Leading and Advocating by Example
By Julia Bush | April 2019
Below are excerpts from Julia Bush’s acceptance speech for NvSCA school counselor of the year, given at the NvSCA Conference in March 2019. Bush is a school counselor in Clark County School District.
This whole counselor award has been such a surreal experience. One day in early September, after putting in three new students, finishing up from a suicide protocol, numerous schedule changes, answering phone calls about “my kid wanted band not orchestra,” I was contemplating how I could make it through the year by myself against 660 of those looney middle schoolers. As I was seriously considering seeking other employment, I see Ken Basinger’s name flash across my phone. Ken knows I can’t and won’t say no to him, so I’m thinking, “Oh no, do I answer it?” “What committee is Ken going to ask me to do and how can I possibly say no?” After patiently listening to me go on and on about how I can’t do any more, he asked if I would accept a nomination for school counselor of the Year. Darn it, he got me again. Hooked me again, just on the day I was going to resign and hope that Starbucks was looking to add people with much “life experience.”
In Nevada, as many of you already are aware, we have some of the highest counselor-to-student ratios in addition to unequal access for students of color and students from low income families, as seen in February 2019, “School Counselors Matter” from research done by The Education Trust. These statistics really introduce what I hope you can take away from listening to me today: advocacy, leadership, collaboration and systematic change.
Each of us is very good at advocacy for our students. What we aren’t as good at is advocating for ourselves and our profession. Most of us go about our day, doing what we do. It is surprising how many people in the general public don’t know what we do and how our profession has evolved from when they were young and in school. Some of our most in-need families don’t tell others how much we do for them due to the confidential work. Or we think its “tooting our own horn.” We need to get in the habit of practicing advocacy. You are demonstrating advocacy right now by being here. Make sure you join NVSCA and ASCA each year. Volunteer to speak to your parent groups. Meet with your stakeholders. Put information on your websites and send out emails with resources to families. Practice tooting your horn.
Leadership goes hand and hand with advocacy. The question we must keep in the forefront is, “How are our students different as a result of what we do?” Leaders don’t have to be bossy, although I am. Many of us lead by example of how we treat people and how we conduct ourselves. We lead by joining a committee, advising a club, being on the School Organizational Team or School Improvement Committee. We lead by taking on interns and practicum students and passing on our knowledge, as they teach us about new technology. We lead by always putting our students first. Leading doesn’t always mean doing it ourselves, which brings me to collaboration.
Collaborating with other school counselors makes working smarter and not harder – another reason that joining committees and organization in the long run will benefit you and your program. There is a wealth of knowledge in each building, as well. I could not possibly survive without the school nurse, school psychologist, learning strategist, special ed facilitator, the advisors of the Leadership class, admin, office staff and custodians. To be truly part of a collaborative team benefits everyone. I am fortunate to have that at Burkholder and with so many of you I see here today. Over the years I have had the opportunity to forge relationships with community organizations, churches and businesses that love contributing time, expertise, school supplies and basic needs for our students.
When I first began in CCSD in 1996, we were just drabbling in that thing called Interact. For you newbies, that was our first email within CCSD. Many were opposed because they felt it was better to either write a note to everyone or tell the person face to face. After a couple years we couldn’t imagine life without Interact. This is an example of a systemic change. Mark Connelly from University of Wisconsin in Madison discusses systemic change as “All systems organize individual pieces into some sort of interrelated whole.” Put simply, systemic change occurs when change reaches all or most parts of a system, thus affecting the general behavior of the entire system. However, systemic change is often difficult to envision, let alone encourage, because people generally find it easier to focus on the parts than on the systems that connect those pieces. Difficult to envision and sometimes difficult to achieve because we are unable to control thoughts, feelings and actions of others. But with a data-driven counseling program, built on a solid needs assessment of all stakeholders with a focused mission and vision, and through advocacy, leadership and collaboration, systemic change will occur.
My vision is for all students in our state to have access to a school counselor with whom a relationship can be built and that the counselor will have the ability to deliver a comprehensive counseling program to address social/emotional, academic and career mindsets and behaviors for all.
It’s my 23rd year in CCSD; it sounds absurd to even say it because it has gone so fast. Nothing is more fulfilling than encountering a former student in the community and seeing what he or she has decided is their passion, and how they are using their gifts. As school counselors we have a truly remarkable job with a lot of responsibility. We can never fully comprehend how one interaction or one kind exchange can be a game- and life-changer for a student. When I see a 30-something around town and they tell me they still use their Kelso’s Choices, I can’t help but giggle, but it really makes me remember why we do what we do. I am truly humbled and honored to have received this award.
This whole counselor award has been such a surreal experience. One day in early September, after putting in three new students, finishing up from a suicide protocol, numerous schedule changes, answering phone calls about “my kid wanted band not orchestra,” I was contemplating how I could make it through the year by myself against 660 of those looney middle schoolers. As I was seriously considering seeking other employment, I see Ken Basinger’s name flash across my phone. Ken knows I can’t and won’t say no to him, so I’m thinking, “Oh no, do I answer it?” “What committee is Ken going to ask me to do and how can I possibly say no?” After patiently listening to me go on and on about how I can’t do any more, he asked if I would accept a nomination for school counselor of the Year. Darn it, he got me again. Hooked me again, just on the day I was going to resign and hope that Starbucks was looking to add people with much “life experience.”
In Nevada, as many of you already are aware, we have some of the highest counselor-to-student ratios in addition to unequal access for students of color and students from low income families, as seen in February 2019, “School Counselors Matter” from research done by The Education Trust. These statistics really introduce what I hope you can take away from listening to me today: advocacy, leadership, collaboration and systematic change.
Each of us is very good at advocacy for our students. What we aren’t as good at is advocating for ourselves and our profession. Most of us go about our day, doing what we do. It is surprising how many people in the general public don’t know what we do and how our profession has evolved from when they were young and in school. Some of our most in-need families don’t tell others how much we do for them due to the confidential work. Or we think its “tooting our own horn.” We need to get in the habit of practicing advocacy. You are demonstrating advocacy right now by being here. Make sure you join NVSCA and ASCA each year. Volunteer to speak to your parent groups. Meet with your stakeholders. Put information on your websites and send out emails with resources to families. Practice tooting your horn.
Leadership goes hand and hand with advocacy. The question we must keep in the forefront is, “How are our students different as a result of what we do?” Leaders don’t have to be bossy, although I am. Many of us lead by example of how we treat people and how we conduct ourselves. We lead by joining a committee, advising a club, being on the School Organizational Team or School Improvement Committee. We lead by taking on interns and practicum students and passing on our knowledge, as they teach us about new technology. We lead by always putting our students first. Leading doesn’t always mean doing it ourselves, which brings me to collaboration.
Collaborating with other school counselors makes working smarter and not harder – another reason that joining committees and organization in the long run will benefit you and your program. There is a wealth of knowledge in each building, as well. I could not possibly survive without the school nurse, school psychologist, learning strategist, special ed facilitator, the advisors of the Leadership class, admin, office staff and custodians. To be truly part of a collaborative team benefits everyone. I am fortunate to have that at Burkholder and with so many of you I see here today. Over the years I have had the opportunity to forge relationships with community organizations, churches and businesses that love contributing time, expertise, school supplies and basic needs for our students.
When I first began in CCSD in 1996, we were just drabbling in that thing called Interact. For you newbies, that was our first email within CCSD. Many were opposed because they felt it was better to either write a note to everyone or tell the person face to face. After a couple years we couldn’t imagine life without Interact. This is an example of a systemic change. Mark Connelly from University of Wisconsin in Madison discusses systemic change as “All systems organize individual pieces into some sort of interrelated whole.” Put simply, systemic change occurs when change reaches all or most parts of a system, thus affecting the general behavior of the entire system. However, systemic change is often difficult to envision, let alone encourage, because people generally find it easier to focus on the parts than on the systems that connect those pieces. Difficult to envision and sometimes difficult to achieve because we are unable to control thoughts, feelings and actions of others. But with a data-driven counseling program, built on a solid needs assessment of all stakeholders with a focused mission and vision, and through advocacy, leadership and collaboration, systemic change will occur.
My vision is for all students in our state to have access to a school counselor with whom a relationship can be built and that the counselor will have the ability to deliver a comprehensive counseling program to address social/emotional, academic and career mindsets and behaviors for all.
It’s my 23rd year in CCSD; it sounds absurd to even say it because it has gone so fast. Nothing is more fulfilling than encountering a former student in the community and seeing what he or she has decided is their passion, and how they are using their gifts. As school counselors we have a truly remarkable job with a lot of responsibility. We can never fully comprehend how one interaction or one kind exchange can be a game- and life-changer for a student. When I see a 30-something around town and they tell me they still use their Kelso’s Choices, I can’t help but giggle, but it really makes me remember why we do what we do. I am truly humbled and honored to have received this award.