President's Letter: Connecting Beyond Your Building

Greetings! I know you have been very busy helping students navigate high school, achieve success, and plan for the future! The relationships you build will have a lasting impact on your students, their futures and your communities. As counselors, we know how important relationships are and we know that, to best help our students, we have to get out there and build relationships with key stakeholders both in our building and out. Building and increasing our networks will provide a wealth of resources to draw upon to help provide our students with the best opportunities and needed supports. I know many of you have been out doing just that: expanding your networks. You are seeking out the expertise of your parents and community members to come share with your students the skills and experiences they need for an array of careers. You are making meaningful relationships with local businesses and service providers so that you can maximize and strengthen the network and safety net around our students. For this, I thank you!
 
 I encourage you to continue to step out of your building and introduce yourself to two or three new stakeholders in your school community. Share with them the mission and vision of your counseling department and talk about how they can support you in helping students be their best selves and prepare them for bright futures. If you are looking for examples of stellar counselors at work, you don’t have look far.

• Kathryn Sadowski, school counselor at Brunswick High School, took advantage of the manufacturing externship and completed her experience at Rich Products; she described it as an amazing and eye opening experience. Kathryn and the many other counselors that embarked on externships this summer understand that establishing and maintaining a relationship with our local industries and businesses is key if we want to expand and deepen career experiences and exploration for our students.
• Torri Jackson, immediate past president of GSCA, and Dawn Mann, ASCA National School Counselor Finalist, work to build relationships with legislators to help educate and keep our decision-makers current on the role and impact of school counselors.
• Counselors like Katie Fields and Ashley Thomas of Craig Elementary School invite dads to sign up for opportunities to volunteer with their counseling department. They know, like we do, that parental involvement is critically important to student success.

I know many of you have relationships with local mental health professionals to help build a wider net of support around some of our most fragile students. These connections and relationships are so important for students. As you continue to influence and impact your students throughout the year, I challenge you to expand your network of collaboration by reaching beyond the walls of your schools and to make two or three new stakeholder connections! Thank you for the important work you do everyday helping students succeed…#ItsAMindset!
 
Contact Tinisha Parker, GSCA president, at tinisha@gaschoolcounselor.org.