This year’s Alabama Counseling Association (ALCA) motto is “Back to Life.” Part of renewing our spirit and getting “back to life” sometimes includes reminding ourselves of how far we have come and considering where we started. Alabama school counselors have come a long way in the past few decades. Perhaps you know the history of the Alabama School Counselor Association, but if not, let me fill you in on some interesting facts.
The Alabama School Counselor Association (ALSCA) received its charter from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) during the national convention of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) in New Orleans in 1970. The state constitution for ALSCA was adopted the previous year (1969). The first ALSCA membership dues were set at $1.00. What a deal! Our membership has grown from 132 in 1972 to close to 1000 members today. It is the largest of the ALCA divisions.
Plans were set into motion and goals were established. The goals of ALSCA would be:
To foster a close personal and professional relationship among school counselors and with counselors in other settings
To improve the standards of counseling and guidance services for students in kindergarten through postsecondary schools
To assume an active role in helping others understand and improve such services
To develop a close working relationship with state and local school administrators, educational associations and state agencies
To advance the profession of counseling in order to maximize the educational/academic, occupational, and person/social growth of each individual
To publish educational and professional materials
ALSCA still works to uphold those goals today. ALSCA continues to seek ways to foster relationships among school counselors, improve standards of counseling and advance the profession. One way we do that is through providing professional development opportunities.
I hope you were able to attend ALSCA’s third annual “Critical Issues in Alabama Schools” workshop. We had more than 500 attendees this year, including school counselors, counselor educators, Alabama State Department of Education employees, counselor supervisors, school administrators and other stakeholders. We hosted almost 50 presenters and 72 content sessions at the beautiful Birmingham Southern Campus. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees and many requested a two-day workshop in the future!
As this year’s ALSCA president, I assure you that we are committed to continuing to provide you with more opportunities for professional development, social networking and advocacy in the future. Looking ahead, you can expect the school counselor round up and new counselor workshop at the ALCA conference. I hope you will also consider joining us at the annual school counselor awards luncheon during the ALCA conference. We look forward to seeing you in Mobile and at more ALSCA hosted events soon!