PLSCN Update
Prairie Lakes School Counselor Network - May Edition
Return to Learn - SEBH Resources
As the Iowa Department of Education released their Return to Learn guidance and support documents last week following a webinar, you may have found yourself on a committee to assist your district in drafting your plan prior to the July 1st submission deadline. If you are wondering what this could/should entail and if the AEA is available to assist ...
See below for resources and information!
PLAEA to host tMHFA Train the Trainer session!
Teen Mental Health First Aid teaches high school students how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders among their friends and peers. The training gives students the skills to have supportive conversations with their friends and get a responsible and trusted adult to take over as necessary.
Read below for more information and/or
Email Kim Bodholdt with questions: kbodholdt@plaea.org
PLSCN Roundtable 20-21
With feedback and reflection from last week's zoom sessions, we have decided that the most feasible way for us to provide consistent support moving forward is through short opportunities to hop on zoom and connect with one another.
We will offer a morning and afternoon session to accommodate schedules and if requested, will focus each one on a different grade span.
Mark your calendars for first Wednesday of each month, starting with August 5th to help you kickstart 20-21!
Join us June 24th - 25th for two days of professional development provided by Dr. Ross Greene and Jessica Minahan. Register individually or as a team and bring your whole building along to gain a Clear Vision of Trauma-Informed Education!
Email Courtney Cook for more information.
SPECIAL EDITION: PLSCN Roundtable - Return to Learn
Wednesday, Jun 3, 2020, 09:00 AM
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"We need to focus on five strategic imperatives, all of which have one thing in common: putting people first." - Jim Hemerling
Although Jim Hemerling is talking in the business sense of organizations and the reality of changes caused by technology and globalization, this TED talk can definitely connect with our current reality of the public education system during a pandemic and extended school closure. Perhaps you can even see the connection of how we as School Counselors can take advantage of the spotlight suddenly being focused on Social-Emotional-Behavioral Health, even though we always knew it was imperative to student success!
Regulation before Education
An interactive webinar on SEL/Mental-Health:
This webinar is unique and hands-on to ensure that leaders walk away with sustainable strategies that align with the context of their school and community needs.
Session 1 - What's changed? (5/21)
Session 2 - How do we prepare and respond? (5/22)
ASCA @ Home
With change comes opportunity. Although we're sad to announce that the in-person conference is no longer an option, we're excited about the chance to deliver the best online experience you've ever seen. #ASCA2020
June 29-July 22, 2020
Suicide Risk Assessment Training
Based on the upcoming 2nd Edition of Suicide in Schools, Prairie Lakes AEA will be offering a suicide risk assessment training this Fall. As dates are solidified, we will be sure to share out registration information.
SAVE THE DATES: PLSCN Roundtable - Kickstart to 20-21 AM Session
Wednesday, Aug 5, 2020, 09:00 AM
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Kickstart to 20-21 PM Session
Wednesday, Aug 5, 2020, 01:00 PM
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Return to Learn - SEBH Resources
If you are one of the few who has not been asked to support your district's curation of a Return to Learn plan and/or serve on an SEBH committee, these links may provide a bit of insight as to why this section is in this special edition newsletter:
Iowa Return to Learn website -
Return to Learn Support Document
Template for Continuous Learning
Return to Learn webinar video recording
Within the support document there are four resources to provide support for the social-emotional and behavioral health of your school community and we support the notion of quality over quantity. With the exception of a new brief that CASEL released on Monday, as well as resources that you may have from ASCA, these are really all your administration and SEBH committee need to focus on in order to move forward with a plan.
Your administration may have noticed that within the support documents it states that the AEA will be ready to assist. Although this language was referring to the AEA as a statewide system, and there are task teams developing resources and supports for the Return to Learn plan, I wanted to let you know that the Prairie Lakes SEBH team is looking at how we can also support at a more personal level for our districts that would like us to either serve as a committee member or sounding board of sorts. What we hope to communicate through all of this is that districts already have professionals within their buildings with the knowledge and tools to lead this charge - YOU! This is a great time to tap into those self-advocacy competencies and take the lead!!!
Have you checked out SchoolCounselor.org Lately?
All webinars March 15–May 31, 2020, are free to all.
Watch recent webinars on ASCA On Air.
- Ethical Considerations: School Counseling in a Virtual Setting (Part 1) and (Part 2)
- School Counseling in an Online World
- Celebrate College Signing Day Online
- School Counseling in an Online World
- Cross-Cultural Counseling: Understand Bias and Practice Humility
- Virtual Elementary School Counseling
- Virtual Middle School Counseling
- The Power to Motivate
- Develop Surveys and Collect Data with Google Forms
tMHFA - Be ready to offer to your high school Fall 2020
For the first time, The National Council of Behavioral Health is offering a Teen MHFA Train the Trainer option designed to be taught by a school employee to all students of a specific grade level (grades 10, 11 or 12) via three interactive classroom sessions of 90 minutes each or six sessions of 45 minutes each.
What you need to know:
Schools and organizations offering the training are required to train at least 10 percent of adult staff in Youth Mental Health First Aid and to train an entire grade level (grade 10, 11 or 12). A critical step in the teen Mental Health First Aid action plan is connecting with a trusted adult. Youth Mental Health First Aid trains adults to be prepared to help young people facing a crisis. (YMHFA training can be offered prior to Fall 2020 to meet this requirement.)
Training Date: August 4-6, 2020
Cost: $3,000 per trainee (the Adult chosen by the district to teach tMHFA to their Students)
To learn more:
Teen MHFA General Information One Pager
Contact Kim Bodholdt, PLAEA Youth Mental Health First Aid Coordinator, at kbodholdt@plaea.org
"Schools offering this training can save lives, families and communities. Regardless of how happy, smart or popular someone seems on the outside, everyone is fighting battles we have no idea about. tMHFA taught me that sometimes we need a reminder of what is important and the tools to make that a priority." {{Katie Ramboyong, teen Mental Health First Aider}}
AEA PREP for a Future Ready Iowa
AEA PREP’S FUNCTIONS INCLUDE:
- Postsecondary data dashboard
- Statewide network of postsecondary readiness leads
- A Resource center for K-12 educators
- Data analyst leadership and support
AEA PREP Resources
AEA PREP Data Videos
Preparing Students to be College & Career Ready
5 Reasons Why:
1- As educators we are responsible for supporting students becoming college and career ready.
2 - Teachers need practical strategies to engage and motivate students in ways that also prepares students to be college and career ready.
3 - Participants will engage in strategies that help them understand what students need to be college and career ready. By experiencing these strategies participants will be able to apply them in the content they teach.
4 - Participants will be able to help students understand the importance of developing college and career ready skills.
5 - Significant time will be provided for participants to design/redesign lessons using new strategies.
Strategies for Preparing Students to be College and Career Ready. Registration Deadline: May 22nd
June 15, 18, and 19 from 9:00 - 3:00 ( w/ 1 hour lunch)
Participants can earn one hour license renewal credit - $35.
Iowa College & Career Readiness Academy
Starting June 8
101: FOUNDATIONS OF COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS IN IOWA Register
201: CREATING IOWA’S COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS CULTURE Register
301: SYSTEMS AND OPTIMIZATION Register
JUST ADDED!
501: INTRODUCTION TO PLANNING, ACCESSING, AND FINANCING POSTSECONDARY OPPORTUNITIES Register
If you experience issues with the login process, please contact bjones@heartlandaea.org or schristensen@heartlandaea.org.
Heartland AEA - School Counselor Academy
For several years Heartland AEA has provided the School Counselor academy course that has been available by Zoom throughout the state. Now, the course is available as a self-paced option that can be completed individually or in teams. It can be taken for license renewal credit or as a free learning module. Please access the links below to register for these options.
No credit module option: https://training.aealearningonline.org/course/CO00009999/catalog
Relicensure Credit course: https://training.aealearningonline.org/course/2200189999/catalog
8 to Great; The Powerful Process for Positive Change
8 to Great connects with Iowa’s Social-Emotional competencies and covers decision-making, full responsibility, an FGH positive attitude formula and crucial communication skills. Participants will grow in resilience and self-respect while learning how to handle strong emotions.
This cohort begins May 28th and is open to all Prairie Lakes AEA educators, paraeducators, substitute teachers, and administrators. Participants will engage in a hybrid learning experience of self-paced learning opportunities and weekly live zoom sessions for 4 weeks. These zoom sessions will take place on Mondays from 9 - 11am, beginning June 1st.
PLAEA School Counselor Supports:
Social-Emotional-Behavioral Health Coordinator
Mark Shea; mshea@plaea.org
Postsecondary Readiness Lead