From the Chair: Empowering School Counselors

Words simply cannot express how excited I am to be authoring this letter to you today for our very first newsletter of the Magnolia State School Counselor Association – a chartered division of ASCA! I have had the honor and privilege of serving as a school counselor in Mississippi for 20 years now. Over those two decades, I have cherished working with students, teachers and community members to help students achieve, succeed and overcome. However, some of the greatest joy of my professional career has come from working alongside other school counselors to advocate for and support the profession I love. I truly believe that we, as school counselors, are uniquely positioned and qualified to make a positive difference in the lives of our students, our communities, our state and our world! The work we do as school counselors is vital and is more necessary and critical now than ever before.

Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” My hope and desire in the creation of this new association is that school counselors will be heard, valued and empowered with the support and guidance of ASCA as never before. I believe the affiliation and collaboration with our national association will make a difference for school counselors and the students we serve here in Mississippi. I am thrilled you have chosen to join the Board of Directors of the Magnolia State SCA and me on this journey. Although we are starting from scratch and I know we will have challenges and growing pains to contend with, I have full confidence that with our board and membership, we are on the precipice of great things!

Moving forward, I encourage you to be an ACTIVE member. Volunteer to serve on a committee, consider running for the board of directors, take part in webinars and invest in our organization. Our association needs your perspective, ideas and lived experiences to help us build a professional organization that supports school counseling professionals at all levels and areas of influence. The sky is the limit and we are surely off to great things! Thanks for joining us on this journey and do not hesitate to reach out at any time if I can be of assistance to you.

Contact Crystal Brewer, Magnolia State School Counselor Association chair, via the MSSCA website.