social workers, school psychologists, behavioral healthcare professionals, legislators and many others to share their resources and knowledge in supporting student attendance. The highlight was Mary Pritchard from Aevidum who brought a panel of students who are currently involved in this club at their schools. We were honored to have Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer deliver the keynote address, “The Kids Are Not Alright: Building Support Systems That Meet Them Where They Are.” We hope that our continued partnership with other student support professionals will help to increase awareness and student outcomes in the area of mental health.
Day 1 of the conference on December 8 kicked off with a welcome from PSCA Board Chair Jennifer Kirk, followed by an address by the Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty. He made an appearance to welcome all those in attendance and to reiterate the importance of school counselors in education. Next, Houston Kraft, whose book “Deep Kindness” influenced our conference theme of “Kindness Changes Everything,” was the Keynote speaker. Every conference attendee received a complimentary copy of his book. Afterward, participants engaged in workshops that included advocacy, ethics, evaluations, career development and self-care, and had the chance to observe eight graduate student poster sessions.
PSCA honored several outstanding school counselors and affiliates at the recognition luncheon. Among them were PSCA’s School Counselor of the Year, na’Khia Washington (above left). Other recognitions went to Dr. Matthew Nice from IUP for School Counselor Educator of the Year, Barry Duerr from the University of Pittsburgh for Advocate of the Year (above right, with nominator Nicole Levis), and Michael Baughman, Administrator of the Year. Hayley King and Carmen Rodi were awarded the Bill Lee Leadership Grant as first-time attendees of a PSCA conference. Congratulations to all of our award winners! A special shout-out went to Matthew Shervington-Jackson (below left), who was named as one of ASCA’s five finalists for School Counselor of the Year! PSCA also recognized Lezlie DelVecchio-Marks (below right) for achieving the RAMP “School of Distinction” designation for her school counseling program at Burchfield Primary School.
Thursday evening capped off with a visit to our exhibit hall for a Fun Night sponsored by Smart Futures where attendees could network and win some great prizes. PSCA was proud to have more than 60 exhibitors in the exhibit hall and to have four platinum conference sponsors for the first time ever! Those sponsors were
The final day of the conference brought another welcome from a representative from PDE, Dr. Tanya Garcia from the office of postsecondary and higher education. She reminded us of the equity and access issues experienced by our most vulnerable students. Then, keynote speaker Dr. Wendy Rock addressed the importance of advocating for our profession as an ethical responsibility of all school counselors, as we welcomed administrators to our conference on this day. Other notable workshops on Friday focused on becoming a culturally competent school counselor, executive functioning skills, gender support plans, universal screenings, emerging leaders and the new PA Diamond Recognition program.
As we left Lancaster, we reflected on the topics we learned about, the people we met and reconnected with, and what a success our conference was. If you’d like to receive more quality professional development, mark your calendars for our virtual spring conference on March 24, 2023. More information to come!
We were so happy to return to the newly refurbished Lancaster Host in Lancaster for our 67th Annual Conference! This year’s conference was not only held in person, but also offered a virtual option. Much excitement was in the air as we gathered for quality professional development, networking opportunities and a much-needed respite.
We kicked off with our pre-conference on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. The topic of the pre-conference was a Youth Mental Health Summit, which addressed the mental health challenges encountered by students in our schools and offered several strategies to combat this growing problem. PSCA brought together not only school counselors, but school social workers, school psychologists, behavioral healthcare professionals, legislators and many others to share their resources and knowledge in supporting student attendance. The highlight was Mary Pritchard from Aevidum who brought a panel of students who are currently involved in this club at their schools. We were honored to have Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer deliver the keynote address, “The Kids Are Not Alright: Building Support Systems That Meet Them Where They Are.” We hope that our continued partnership with other student support professionals will help to increase awareness and student outcomes in the area of mental health.
Day 1 of the conference on December 8 kicked off with a welcome from PSCA Board Chair Jennifer Kirk, followed by an address by the Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty. He made an appearance to welcome all those in attendance and to reiterate the importance of school counselors in education. Next, Houston Kraft, whose book “Deep Kindness” influenced our conference theme of “Kindness Changes Everything,” was the Keynote speaker. Every conference attendee received a complimentary copy of his book. Afterward, participants engaged in workshops that included advocacy, ethics, evaluations, career development and self-care, and had the chance to observe eight graduate student poster sessions.
PSCA honored several outstanding school counselors and affiliates at the recognition luncheon. Among them were PSCA’s School Counselor of the Year, na’Khia Washington (above left). Other recognitions went to Dr. Matthew Nice from IUP for School Counselor Educator of the Year, Barry Duerr from the University of Pittsburgh for Advocate of the Year (above right, with nominator Nicole Levis), and Michael Baughman, Administrator of the Year. Hayley King and Carmen Rodi were awarded the Bill Lee Leadership Grant as first-time attendees of a PSCA conference. Congratulations to all of our award winners! A special shout-out went to Matthew Shervington-Jackson (below left), who was named as one of ASCA’s five finalists for School Counselor of the Year! PSCA also recognized Lezlie DelVecchio-Marks (below right) for achieving the RAMP “School of Distinction” designation for her school counseling program at Burchfield Primary School.
Thursday evening capped off with a visit to our exhibit hall for a Fun Night sponsored by Smart Futures where attendees could network and win some great prizes. PSCA was proud to have more than 60 exhibitors in the exhibit hall and to have four platinum conference sponsors for the first time ever! Those sponsors were
- The Milton Hershey School
- Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters
- Smart Futures
- Shippensburg University
The final day of the conference brought another welcome from a representative from PDE, Dr. Tanya Garcia from the office of postsecondary and higher education. She reminded us of the equity and access issues experienced by our most vulnerable students. Then, keynote speaker Dr. Wendy Rock addressed the importance of advocating for our profession as an ethical responsibility of all school counselors, as we welcomed administrators to our conference on this day. Other notable workshops on Friday focused on becoming a culturally competent school counselor, executive functioning skills, gender support plans, universal screenings, emerging leaders and the new PA Diamond Recognition program.
As we left Lancaster, we reflected on the topics we learned about, the people we met and reconnected with, and what a success our conference was. If you’d like to receive more quality professional development, mark your calendars for our virtual spring conference on March 24, 2023. More information to come!