PLSCN Update
Prairie Lakes School Counselor Network - February Edition
Happy National School Counseling Week!
National School Counseling Week 2020, "School Counselors: Helping Build Better Humans," will be celebrated from Feb. 3-7, 2020, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week is always celebrated the first full week in February.
Read more below ...
PLSCN Workshop - February 6th
Even if you haven't RSVP'd yet, please consider joining us this Thursday for our second semester workshop! Many of our districts have adopted goals in supporting the Social-Emotional Behavioral Health and Future Readiness of their students, but what many don't realize is that a comprehensive school counseling program does that! We are going to dive in how you as a School Counselor can lead the way by walking through the Hatching Results MTMDSS model and sharing resources for universal instruction and interventions.
Peek at the agenda below!
Conditions for Learning and SEL Crosswalk
Email Courtney with questions: ccook@plaea.org
"Life is beautiful. You have to be thankful that we are living. Wherever you look is beauty. I know about the bad things, but I look for the good things. Every day in life is beautiful . . . Every Day!" - Alice Herz-Sommer
This week's featured video is not a TED talk, but one that I have watched too many times to count and shared with others as a reminder that even in the darkest of times our brain has the power to leverage imagination and optimism in order to see that every day is beautiful.
National School Counseling Week - February 3-7, 2020
2020 National School Counseling Week Photo Challenge
Take a photo/video of the day’s theme and share on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram with #NSCW2020. Get students, families and school colleagues in on the fun. Encourage them to download and use the supporter signs listed below.
Monday: Happy National School Counseling Week
Take a picture/video with the new National School Counseling Week sign
Tuesday: Lend a Helping Hand
School counselors: Take a photo with the sign – "I'm helping build better humans by..."
Wednesday: Offer Encouragement
School Counselors: Download the "My students help me be a better human by..." sign
Supporters: Download the "My school counselor helps me be better by..." sign
Thursday: Show Appreciation
Supporters: Download the "Thank you _____ (insert school counselor's name) for ____ (share something learned/gained from working with your school counselor)" sign
Friday: Be the Change in the World
All: Download the "Better humans are..." sign
You can also download the National School Counseling Week promo toolkit with sample Facebook and Twitter messages and more to share with your school and district staff.
• Proclamation – Get your governor, superintendent, mayor or other dignitary to sign a proclamation declaring Feb. 3–7, 2020, as National School Counseling Week. Download a blank proclamation for free.
• Certificate of Appreciation – Show your appreciation to those faculty members, parents and other stakeholders who help you promote your school counseling program throughout the year. Download a blank certificate of appreciation for free.
• Sample press release – Download a sample press release to customize with information about what your school or district is doing to celebrate National School Counseling Week.
• Sample morning announcements – Get your school excited about each day of National School Counseling Week with by promoting the week during morning announcements. View 2020 sample morning announcements or archived morning announcements from previous years.
The links to download materials mentioned above are available at SchoolCounselor.org.
PLSCN Second Semester Workshop
Learning Targets:
Understand the elements of MTMDSS and how it connects to and enhances district-wide MTSS.
Utilize data sources that support each domain of school counseling (academic, social-emotional, and college/career)
Create an action plan to move the school counseling program from a reactive to a proactive state.
Explore ways to collaborate with others in your school community to support students
AGENDA
8:30 - Morning Happy “Half” Hour - Refreshments and Mindfulness for those Early Bird Overachievers!
9:00 - MTMDSS Overview
10:00 - Academic Domain
10:45 - College and Career Domain
11:30 - Lunch (BYO)
12:30 - Social-Emotional Domain
1:15 - Collaboration and Support - Faculty, Staff, Administration, and Others
2:00 - Networking & Action Planning
Please RSVP to save a seat!
Thursday, Feb 6, 2020, 09:00 AM
Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency, Northeast 6th Street, Pocahontas, IA, USA
High School Math to College Ready
Please join us for a discussion around preparing our students to be college and career ready in the area of mathematics. The purpose of this training is to increase understanding of how we can better prepare students for college-level mathematics. This is a system-level discussion of the root causes around math remediation and an exploration of potential solutions. You will leave this discussion prepared to have this conversation with others, including math teachers and teacher leaders, around what you can do to address this issue in your school district.
Please follow this LINK to register each individual that will be attending. The workshop will be held at the Pocahontas AEA office on March 4, 2020, from 9:00-12:00. This workshop is intended for principals, counselors, and curriculum directors (It is not intended for math instructors). It is highly recommended that the high school principal and school counselor both attend.
If you wish for others in your district to attend, please contact Mark Shea at mshea@plaea.org or Donna McClain at dsumpmcclain@plaea.org
Wednesday, Mar 4, 2020, 09:00 AM
Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency, Northeast 6th Street, Pocahontas, IA, USA
Come check out Future Ready schools with us!
We invite schools from Northwest AEA and Prairie Lakes AEA to join us by touring various schools in Iowa and South Dakota to get a picture of how these schools are designing their learning environments to prepare students for college & careers.
Harrisburg High School Personalized Learning (Harrisburg, SD), Friday, February 28, 2020
Harrisburg Elementary School (Harrisburg, SD) Friday, February 28, 2020
Harrisburg Middle School (Harrisburg, SD) Friday, February 28, 2020
Waukee APEX (Waukee, IA) Friday, March 6, 2020
No Boundaries MS & HS Sites (Milford & Spencer) Friday, April 3
Iowa BIG (Cedar Rapids, IA), Thursday, April 9, 2020
PLAEA School Counselor Supports:
Social-Emotional Behavioral Health Coordinator
Mark Shea; mshea@plaea.org
Postsecondary Readiness Lead