President’s Letter: Grateful for Leadership

The VTSCA Board has been busy over the past few months planning upcoming events and training board members in new roles. With that said, I would like to acknowledge Kara Pawlusiak, who has stepped down from the VTSCA Board. Her time and dedication to VTSCA for many years as a past president and most recently as treasurer is very much appreciated. Julie Cleary, who has been our secretary for the past few years, has also stepped away. Both of these amazing school counselor leaders are looking forward to spending more time with their families, and we could not be more excited for them! Thank you both for your service to the VTSCA board! We welcome Phyllis Currao as our new Communications & Public Relations Chair and we thank Suzanne Francke for stepping into the role as our new treasurer. Thank you both! We are still looking to fill our secretary position, so if you are interested in joining the VTSCA board in any capacity, please know that our next board meeting is March 26 from 4:30-7:30pm at VSAC in Winooski. All VTSCA members are welcome to attend our open meetings either in person or via the web. Please contact me at vtsca.president@gmail.com if you are interested.

On January 30, I had the honor of attending the ASCA School Counselor of the Year Gala in Washington, DC to celebrate our 2019 School Counselor of Year, Patti Tomashot. (Pictured, Patti (at L) accepts her award from Katherine Pastor, ASCA board chair, and Richard Wong, ASCA executive director.) It was a beautiful event, and we are happy Patti was able to attend and be recognized by ASCA. Congratulations, Patti! If you would like to nominate a Vermont school counselor for one of the 2020 VTSCA Professional Awards including The James F. Cawley School Counselor of the Year Award, please do so by March 9th, 2020 on the VTSCA website.

Although we know most of you were gifted a snow day or two during National School Counseling Week, we hope you were able to continue to spread the good work of school counselors. The VTSCA board sent out postcards to all members, so we hope you took some time to write a note or two to your representatives. Thank you for advocating on behalf of all school counselors in our state and throughout the country.

Last, the VTSCA Public Policy & Advocacy Committee has announced a Day on the Hill! It will take place on Thursday, April 2, 2020. We hope many of you will attend this exciting event. Access more information such as registration, details of the day and a template for professional development request.

Keep up the good work you do as school counselors and remember to carve out time for yourself to fill your own cup! Taking care of ourselves and each other is important so that we can continue to be agents of positive change for our students.

Be well and let your light shine!

Contact Tara Cariano, VTSCA president, at vtsca.president@gmail.com.