President’s Letter: Showing Up

School counselors are showing up for each and every one of their students everyday. They show up for them to help with their academic needs, career planning, and personal support. They show up as part of multidisciplinary teams to help other stakeholders address the needs of their students — while simultaneously helping the other team members with their needs, too. But there is so much more for school counselors to show up to.
 
School counselors need to continuously show up for professional development beyond the scope of their graduate degrees. They need to show up for any and all of the three professional development events the New Jersey School Counselor Association offers each year — the annual conference in the fall and the winter and spring professional development days. They also need to show up for the ASCA national conferences. Sadly, I know many school counselors who worked entire careers without attending even one ASCA event. By not showing up, they are missing out on opportunities to learn how the profession is evolving, new tools, and the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals who want to improve their knowledge and skills. They are missing out on opportunities to feel reinvigorated and renewed by these professional events. Bottom line: by not showing up, they’re really missing out on a lot, and so are their students.
 
School counselors need to show up for their professional organizations. There are 19 county associations throughout New Jersey as well as the NJSCA. Of course, there is also the national organization, ASCA. These organizations are focused on promoting excellence in school counseling by providing professional development as well as advocating for the development of students and our profession.
 
So, school counselors, continue to show up for each and every student in your buildings. But show up at the next NJSCA or your own county’s professional development events. Show up to be on a committee to select the next scholarship winner or the next school counselor of the year. Show up to be a full member of this awesome profession.
 
Contact Carl Palmer, NJSCA president, at campalmer1@gmail.com.