President’s Letter: Change Agent for All Students

School counseling as a profession embarked on a journey started more than 50 years ago by ASCA, and GASC has shared this journey for only 15 years. This journey entails being assigned non-school counseling tasks such as scheduling, coordinating district-wide assessments, and screening or diagnostics of mental health concerns, to name a few, or being assigned tasks that are not part of the school counselor standards and competencies as defined by ASCA. In these challenging times, each of us is called to be an agent of change for others – our students – while we are also challenged to take care of our school counseling profession and advocate for what is appropriate, relevant and just.

We are school counselors and we deserve to be led by a professional school counselor or a master school counselor (as per Guam Commission on Educators’ Certification (GCEC) guidelines) who can direct us into the 21st century and implement the ASCA National Model 4.0 and ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards for all students. Our professional identity shifted from being a “guidance counselor” who is seen as peripherally functioning in isolation to being a school counselor who is data driven and a dynamic influence to effect change in the lives of all students.

Our professional identity as school counselors inspires us to lead, advocate, collaborate and be agents of change.

• We effect change in our students’ lives as seen in their student learning outcomes, behavior, attendance and academic achievement.
• We lead and conduct classes to address bully prevention, mindfulness meditation, yoga4classroom, self-management and regulation, and conflict resolution skills to build a positive school environment.
• We advocate for students to be treated fairly and to extend services to all students in need and refer them to appropriate agencies.
• We prepare our students for college or training for a specific future career.
• We collaborate with stakeholders to implement a comprehensive school counseling program, an appropriate endeavor for all school counselors given the proper on-site training and just funding for resources and conferences on- and off-island.

It is in this context that we need all GASC members to be part of this journey by being empowered to volunteer in our committees – membership, professional development, ways and means, research/publication, bylaws and advocacy. Please feel free to share your time, talents and treasure to help move our association forward.

Moving forward also means that we are serious about implementing the ASCA National Model fourth edition and we are humble enough to say we do not yet fully grasp it but we are part of this journey. A new effort is forthcoming. GASC is preparing to award our very first school counselor of the year on Guam. Your GASC board and officers are working hard to plan these activities: March conference, ASCA Echo sessions, training, general assemblies, school counselor of the year, attending ASCA19 and Leadership Development Institute, meetings with collaborators and possible partners in sponsoring appropriate events. Let us be involved and learn how to be more efficient and effective school counselors guided by ASCA ethical standards and principles. Be empowered to be an agent of change for our school counseling profession and for all students.

Contact Estela L. Calata, GASC president, at elcalata@yahoo.com.