President’s Letter: Year of Learning Ahead

Greetings and welcome back, school counselors!
 
I hope all of you had a much-deserved summer break and had the chance to practice self-care to rejuvenate for the upcoming school year. For those of you I have yet to meet, my name is Matt Liberatore and I am beyond humbled and excited to serve as your association president for the 2019-2020 school year. Eleven years ago, I made a decision to leave a successful electrical contracting business to follow my passion to become a school counselor and have an impact on the trajectory of student lives. Never did I imagine I would be serving as association president and as an administrator at Illinois’ largest high school district, dedicated to focusing on the advocacy of school counselors on a state and national level. It is a true honor to serve you as members and serve the profession. I look forward to getting to know many of you.
 
This is an exciting time for the Illinois School Counselor Association, and I know you will find great value in the year ahead. I am continually awed by school counselors’ dedication and devotion to students and their families. This summer, the ISCA Board of Directors was busy at work during the ISCA annual retreat. The energy at the retreat was electrifying, and I know this team will continue advocating on behalf of the amazing work of school counselors. Many ISCA members and board members have been working on and spearheading state and regional initiatives (see our second article), and I am proud to play a small part in this amazing organization.
 

 
We are extremely excited to announce our professional development series for 2019–20. This year we are transitioning to a single two-day annual conference located at the Tinley Park Convention Center on April 16 and 17. April 16 will consist of a workshop-style national trainer and speaker, with April 17 being a day of breakout sessions and collaborative learning. Moving to Tinley Park equates to ease of parking for our members, and the conference can be seen as a destination conference with great social networking on Thursday evening. It also allows for establishing partnerships with our neighboring state professional organization.
 
In regard to workshops, we are bringing in Allison Edwards, a nationally recognized speaker from Vanderbilt University, for a full-day workshop downstate at Collinsville High School on Monday, December 2 (register for 12/2 here). We also have Brett Zyromski coming to UTI in Lisle on Thursday, November 2, for a full-day workshop (register for 11/2 here). We also anticipate having a Fourth Edition ASCA National Model training highlighting the changes and how those changes impact your school counseling practices. We are finalizing details, so please be on the lookout for targeted workshop emails and sign up on the registration portal, located on the ISCA website. We believe strongly in professional development as the school climate and the work you do continues to evolve. We want you to be refreshed and invigorated to do important work.
 
Don’t hesitate to reach out to connect or get involved with ISCA. Social media is an important tool through which to document, promote and share your great work. Consider following ISCA on Twitter @MyISCA
 
I celebrate your great work and the exciting work ahead this school year. We are stronger together, and your impact on student’s trajectories is immeasurable. Have a wonderful year, and please take part in the fabulous professional development we have planned for you!
 
Contact Dr. Matt Liberatore, LCPC, ISCA president, at matthew.liberatore@d214.org  and follow him on Twitter @DrLiberatore