Counselor Connection--January 16
Education Service Center Region 15
Routine Reset: Daily Habits for Good Mental Health
As we start the new year, many of us are eager to make positive changes and set the tone for a healthier lifestyle. One effective, but often overlooked, way to do this is by establishing a routine that prioritizes our mental well-being. In this article, we'll explore simple — yet impactful — steps you can take to create a consistent daily routine in January, setting the stage for a healthier and happier year.
Sparkle and Shine--(Did we have nothing good happen in the last two weeks?!)
- The Houston Zoo’s oldest resident, Mr. Pickles, a 90-year-old endangered tortoise, welcomed three babies—Dill, Gherkin, and Jalapeño—with his 53-year-old wife, Mrs. Pickles.
- Austinite Kayleigh Williamson completed the New York City Marathon just a year after becoming the first person with Down syndrome to finish the Austin Marathon.
- Octogenarian best friends Ellie Hamby, of Abilene, and Sandy Hazelip, of nearby Eastland, traveled around the world in eighty days, visiting eighteen countries and all seven continents and along the way became social media stars known as the “traveling grannies.”
If you are in one of the counties for Three Rivers Counseling Association, please remember to nominate one of your students for the Student Tribute Award as well! These are due January 5th!
CCMR: Accountability Data Sources Document Updated
The CCMR Accountability Data Sources document has been updated and reposted on the Performance Reporting Resources page. The update to this document includes new 2024 PEIMS links as well as the military enlistment information which is in effect for 2024 Accountability.
All-Campus Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) is Now Available
On December 15, 2023, the 2023 Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) were released publicly on the TAPR webpage, and to districts within Texas Education Agency Login (TEAL) Accountability.
Self-Reflection Strategies for Students, Teachers, and Leaders
Boost emotional intelligence, critical thinking, instructional and leadership practices, and learning outcomes with self-reflection! More from TCEA.
Personal Financial Literacy and Economics
Is your district offering both the Personal Financial Literacy and Economics course and the Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits courses? If not, are you filing the waiver to only offer one? Make sure you have read through the FAQ attached below to meet all of the requirements.
FAST – Financial Aid for Swift Transfer Program
The Texas Education Agency is releasing an informational webinar that addresses the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program. This program, created by House Bill (HB) 8, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, provides funding to participating public institutions of higher education so they can offer dual credit courses to educationally disadvantaged students at no cost to these students. View the FAST Program webinar or visit the FAST web page for detailed information.
Texas School Mental Health Webinar Series
The Texas Education Agency’s Texas School Mental Health Program is hosting their 2024 Mental and Behavioral Health Webinar Series every second Thursday of each month from January to June at 11:00am – 12:30pm via Zoom webinar. Topics for the webinar series include school mental health, substance abuse prevention, school discipline, early mental health interventions, approaches to whole child student support, and building community partnerships to increase capacity. Register for each webinar on the series event page.
Student Mental Health Action Guide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Schools: An Action Guide for School and District Leaders. The action guide describes six in-school strategies proven to promote and support student mental health and well-being. Readers will learn specific approaches to put each strategy into action and examples of evidence-based policies, programs, and practices. Use of these strategies and approaches can improve the mental health of students and staff.
Texas Say What! Action Summit Registration
The Texas School Safety Center is hosting several Say What! Action summits during the spring. Summits utilize service learning to train 6th-grade through 12th-grade students in effective tobacco prevention activities aimed at reducing the harmful effects of tobacco, nicotine, and e-cigarette use in Texas. Each summit also includes a local community action event which each participant receives community service hours for. View summit dates and register.
Texas A&M Health Opioid Task Force Resources
The Texas A&M Health Opioid Task Force aims to improve the health and well-being of all Texans by reducing burdens from the current opioid epidemic through collaborative action across the health sciences. The Task Force created a webpage highlighting information on opioids, how to identify an overdose, how to obtain rescue kits, and other internal and external resources.
Texas Career and Technical Education Engagement Opportunity
In January and February, representatives from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will host regional stakeholder events to provide guidance supporting implementation of the refreshed CTE programs of study and to collect input on proposed updates to the 2024 Perkins V State Plan.
Six in-person events will be held between January 15 and February 1, 2024:
- ESC 11 in Fort Worth, January 16, 2024
- ESC 15 in San Angelo, January 18, 2024
- ESC 7 in Kilgore, January 22, 2024
- ESC 17 in Lubbock, January 24, 2024
- ESC 20 in San Antonio, January 30, 2024
- ESC 3 in Victoria, February 1, 2024
A virtual event will be offered on January 26, 2024, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. for those unable to participate in person. To register to attend one of the sessions or for more information, please visit TexasCareerTour.com. For additional questions, please contact the TEA CTE team at cte@tea.texas.gov.
Industry-Based Certifications for CCMR Accountability
On December 12, 2023, the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) three-member commission adopted the Industry-Based Certification (IBC) Advisory Council’s Inventory of Industry-Recognized Credentials to comply with Texas Labor Code Chapter 312. State law requires the TWC to provide a copy of the Industry-Recognized Credential Inventory to each school district and public institution of higher education that offers a career and technical education (CTE) program to public high school students. Districts received this communication from TWC the week of December 18, 2023. The IBC Advisory Council Inventory of Industry-Recognized Credentials may be found on TWC’s Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative webpage. For more information, please see the "To the Administrator Addressed" information.
Motivational Interviewing Course
Texas Health and Human Services has updated its Texas Health Steps Motivational Interviewing course. This course provides free continuing education credits and can help providers and other professionals gain communication skills that can be used to motivate children, adolescents, and families to make positive health changes, improve self-care for chronic conditions, and avoid high-risk behaviors.
TCDA Presents Webinar: Cultivating Counseling in Schools
Presented by keynotes speakers: Sharetha Hicks and Angela Smith
This Webinar aims to provide insight into fostering ways to support students in their academic, career, and social-emotional development.
Highly Mobile and At-Risk 2023-24 Quarterly Webinars
Greetings from the Highly Mobile and At-Risk (HMAR) Student Programs Division. We hope you are having an excellent start to the new school year. It is our pleasure to invite you to join us for our annual series of informative quarterly webinars for the 2023-24 school year. The first webinar is just a few weeks away and we're kicking off the year with some exciting information including:
- Reminders, tips, suggestions, best practices, program updates and announcements intended to help prepare students for a strong start to the year;
- Legislative updates from the 88th Legislature regarding Highly Mobile and At-Risk student populations with implications for professional practice;
- Highly Mobile students and the implications for campus accountability; and
- much more!
HMAR Quarterly Webinar #3 | February 15, 2024 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm | Register Here
HMAR Quarterly Webinar #4 | May 2, 2024 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm | Register Here
TACAC Webinars
Helping Students Plan a Meaningful Summer
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
9:00-10:00 am CST
Hear from high school counselors about ways to work with students to plan engaging, meaningful summers.
Unpacking and Helping Students and Families Understand Financial Aid Offers
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
9:00-10:00 am CST
Hear from college admissions and financial aid officers to learn how high school counselors can help students and families understand the details of and compare offers from different schools.
San Antonio, here we come! The 19th Annual Professional School Counselor Conference will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio on Feb. 4-6, 2024. Next year's theme is Let's Sparkle and Shine! We hope to see you there! #CelebratingBrilliance2024
Virtual Bullying and Cyberbullying Training
Preventing bullying and mitigating its impact begins with a strong understanding of the legal landscape of Texas bullying laws. This virtual Bullying and Cyberbullying Training, offered in collaboration with Safer Schools Together, will walk participants through all Texas bullying and cyberbullying laws, including behaviors that may apply to suspected bullying situations, such as assault, harassment, hazing, stalking, sextortion, dating violence, and related federal laws. Participants will explore Texas mandated expectations for campus staff, rights of victims and parents, related penal code, and determining when behaviors go beyond student discipline and into criminal behavior. Participants will also learn about how bullying manifests on and off campus and how to plan and respond with actionable strategies.
View Dates and RegisterTexas School Safety Center Lunch and Learn Training Opportunities
The Trauma-Informed Care Workshop for Educators - Elementary focuses on providing an overview of trauma, and its impact on student behaviors in the elementary (K-5) classroom. Attendees will learn about the role of mental health in daily functioning, how trauma impacts the brain, the importance of unrecognized executive function deficits, and the role neuro diverse complexities play in student behavior.
The Trauma-Informed Care Workshop for Educators - Secondary focuses on providing an overview of trauma, and its impact on student behaviors in the secondary (6-12) classroom. Attendees will learn about the role of mental health in daily functioning, how trauma impacts the brain, the importance of unrecognized executive function deficits, and the role neuro diverse complexities play in student behavior.
Upcoming Sessions at ESC
Youth Mental Health First Aid
West Texas Centers MHMR in Big Spring will be offering the following Mental Health First Aid sessions. If you have any questions, please contact Ida Hambrick at ida.hambrick@wtcmhmr.org.
Emergency and After Hours Resources
This list is of known providers of particular services. The providers on the list are from a variety of sources. The list is being provided as a courtesy, for information only, and the user should understand that no assurances or guarantees regarding the providers on the list are being made by providing this list. We do not endorse, approve, or recommend any specific provider listed below. This list is not inclusive of all community agencies, services, or organizations that provide the particular service, and the omission of an agency, service, or organization from this list does not imply disapproval. It is the responsibility of the user of this list to determine whether any of the content is of value to them and whether or not the agency, service, or organization meets their specific needs.
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National
- Emergency: (24/7): 911
- Referral Services: (crisis counseling, housing, food, health care, family services): 211 | https://www.211texas.org/
- Suicide Prevention: 988 | 988lifeline.org
- Self-Injury/Cutting: 1-800-366-8288 | selfinjury.com
- Eating Disorders: 1-800-931-2237 | nationaleatingdisorders.org
- Runaway Hotline: 1-800-231-6946 | 1800runaway.org
- Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453 | childhelp.org/hotline/
- Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 | rainn.org
- Domestic/Relationship Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 | thehotline.org
- Trevor Hotline for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386 | thetrevorproject.org
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline | samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
- Other resources for developing healthy lifestyles, including mental and emotional help: helpguide.org
ESC 15 Counseling and Mental Health
Email: mentalhealth@esc15.net
Website: https://www.esc15.net/
Phone: (325)658-6571
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Region15ESC/
Twitter: @Region15ESC
Lesley Casarez, PhD, CCTS-I, CTP, CSC
Greg Hickey, LPC
(325) 658-6571 x2113
Anne Hardegree, LPC-S
(325) 481-4019
Alex Robles, LPC
(325) 481-4009
Alex Nieto
(325) 481-2151
Ella Nichols, LBSW
(325) 481-4062
Noemi Ucuk
Jessica Flores, LPC, BCBA
(325) 481-4057
Carol Stevens, M.Ed. CSC
McKinney-Vento, HELP Grant, and Counseling
Stephanie Soto
(325) 658-6571
Dava Rabb
(325) 658-6571 ext. 2120