President's Letter: The Power of Partnership

Today’s students face tremendous challenges. As school counselors, you play a pivotal role in supporting student success. From academic achievement to personal growth, school counselors are central in fostering student development. So often, we focus on the direct services school counselors provide, but the truth is, the indirect work school counselors do – through consultation and collaboration – supports student achievement just as much.
 
Sometimes, the lines among specialists in schools are unclear. What does the school counselor do? How is the school counselor’s work different from the school social worker, school psychologist or school-based therapist? The truth is, it can look different depending on where you are in the state, and it can even vary from school to school. Regardless of who does what, partnering with other school service professionals and community resources is critical, as there will always be students and families who need more than we can provide on our own.
 
An excellent example of how community partnerships are having a positive impact across the state is through Project AWARE in Anderson, Lawrence and Lauderdale Counties. Project AWARE is a federal grant that provides funding for these districts in Tennessee to partner with community mental health resources to support mental health awareness, prevention and intervention. Although each county has had different outcomes, what I have found most encouraging across all three is the investment of youth in destigmatizing mental health issues and services.
 
You’re probably wondering: how can I support partnerships even if I don’t have grant funding to do so? That’s a great question! You’ll find excellent resources in this edition of the TSCA newsletter, including articles about community mental health resources and community partnerships.
 
Another excellent way to extend partnerships is through networking, and I would be remiss not to mention the TCA Annual Conference, which is rapidly approaching. This year’s conference will take place in Nashville, November 8-11. In addition to relevant breakout sessions and networking opportunities with counseling professionals from across the state, TSCA is excited to feature Dr. Russ Sabella as our pre-conference speaker! Register today at www.tncounselors.org/conference.
 
I look forward to seeing you at the conference in November!
 
Contact Joshua L. Stanley, EdD, NCC, TSCA president, at joshua.stanley@outlook.com.