President's Letter: Collaborators at Heart

We all know that our job is at times extremely difficult, frustrating and exhausting. Thankfully, we don’t always work alone. As the African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As school counselors, we rely heavily on resources in our communities. This edition of the Advocate suggests ways to improve collaboration within your community.

The American School Counselor Association has developed a position statement on school–family–community partnerships and the school counselor’s role. ASCA’s position opens with “School counselors have an essential and unique role in promoting, facilitating and advocating for collaboration with parents/guardians and community stakeholders.” Of course, we all know that community and family partnerships are essential for a successful comprehensive school counseling program. It’s the school counselor’s role to serve as an advocate and leader to ensure that these partnerships are truly collaborative and in the best interest of the students.

Also important is involving the student’s family in this process. It’s vital that school counselors work to remove barriers that could hinder the success of a partnership. We can avoid and resolve barriers such as miscommunication, mistrust and resistance. School counselors are more than equipped to handle such situations. It’s what makes our position unique within the school setting. This truly is a way for us to prove our worth as school counselors!

On a more personal note, this will be my last newsletter to you, the OSCA membership, as president of the organization. I thank all of you for entrusting me with this great honor over the last year. I really did enjoy being your representative for all things Ohio School Counselor-related on both the state and national levels. It has been the greatest privilege of my professional career and again, I sincerely thank all of you for this opportunity.
 
Contact Evan W. Jackson, LSC, LPC, OSCA president, at evanjackson@ohioschoolcounselor.org.