From the Past President: A Sense of Community

If you look up “community” in the dictionary, you’ll see it is a group of people with a connection. Often this connection is as simple as geography. A definition that I am particularly drawn to is that the connection is a shared interest or ideology. If you’re reading this, most likely you are part of the school counseling community and even more specifically, part of South Dakota’s school counseling community. A group of like-minded individuals, drawn together not just by a profession, but by a calling. We believe in helping students discover their passions, helping them make better choices, helping them recognize that we peacefully co-exist with one another and helping them realize that they are amazing individuals who are both special and cared for.

The many ways that we help students help themselves is not confined to our school building or campus. As part of a team that includes not only the students but often their families and other school personnel, we foster a community united in a mission to care for and prepare the next generation. While the school building brings these people together, it’s not where the community ends. As school counselors, we utilize programs in our communities to help students who may be going hungry over the weekend or get families connected with mental health providers. We even aid in connecting students to postsecondary educational programs. To best serve our smaller school community, we must be willing to reach out and connect with our local, state and even national communities.

A great way to connect yourself with the various communities is by doing what you are doing right this moment: being part of another community – your professional organizations. While I am obviously biased, membership in groups like SDSCA and ASCA help get you connected and keep you connected with services and organizations that benefit your students. They help you through professional development opportunities to grow in your knowledge and skill, which helps your students. Events like the upcoming 9^th Annual Counselor Connections Workshop (November 3 and 4 in Brookings; click here to register) connect you with a larger community of allies through networking and camaraderie. So many of us are alone in our buildings that we benefit greatly from growing a community of colleagues who know about life as a school counselor, because they are living it as well.

I thank you kindly for your membership in SDSCA and I hope that being a part your professional association is only one of the ways you use the many communities out there for your benefit beyond those students, families, and staff with whom you share a school community. As Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Jeff Heavlin is 2017-2018 SDSCA past president and a school counselor at Oscar Howe Elementary in Sioux Falls. Contact him at jjheavlin@yahoo.com