Illinois Updates

Postsecondary Advising Initiative

I am super excited to introduce an initiative on which various ISCA leaders and members have been contributing members. The School Counselor Postsecondary Advising Competencies working group (shown above) began because of a need to have postsecondary counselor preparation programs and high school districts come together to increase articulation and seamless transition when preparing school counselors. With the increased focus on career pathways, college persistence and multiple postsecondary options, the need is increasing to equip school counselors to support students within these new options. This has been a collaborative effort among community and grant work funders, regional partners, postsecondary institutions, school administrators and school counselors.
 
This is of special interest to school counselors because it defines the attitudes, beliefs and mindsets that ensure successful implementation of the PaCE Framework. In alignment with the ASCA National Model, we continue to evolve as a profession; it is our moral obligation to be advocates and champions for the work we do and active participants in how that work is defined. My passion is for ISCA and school counselors to be connected with school counselor initiatives and collaborations so that WE define the profession!
 
Feel free to visit the project site and download the PDF report. Our hope is that it will drive modification of postsecondary counselor preparation programs, inspire new internship competencies and evaluations, and increase intentional district professional development for veteran counselors. Review the competencies and self-reflect on how you as a professional can increase or embed these within your practice. I know many of you are well-versed in these competencies, and I celebrate the great work all of you do!

Thanks to Leslie Goines

I’d like to give a special shout-out to Leslie Goines for her service as ISCA president during the 2018-2019 school year. Words cannot express my sincere gratitude for her leadership and continued mentorship. She will serve in a very active role as the association past president during the 2019-2020 school year. Thank you, Leslie!
 
Leslie and I attended ASCA Leadership Development Institute at the end of June and were two voting members for the state of Illinois. This was a content-packed two days of leadership training and professional organization planning. We were proud to see Brian Coleman (shown below, School Counselor of the Year, 2019) give the thought leadership keynote at the closing of the training. Brian has had and is having an exciting time representing ASCA and Illinois school counselors.