School Counselors Need Professional Organizations

I hope many of you will soon be headed to Boston for the ASCA National Conference. It is an experience every school counselor should take advantage of at least once. You can follow the conference on Twitter with hatch tags #revoluntionaryideas #ASCA19 #notatasca19. The conference attracts over 3,000 participants each year so it can be overwhelming. It is easier if you have another counselor from your district or state to attend with but even if you don't try to attend at least one.

I personally enjoy my state SCA Conferences even more. I have been lucky to live in Missouri, Virginia, and now Kentucky which all have great state SCA conferences. The participants range from 450 - 750 but also offer high quality break out and keynote speakers. I encourage you to make it a goal to present at your state SCA conference at least once in your career. We all have something worth sharing and if you don't want to present alone, ask another counselor to co-present with you. If you are a graduate student or a recent graduate as a counselor educator to co-present with you. We all benefit and save time by sharing.

Our professional organizations offer us so much. They provide our code of ethics, government relations, resources, sense of identity, professional development, and opportunities for leadership. I hope everyone will choose to serve their state organization actively, when it fits with the demands of your job and the rest of your life. It can be as simple as being an active committee member to serving as President. I have gained so much from participating on SCA Boards and encourage all of you to talk to those in leadership positions on your SCA about how you can become more involved. The more you put into it the more you will gain.