Minnesota School Counselors Association
In This Issue...
Title.............................................................2
MSCA Governing
Board Meeting Minutes.........................3
Guidelines General
Information............................................. 12
Fall 2008 • Volume 50, Number 7
Page 2 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
Counselors, Parents
and Technology
By Shelly Landry, MSCA President
The use of technology to increase effective and meaningful communication
with parents.
School counselors have always been aware of and promoted the importance
of parental involvement in student education. With the increase of
“helicopter” parents, however, counselors have had to develop new and varied
approaches to meet the demand of information for and communication by
students’ families. Counselors must welcome this involvement, but also
need to find quick and effective means to communicate in order to not be
overwhelmed by requests for the same information repeatedly. By using
multiple technologies, counselors can relay information to students and
families in a timely and efficient manner.
Types of telecommunications
While phone calls and notes to parents are still effective, we can see in our
own practices that these are no longer the popular means of communication.
We see it in our school halls (when students think we do not notice), or in
our media centers, or in our favorite stores. The use of text messaging and
email has become the means of communication of choice.
We should not dismiss new phone innovations than can send mass messages
to families. Hotlines, help lines, automated calling systems, voice mail
and voice messaging systems are all great means to convey key messages to
students and families.
As many Minnesota schools and school districts adopt the Naviance®
program as a college and academic planning tool for counselors, it is an
opportunity for counseling departments to create parent email groups for
mass emails on all counselor related topics. For schools that do not have the
Naviance® program, it is not too complicated to create email groups or work
with your school’s technology department to create a parent group. While
this may be time consuming at first, once the email groups are established it
is a quick and proficient way to communicate events, reminders and quick
tips to parents. Email cannot be the only means of communication. While
more and more families have email addresses, some do not and those that do
may have limited access to the internet.
This is not to say, however, that these are the only options for efficient
and timely communication. In many, if not all, school districts and postsecondary institutions, counselors have access to web pages and community
television. Minneapolis Public School counselors, in collaboration with
one of their community partners (Achieve Minneapolis!), has begun using
a community television show, “School Matters,” to provide students and
parents with information on college access and planning. Additionally, the
district is currently working on having the shows available to download as
podcasts or to stream through the district website.
Websites are now one of the most effective means of communication for
schools and counselors. Items that are important components of websites
for the purposes of communicating with parents are:
• A welcoming and warm greeting for parents. The school website should
include the school’s mission, calendar and directory, but counselors should
add their own message to parents on their page.
• A “What’s New?” section. As you add new items, you want to make sure
this information is highlighted for returning visitors.
• A “FAQ” (Frequently Asked Questions) section. Counselors can tailor
their part of this section to the questions most often asked in the academic,
career and personal/social domain
• A “Who We Are” section. Parents want to know about their child’s
counselor. Take a moment to let parents and students know your
experience, education and interests. Parents also appreciate a photo, when
possible.
• A “How to Contact Us” section. While you want to try and provide
answers and information as much as possible on your site, parents will
have specific questions or concerns about their child. Make sure they
know the best means and times to reach you.
Multiple approaches are best
While it may feel like you are repeating yourself, you want to make sure to
communicate to parents through multiple means to connect with as many
parents as possible. No one technology is going to deliver your message
to everyone.
Using Technology in
your Record Keeping
By Dave Warner, MSCA Technology Chair
Did I call that student’s mom back? I can’t remember if I saw Samantha
last week about that problem she had at recess. I know I wrote that
information on a post it note here somewhere! I can’t remember if I’ve
spoken to this person on the phone before?
Sound familiar?
As counselors we see countless students each day, make numerous phone
calls, go from one meeting to the next, and answer hundreds of emails,
only to come back the next day and do it all over again. Because of this it
can be extremely easy to forget something you did just the day before.
We, as counselors, need to use the technology available to us in our
buildings to keep track of all these things. Not only to make us more
professional but also to keep our sanity!
One way to keep records is by using Excel on your school computer. In
just a couple steps you can create a way of keeping track of all of your
records. For example, you can create a column for a student’s name, date,
phone calls, emails, parent feedback, and so on. Then, when you need to
recall information you simply go to your spreadsheet and pull up the data
you need on a particular student.
Keeping good records will help you in your reports to your school and
district as well. You can state clearly the number of students you worked
with and more importantly what the results of your efforts have been.
Districts love data! Make it easy on you and your team and come up with
some system for documenting what you are doing.
Whether you use Excel or any number of other record keeping devices it is
important that you use something other than strictly relying on memory.
If you need help getting started find one of your school’s technology
representatives. They can create a template for you to get started with. So
the next time a parent calls you out of the blue you can be fully prepared
and know immediately about the last time the two of you spoke.
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 3
MSCA LDI
Meeting Minutes
By Jen Landy, MSCA Secretary
MSCA Leadership Development Institute (LDI)—July 2008
University of Minnesota-Morris
July 29, 2008
Present: Colleen Baldrica, Jim Bierma, Dawn Brown, Kitty Johnson,
Tami Johnson, Shelly Landry, Jen Landy, Rich Mack, Jackie Mosconi,
Lee Oling, Sarah Rach, Ken Radke, Tammy Roth, Laurie SandnessBoeshans, Murray Smart, Jill Walker, Dave Warner
Call to Order: 2:40 p.m.
Acceptance of Agenda with flexibility
Motion by Colleen Baldrica, 2nd by Kitty Johnson, Motion passes
Team Building/Getting to Know You Activities
Introductions of Board Members Present
Meeting Concluded: 5:30 p.m.
________________________________________________________
July 30, 2008
Present: Jim Bierma, Dawn Brown, Kitty Johnson, Tami Johnson,
Rachel Karnitz, Shelly Landry, Jen Landy, Rich Mack, Jackie Mosconi,
Lee Oling, Sarah Rach, Ken Radke, Tammy Roth, Laurie SandnessBoeshans, Murray Smart, Jill Walker, Dave Warner
Call to Order: 9:00 a.m.
Icebreaker/Get to Know You Activity
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES
Good to Great Concepts (From the Book by Jim Collins)
Presented by Jim Bierma
Disciplined People
• Level 5 Leaders—Ambitious About Cause, Professional Will/Personal
Humility, Window/Mirror, Optimistic
• First Who, Then What—Right People on the Bus, Right People in
Right Seats, Wrong People on the Bus
Disciplined Thought
• Confront the Brutal Facts—Stockdale Paradox, Get the Data,
Unwavering Faith/Optimism
• Hedgehog Concept—Simple, Coherent, Strategic, Result/Understand
Business, Hedgehog not a Fox
Disciplined Action
• Culture of Discipline—Focus on Your Hedgehog, Manage System not
People, Highly Committed
• Keep Flywheel Turning—Momentum/Consistent Actions, Create
Alignment by Results
Discussion about Current Status of MSCA
Board discussed characteristics of leaders, how to bring new leaders into
the organization and how to better serve our members in the present
and future. We looked at where are currently as professionals and an
association and what we need to do in order to get where we would like
to go.
--See handout
Policy/Governance
ONE VISION, ONE VOICE
• Jim Bierma presented on the different styles of governance.
• Murray Smart presented on Meeting Ground Rules and Code of
Conduct. Group discussion followed regarding each of the ground
rules for board meetings as well as each aspect of the code of conduct.
(See handout and Blue Book—Handbook of Policies and Procedures)
Meeting adjorned for lunch: 12 p.m.
Meeting re-called to order: 1 p.m.
Discussion regarding Board Member Code of Ethics
The board discussed adopting a Board Member Code of Ethics that
each board member would sign each year. Reviewed a copy that WSCA
(Wisconsin) currently uses.
Motion by Laurie Sandness-Boeshans, 2nd by Tami Johnson to adopt
this policy
Discussion regarding topic was held and decided we probably needed
more information—specifically a copy of the ASCA version.
Motion called for vote—motion not passed.
Topic added to fall meeting agenda.
MSCA Mission vs. ASCA Vision
Discussion regarding:
1.
Do we want to keep the current mission statement?
2.
Do we want a vision statement?
Current MSCA Mission: The mission of the Minnesota School
Counselors Association is to actively promote excellence in the profession
of school counseling by providing the leadership, advocacy, support,
and resources needed to instill student success in school, home, and the
global community.
MSCA Goals vs. ASCA Ends Statements
MSCA Goals 2008-2013
• To provide state and local leadership for MN School Counselors
• Increase awareness and promote the role of Licensed School
Counselors
• Provide professional development for MSCA Members
• Promote and enhance current resources
ASCA Ends Statements
• Professional development
• Legislative efforts
• Research and evaluation
• Professional/Ethical standards
• Strategic partnerships
• Leaders champion change initiatives
• Functions to accomplish ends
Purpose of Discussion
To establish a work plan based on the goals and end policies established.
Budget Discussion
• The most recent account balances were looked at and discussed. Also
discussed advice offered to MSCA by Edward Jones (our financial
planner) regarding our assets and how they are invested. Raachel will
confirm that our money market account is FIDC protected.
• Raachel will also look into what our current federal status is will check
about payments to LuGail regarding TCF Scholarship
• The following line items were reviewed: 402 should be Ann Kvaal,
705 should be named Lobbyist/Consultant and is where Dan Campo
should be.
Mileage
Motion to make the mileage reimbursement paid at the current Federal
Reimbursement Rate at the time the expense is incurred by Dave Warner.
2nd by Sarah Rach.
Motion passes with one opposition
Meeting adjourned: 5:30 p.m.
________________________________________________________
JJuly 31, 2008
Present: Jim Bierma, Dawn Brown, Kitty Johnson, Tami Johnson,
Shelly Landry, Jen Landy, Rich Mack, Jackie Mosconi, Lee Oling, Sarah
Rach, Ken Radke, Tammy Roth, Laurie Sandness-Boeshans, Murray
Smart, Jill Walker, Dave Warner
LDI Call to Order: 8:45 a.m.
Recap/Check-in regarding LDI so far
Shelly Landry gave a recap of the things the board did and talked
about during the first two days. She also went over the agenda for the
remainder of LDI. The Executive Board will meet over the next two
months to develop the work plan that they will then present at the
October meeting with the entire board. It was also discussed that there
is a need for a mini-orientation for new board members. Discussion was
held again regarding Vision vs. Mission statement.
Meeting officially called to order: 9:10 a.m.
Agenda
Dave Warner made a motion to begin our meeting with our new agenda,
with the addition of discussion on the Vision vs. Mission statement with
flexibility. 2nd by Dawn Brown. Motion passes.
• Review By-laws and recommendations for changes by By-law
committee
• Discussion: What committee work can we begin now
• Business:
o May minutes
o Premier Planner/Directory
o TCF Scholarship
o Spring Conference Bids
o Potential School Counselors Scholarships—WI, SD, ND
o Who deals with scholarships?
Additions: Discussion on Mission vs. Vision and PR
Mission/Vision Statement
Lee Oling made a motion that we call our current mission statement our
vision statement. 2nd by Sarah Rach. Jackie Mosconi made a friendly
amendment to the motion that a sub-committee be established by the
end of the October meeting to work on a mission statement this year.
Lee accepted the friendly amendment to his motion.
Call to question by Dave Warner: passes. Vote for motion passes with
friendly amendment.
Recommended Change of MSCA By-Laws—Article I, Section 3
(See Handout)
• Get these from Shelly
Discussion among board regarding recommended changes to MSCA
By-Laws and the alignment with ASCA. Discussion regarding adopting
their Ends Policies and whether to include Article III—Relevant Research
and Evaluation….. Discussion centered around whether we had to
conducing research currently in MN to include this Article or if using
research would meet that policy.
Motion to accept the recommendations of the committee for our
By-Laws Section Article 1, Section 3 by Sarah Rach. 2nd by Lee Oling.
Sarah Rach amended the motion to include ASCA Article III of ASCA’s
End Policies to the By-Laws with a 2nd by Dawn Brown. Vote on
motion passes.
Recommended Change of MSCA By-Laws—Article II, Section 6
Motion made by Jim Bierma to accept recommendation to change in
language below, 2nd by Dave Warner. Discussion centered around
whether the language is too vague or if it is vague on purpose. Call
to Question by Dave Warner passes. Vote for motion passes 10-5
(Opposition by: Tami Johnson, Tammy Roth, Kitty Johsnon, Jackie
Mosconi, Sarah Rach)
Addition: “….in the Bylaws of MSCA, or engages in activities that the
Governing Board find unethical……”
Recommended Change of MSCA By-Laws—Article IV, Section 4, e
By-laws currently don’t allow for a retired member to serve on the MSCA
board.
Change: “To be eligible for any office in the Association, including
membership on the Governing Board, a candidate must be a professional
member of MSCA employed in the state of Minnesota or a retired
member of MSCA, a member of their Division Association……….
Delete: “The must be employed as a licensed counselor in the state of
Minnesota.”
Motion by Laurie Sandness-Boeshans to accept recommendation, 2nd by
Kitty Johnson. Vote for Motion passes.
Discussion of MSCA By-Laws—Article VI, Sec 3, f & g
Is there any member of the Board interested in filling these
representation positions (SSCEE, MACAC)? Shelly will check with
MACAC and Jan Larson (Secondary VP) to see if she is interested.
Discussion was held about the SSCEE position. Shelly suggested that
Kitty be the primary representative. Shelly and Murray will attend as
well when possible.
Recommended Change of MSCA By-Laws—Article IV, Section 4, e
Get from Shelly
Motion by Jackie Mosconi to adopt our Purposes as our Ends Policies.
2nd by Sarah Rach.
Vote on motion passes.
Continued on the next page
Page 4 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
MSCA LDI
Meeting Minutes
By Jen Landy, MSCA Secretary
Continued from the previous page
Motion by Jim Bierma to change all references in the By-laws to state
“licensed school counselor” instead of “professional counselor.”
Vote on motion passes.
Recommended Change of MSCA By-Laws Operational Parameter—
Article I, Section A, 3a
Motion by Tammy Roth to change the language in the above article so it
matches the language in Article II, Section 6. 2nd by Dave Warner.
Vote on motion passes with one opposed and one abstention.
Addition: “….in the Bylaws of MSCA, or engages in activities that the
Governing Board find unethical……”
**All recommended changes to the MSCA By-Laws will be brought to the
membership for a vote.
Public Relations Update
• The committee is currently compiling a list of upcoming events for
MSCA to try and have an exhibit booth at: State Fair, Secondary
Principals Summer Workshop, Elementary Principals MESPA
Institute, Education MN, School Board, MN NACAC College Fair,
AMCTCC-Association of Minnesota Community and Technical
College Counselors.
• Looking to design a new exhibitor booth and table runner for exhibits
at conventions
• Designing new marketing materials. Tami shared a draft of a
brochure she has been working on and a business card for promoting
membership to MSCA.
• Encourage members to present at conferences for other professions to
highlight our expertise.
• Encourage members to nominate counselors for education awards and
to get stories about our good works in the news.
• Shelly will work to collect the names of the PR person for each
division and get it to Tami
Planner/Directory
Discussion regarding whether we want to continue printing the planner/
directory. This will be the last year it will be printed. Dave Warner will
work to get the directory on the website.
Spring Conference
Theme – “Building Bridges” – May 3-5, 2009
Background: In the past few years there have been difficulties that have
occurred as a result of large numbers of late and walk-in registrations
at the Spring Conference. Most of the issues have involved the
accommodating these participating in the dining areas and at the
banquet.
The committee brought forward some suggestions regarding changes to
the registration payment structure.
Discussion: The impact of the current economy may have in the
suggested changes was discussed. It was also discussed having a
disclaimer on the registration materials that late registrations and walkins may not be guaranteed meals and/or lodging. Do we separate out the
cost of the banquet and charge that as a separate fee from registration.
Motion by Laurie Sandness-Boeshans to adopt the proposed changes
brought forward by the Spring Conference Committee. 2nd by Jackie
Mosconi. Call to question by Tammy Roth passes. Vote for motion
does not pass.
Motion by Tami Johnson that the recommendations from the committee
are accepted but that the walk-in fee is eliminated. Proposed fees are
below. 2nd by Kitty Johnson. Call to question by Tammy Roth passes.
Vote for Motion passes with one opposed.
Early Registration – before 2/1/09
Regular Registration – 2/1/09 – 4/1/09
Late Registration – after 4/1/09
$50
$75
$100
Non-Member registration
Non-Member late registration
$100
$125
Guidelines
Board members are expected to submit something for each issue of the
newsletter. There are 3 issues that are published. A board member can
get someone else to submit something on their behalf. It was discussed
that each issue should have a theme. The first issue will be centered
around Students and Technology.
Meeting Evaluation
What should I (the board) start doing?
• Make sure there is a mini-orientation on how the board runs and
roles and responsibilities for new board members, make sure everyone
knows the purpose of each exercise we are doing, focus on the work
plan, start being prepared for board meetings, everyone being at the
meetings.
What should I (the board) stop doing?
• Going off on tangents, repeating and war stories, not knowing what
our by-laws are and how to follow them
What should I (the board) keep doing?
• Moving ahead, being optimistic and open-minded, keep the discussion
going, listening well, the passion, supporting each other, enthusiasm
for learning and growing, clarifying points, smiling, collaborating,
covering all the levels of counseling, ONE VISION-ONE VOICE.
Next Year’s LDI
Murray sought feedback regarding dates for LDI next year as well as
location.
Motion to adjorn by Rich Mack, 2nd by Sarah Rach.
Meeting adjourned: 12 p.m.
Effective Presentations –
Points to Ponder
By Murray Smart, MSCA President-Elect
“The use of the Power Point presentation has been a disaster. It should be
ditched.” John Sweller, the University of New South Wales developer of the
Cognitive Load Theory and author of Efficiency in Learning: EvidenceBased Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load. How often have you sat
through an informative presentation yet been overwhelmed by the amount
of material? Have you had a hard time keeping up - from looking at the
screen, to taking notes, to thinking of questions you would like to ask, to
listening to comments from others, to asking yourself how best to remember
the gist and details of the presentation?
How we present is important for many reasons but one stands out as John
Medina states in his new book Brain Rules. Our brains can’t multitask! We
can only pay attention effectively to one thing at a time. His suggestion is
that we first need to present the big ideas, the gist, and then build meaning
with the use of examples. He changed his method of presenting materials
to college students as a result of his findings. He now delivers lectures in
ten-minute segments via one single core concept “always explainable in
one minute” reinforced with “hooks” of emotionally competent stimuli
(examples). The people listening to our presentations will be “checking
out” at about ten minutes if we don’t deliver our materials in brain
friendly ways.
So how should be present? How can we be effective presenters? What are
some examples of effective presentations? What follows are a number of
resources and sites with help, examples and reinforcement.
The website www.TED.com will take you to a wonderful plethora of
presentations by national and international individuals. What is unique
about TED and the presentations, beyond their fabulous messages and
scope, is the manner in which they are delivered – the example. Each
presentation is 18 minutes long, that’s it. Yet, when you watch you will see
powerful materials presented very effectively via words and pictures in a short
period of time. A favorite of mine is Sir Ken Robinson on education.
Pecha-kucha is a presentation style developed in Japan. Presentation
requirements are based on the numbers (20 X 20 6:40). You have just 20
slides that change every 20 seconds as you tell your story in 6 minutes and 40
seconds. The idea is to be brief and focused and to allow time for questions
and discussion. For more information visit www.pecha-kucha.org.
Another presentation method is Ignite. A presentation following this format
consists of showing 20 slides that rotate every 15 seconds for a total of 5
minutes. The emphasis once again is on tight and precise presentations. Visit
www.ignite.oreilly.com for details.
An excellent resource, from which some of the preceding was gathered,
is the book Presentation Zen and website www.garrreynolds.com by Garr
Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds points out that power point slides are much more
effective when they consist of more visuals and much less wording. An
example being - don’t kill your audience with bullets. Simplicity is something
to remember when creating and presenting. This book is filled with a
multitude of information and resources to develop effective presentations.
Your audience should be able to remember and use the gist and substance
of what you presented. How we get them to that point is based on our use
of brain friendly presentations and the effective use of design and delivery
of our materials.
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 5
MSCA Governing
Board Meeting Minutes
By Jen Landy, MSCA Secretary
MSCA Board Meeting
Friday, October 3, 2008—Augsburg College
Board Members Present: Marie Atkinson-Smeins, Colleen Baldrica, Jim
Bierma, Dawn Brown, Mary Beth Higgins, Shirley Jackson, Kitty Johnson,
Tami Johnson, Rachel Karnitz, Heather Krause, Shelly Landry, Jen Landy, Jan
Larson, Richard Mack, Kris Moe, Jackie Mosconi, Lee Oling, Amy Paton,
Sarah Rach, Laurie Sandress-Boeshans, Murray Smart, Dave Warner, Theresa
Weber-Sexton
Developing Work Plan
Reminder: At LDI in Morris, MN the board decided to adopt the ASCA
Ends Policy as the MSCA Ends Policy.
Handouts: Shelly passed out a handout showing the MSCA End Policies and
discussing the MSCA Work Plan. A handout showing the WSCA (Wisconsin)
Work Plan and the ASCA Work Plan was also passed out.
Board to develop the “WHAT’S”
Committees to develop the “HOW’S”
9:15 a.m.—Meeting Called to Order
The board was broken into groups based on the 7 items in the work plan.
Agenda Approved with Flexibility
Jackie Mosconi moved for the agenda to be approved with flexibility. 2nd by
Colleen Baldrica. All in favor, motion passed.
Discussion: Where does the budget piece go? What about a long term
plan for the budget? Which item in the work plan? Do we need a separate
work plan for the executive committee or can we all work off the same plan?
Suggestion is that we send out a postcard to the membership to view the
changes on the website and then vote. We could add an additional Ends
Policy article 8 to reflect ASCA’s Ends Policy Article 7.
Approval of Minutes from LDI with 1 correction
Lee Oling. 2nd by Amy Paton. All in favor, motion passed.
ASCA Governing Style
Jim Bierma reviewed the ASCA governing style. The importance of a
governing style was discussed. Ground rules for the meeting was also
discussed. Board members were asked to review the Board Member Code of
Ethics and sign the form and return it to Shelly.
Financial Report
Reimbursement checks will be mailed to board members 3-5 days after the
board meeting. Recommendations from Edward Jones regarding our account
were discussed—specifically leaving some money in our money market account
and moving some of our money to a First Eagle Global Fund. It was also
brought up that the board should also look at discussing what we plan to
do with this money in the account. This topic will be addressed at a future
meeting as well as whether the division that hosts the spring conference should
receive a monetary return.
Motion
Lee Oling made a motion to leave $5,000 in our money market account and
move the reminder into the First Eagle Global Fund-Gold. 2nd by Colleen
Baldrica. All in favor, motion passed.
The budget was discussed and copies of our current financial status were
passed out. The reason the line on the budget for scholarships was off was
because we paid for 2 years of the scholarship in 1 year because of what was
going on with TCF.
Anoka Division Discussion
Rich Mack is currently the division president but he now works in St. Paul.
Currently no one has stepped up to be the president. It was discussed if we
need to re-examine the boundaries of this district and/or how can we help/
support this district. How do we show them the benefits of being a leader
in this organization? Can we connect with or reach out to the younger/new
counselors in this division? Shelly and Murray will work with Rich on this.
Next Guidelines
Shelly brought up that she would like to see the next Guidelines centered
around “School Counselors as Leaders.”
Presentation by Augsburg Admission Staff
2 admissions staff members from Augsburg College spoke to the board about
their college.
Motion
Sarah Rach made a motion to make ASCA ends policy 7 our ends policy 8.
2nd by Marie Atkinson-Smeins
Language would read: An organizational structure and administrative functions/
facilitates the accomplishment of the Ends Policies. Discussion was had on the
topic. All in favor, motion passed.
Next Steps:
1. Address Organizational Structure & Committees
Do we need a membership chair/committee? Professional Development?
Should we change our Career Development area become Professional
Development? Does PR and Membership go hand-in-hand? Who helps
with membership—does one person from each division serve on the
committee?
2. Committees
3. Transition Plan--board position transitions so that the new person is not
starting from scratch
4. Expectations/Roles of committee members
5. Elections before spring meeting
Motion
Jackie Mosconi moved to change the Career Development Chair Position to
Professional Development Chair. 2nd by Tami Johnson. Motion passed with
1 abstention.
Public Relations Update
MSCA had a couple of members help during the State Fair at the Minnesota
Education Fair. It was a great PR opportunity. MSCA Pencils were handed
out to students at the NACAC college fair on October 1 & 2, 2008. Tami
talked about our exhibitor booth and how difficult the current booth is to set
up. We are looking to purchase a new one that is much easier to set up as well
as a new tablecloth and runner. 3 designs were presented to the board for the
booth as well as a sample brochure. Tami also asked that Guidelines include
a section on members that have and are presenting at conferences to showcase
what we do. Tami is also working on a transition plan for the position.
Motion
Colleen Baldrica makes a motion to accept Ann’s 2008-2009 contract with the
understanding that the Finance Committee will meet and discuss her contract.
The mailing of the directory will also be removed from her contract for next
year, as that is no long taking place. 2nd by Kitty Johnson.
Friendly Amendment by Colleen Baldrica—Reword motion above that the
finance committee will meet with her to examine the contract in time for next
year. All in favor, motion passed.
Legislative Update
Tammy Roth has resigned as the Government Relations co-chair. Kitty
believes that we need to identify our legislative goals and our current
relationship with Dan Campo. Do we need a lobbyist? Do we need a
PR firm? What is our strategy? An email that Walter Roberts sent out to
members of the board was also addressed. Kitty will follow up with Shelley
regarding the issues brought up.
Conference Update
Kris Moe gave an update. Things are going great. Salsa band on Sunday
night. Murray has been contacted by a number of other places about being
the conference host site instead of doing it at Madden’s. After the conference
was in St. Cloud the board felt they got the message from the membership
that they wanted the conference at Madden’s. However, was that a universal
feeling?
New Business
MSCA Awards. Please start thinking about if you have someone from your
division that you would like to nominate for an award. Award winners must
be members.
Meeting Evaluation
Discussed what worked well today—structured activity with clear direction,
keeping people on task
Discussed what didn’t work well—some decisions we spend too much time on
and others we rushed through a little, was hard to hear people speak at times
Discussed what we need to start doing—do we need to meet more so we
can accomplish more—the board and/or committees, would like to see time
allocated to topics on agenda, send out agenda ahead of time so members are
aware of the plan for the day
NEXT MEETING:
JANUARY 9th at HAMLINE UNIVERSITY AT 9 A.M.
Notes/Agenda Items for Future Meeting/s
• Discussion regarding what we hope to do with the money MSCA currently
has with Edward Jones.
• Discussion regarding whether the division that hosts the spring conference
should get a monetary return.
• Continue discussion on lobbyist position
Rich Made made a motion to adjorn the meeting, 2nd by Murray Smart. All
in favor, motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
Contract Positions
Ann Kvaal has increased her rate $1 an hour, from $30 to $31. This is the
first time her pay has been increased since 2006.
The board would like to see an estimation from her of the number of hours
she spends in each area so we can properly plan for future budgets.
Technology @#$%#$!!!
By Colleen Baldrica,
MSCA Past President
Technology @#$%#$!!! When I think of technology, I think of everything
I don’t know and feel overwhelmed. Sure I can send e-mail, use word,
power point, excel and even file maker, and that is about the extent of
my comfort zone.
Now for those of you born after 1989 you have never known life without
technology like computers, IPods, cell phones and all the great games that
come with this technology. However, for those of us who were born well
before 1989 it has been a constant uphill climb.
So where does the MN Model or ASCA Model come into all this? After
all to show accountability it definitely makes it easier if one uses some of
the great computer programs that make charts and graphs. I admit I was
like many out there, for me it was scary to get started. However, after
training on “How to Make Data Work” I felt relieved. It was a lot easier
than I thought it would be. All I had to do was put in the numbers and
“walla” the chart appeared. This technology does almost everything with
just a touch of a button. So now my question is why aren’t more people
keeping data that shows how what they do makes a difference? If I can
do it, I know everyone out there can do it.
In this day where budgets are tight and support staff are among the first
to be cut, I challenge you to keep the data, prepare a presentation for
your administrator and/or school boards showing them how what you do
each day does increase attendance, raises academic success, and helps the
climate of the entire building to name just a few great things you do.
I’d love to hear how your data collection goes. You can always let me with
an e-mail, colleenbaldrica@yahoo.com
Page 6­­­- MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
MSCA Workplan
Developed at the 10-3-08
Governing Board Meeting
1. Professional Development
Who does the work? Technology, Membership, Professional Development
1. Hold the MSCA spring conference, plan for the following year’s MSCA spring conference (Annual)
2 Conduct needs assessment for professional development needs (Annual)
3 Provide trainings based on needs assessment (Annual)
4 Hold the MSCA LDI (Annual) – President, President Elect
5 Maintain the MSCA website (On-Going)
6 Continue to publish the MSCA Newsletter—Guidelines (Quarterly)
7 ASCA National Model training and implementation support (On-Going)
8 Collect data on the use an outcomes of training and professional development (Annual)
9 Partner with MDE for trainings (On-Going)
10 Provide guidance on proposals, writing research and papers (On-Going)
11 Provide info on upcoming trainings offered by other associations (e.g. MACAC) via website/listserv
(On-Going)
12 Encourage members to present their own expertise at conferences (On-Going)
13 Making Professional Development accessible to graduate students (On-Going)
14 Provide support for new Professionals/Members (On-Going)
2. Timely, Relevant Information
Who does the work? Technology and Guidelines Committees
• Promote and enhance current resources to include: (On-Going)
1. “Expertise” Directory based on topics
2. Connecting to other agency websites
3. “Links” page on website
4. Website Archive questions & topics from list serve
• Directory-add electronic version with immediate updates (On-Going)
1. Members will list their areas of “expertise” when they renew their membership and this will be noted next
to their names in the directory
• Division Meetings, Networking, Sharing (Based on Each Division)
1. An expectation will be for each Division Level President to bring back the names of their members who
have an “expertise” in a particular area who can share resources and/or willingness to present
2. Division Chairs will present a “Best Practice” w/theme to the website (Quarterly)
• Newsletter (Quarterly)
1. Continue to provide “Guidelines” for members
• List Serve (On-Going)
1. Continue to maintain list serve
• Possibility of a MSCA bookstore at annual conference? (PR)
Needed Resources:
• People and Submissions
Ideas:
•Breakout session at Spring Conference to show members how to use the website and what it can provide
• MSCA Store at Spring Conference
3. Legislative Policy
Who does the work? Government Relations, Division Presidents, Members, Lobbyist, Technology Chair,
President/Past President/President Elect, Public Relations
A. Lead legislative efforts to increase the number of Licensed School Counselors
1. propose a bill that mandates LSC’s throughout the state of MN
2. Renew the MN Department of Education grant
3. Follow up so that school counselors are hired out of the $3/student allocation that was part of the
‘dedicated funding stream’
4. Notify counselors of grants that are coming through the system
B. Increase grassroots activities
1. Start a grassroots effort for MSCA board members to work with MSCA Division Presidents. Each senator
and representative will be contacted by at least one counselor from each division.
2. Get counselors to work with candidate campaigns.
3. Division presidents will notify MSCA leadership of contact information or data that was gathered through
phone call or email.
C. Training on grassroots activities
1. Someone from MSCA needs to go out to divisions and talk about grassroots organization; what kind of
correspondence do the legislators prefer?
D. Raise visibility at the Capitol
1. Day on the Hill
2. Counselors contacting their senators and representatives on a
regular basis.
3. Increase visits to senators and representatives
E. Educate MSCA membership about legislative issues
1 Use listserve
2. Division meetings
4. Research and Evaluation
Who does the work? Education, Professional Development, Technology, Level V.P.’s, Partners—TRIO, AVID
Goals
When
Who
Resources
1. Data Training
Bi-annually
MSCA Ed/Prof.
Committee (new
board position)
$ to pay experts to
conduct training
2. Closing Student
Achievement Gaps
among students of
color and low income
Bi-annual training
and collecting of data
across divisions
Sub-committees
within each of the
MSCA divisions
Computers, access
to best practices
developed across the
nation; within the
state; and within
divisions.
3. Literature search
across the nation/
world regarding school
counseling programs
and students’ academic
achievements
On-going throughout
the year(s); annually
reporting out at spring
conference
Grade level VPs on
the MSCA board as
well as VPs on each
division’s board; and
MSCA tech. person.
Computers, ability
to have best practices
shared via the MSCA
website for members
only; as well as share
with legislators and
stakeholders.
5. Professional and Ethical Standards
Who does the work? Ethics Chair
6. Partnerships with Stakeholders
Who does the work? MSCA President Designee, Treasurer, Level V.P.’s, Division V.P.’s, Education, Legislative
Goals
1. Need a connection to provide continuous communication with MDE
2. Develop continuous communication between the MSCA Boards members and its constituents
3. Partner with area Graduate Programs to develop and educate quality professional counselors
4. Within each of the divisions, develop stronger ties with Student Services Personnel—psychologists, social
workers, nurses, attendance officers, etc.-- to advance student achievement
Actions
1. Provide and continue MSCA Board member representation with MACAC
2. Find possible partners (such as MACAC) to continue our scholarship award program
3. Identify and endorse student led programs within each of our districts
4. Continue involvement (MSCA president) with state-level Student Support Services Coalition
7. Leaders
Who does the work? Ann Kvaal, PR, MSCA Pres., Div. Pres’s, Prof. Dev., Board Members, Exec. Board,
ASCA Rep
MSCA #7
Leaders at local, state, and national levels champion and lead change initiatives
Goal
Increase
membership at
state and division
levels
Recruit School
Counselor leaders
at state and
division levels
When
Resources needed
Membership recruitment mailings; two
mailings
What
Ann Kvaal, PR chair, PR/
membership committee, division
presidents
Who
Fall and spring
Postage, PR materials,
brochures, communication
procedure between
divisions and Ann
Individual invitations are issued to potential
leaders
All board members
Prior to spring
conference;
ongoing
Leadership seminar at spring conference
(possible leadership breakfast)
Executive Board
Mentor potential leaders during board
meetings
Individual board members and pastpresident mentor new leadership
Data
Year to year
membership
numbers
PR materials re: “Benefits of leadership”
(include testimonials) and “What is a leader?”
Train the trainer LDI
Provide leadership
training at State
and Division
levels
Align MSCA
Board with ASCA
Board governance/
structure
Create continuity
plan for future
MSCA board
members
Executive Board; board members
Funding for
train the
trainer
Division boards hold leadership training
“School Counselor as Leader” sessions offered
at Spring and/or Fall conference
Board voted to align governance and board
structure
President; executive board; board
Summer 08
LDI; annual
review at LDI
New board member training
President; past-president; exec board
LDI
Succession plan for board membership exists
New board members join current board
members at Spring Board meeting
5 year plan exists for MSCA goals, including
budgeting, work plans, etc
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 7
10 Ways to Use
Technology
By Jim Bierma, ASCA President
Technology can be a great tool for school counselors. Below are ten ways you
can use technology. It is not recommended you use all of these techniques
because it will take away from our most effective intervention: meeting with
students in classroom, group, and individual settings. Continually assess
which technological techniques enable you to provide exemplary services to
your students.
1. Obtain attendance, behavior, and academic data for all students. School
counselors should know the number of behavior referrals in the last month,
the attendance rate of the entire student body, and the percentage of students
that failed at least one class in the last grading period. These statistics will
help identify your school’s biggest needs and what would be the most useful
interventions for all students. Data should be collected for the current and
previous year to compare your school’s progress in these important areas.
Counselors can take a leadership role in their school by presenting this data
to staff. This information will help shape the school’s improvement plan.
2. Surveys on the computer. Surveying staff and students on the web is
particularly effective. Two computer systems that are commonly used by
school counselors are Survey Monkey and Naviance. Staff can be surveyed to
rate things like “Are students well-behaved?” or “Do school counselors help
students succeed at your school?” Naviance can be used for tasks such as Pre
and Post tests, Senior Exit interviews, and School Climate surveys.
3. Use technology in classroom lessons. Students are increasingly becoming
visual learners. Using PowerPoint when you deliver classroom lessons can
increase the effectiveness of your presentations. Many schools have or will
have Smart Boards, which can be a very effective tool. Counselors are
increasingly taking their students to the computer lab to use programs that
help students match their interests and skills with an academic and career
plan.
4. Obtain career data on the Internet. Career trends change all the time. It
is important that counselors keep up to date on these trends so we can best
guide our students to viable professions. The Internet System for Employment
and Education Knowledge (ISEEK), Minnesota Career Information Systems
(MCIS), and MnCareers contain excellent information about Minnesota
careers on their websites. The National Career Development Association
(NCDA) and the National Employment Counseling Association (NECA)
posts useful national career data. There are many any other websites and
organizations that provide helpful career information.
5. Use information on the MSCA and ASCA website. The MSCA website
has hundreds of classroom lessons and articles, tips on how to help students
with common personal/social problems, steps for assisting students in
crisis, information about professional development opportunities, and
details about the spring conference at Maddens. The ASCA website has
thousands of articles and links about almost any topic pertaining to school
counseling. The site also contains ethical standards, blogs, comprehensive
school counseling program ideas, parent collaboration tips, and much more.
Many school counselors around the country find this site to be an invaluable
resource.
6. Create and/or update a website for your school counseling program.
School counseling websites can be an excellent resource for students and
parents and are a great way to publicize your comprehensive program. Your
website can include items like monthly and annual calendars, newsletters,
test dates and locations, graduation requirements, parent tips, transcript
requests, school-wide program explanations (i.e. Bully Prevention, Academic
Planning, Gang Prevention, etc.), counselor appointment instructions,
scholarship information, common personal/social problem tips, postsecondary information, and career exploration tools. Keeping your website up
to date will increase how often parents and students access the information.
7. Create lists from computer data to identify students at the most risk.
Computer systems, like Campus and Discovery, contain important student
information. When you create lists of students who are absent the most,
failing classes, and getting behavior referrals, you pinpoint the students
who are most in need of group and individual interventions. Running these
reports periodically will let you know if your targeted interventions are
effective.
8. Use computer programs to help students with academic, post-secondary
and career planning. Computer programs, like Naviance, help students
become aware of how their interests, skills, learning styles, and personality
types align with different careers. After identifying possible careers, these
programs can help students create an academic and post-secondary plan to
reach their career goals. These programs are also an excellent tool to help
with students’ college and scholarship search.
9. Communicate with students, staff, and parents through email. Many
of our students spent a lot of time on the computer. School counselors
can disseminate important information to groups of students through
email. Communicating via email also creates opportunities for students to
ask for help for their personal/social problems. Another good way to use
email is to ask staff to identify students who may be experiencing personal/
social problems. Once students have been identified, school counselors can
provide face-to face interventions and provide tips and feedback through
email. Email can also be a good communication tool with parents. School
Counseling Program newsletters can be sent to interested parents. Sending
emails to parents when their students are doing a good job is an excellent
intervention. Some parents, especially parents in lower economic areas,
do not check their email regularly, if at all. However, email is still a good
communication tool to use with many parents.
10. Use I-Movie with Student Leadership teams. Student Leadership
teams can greatly enhance your school counseling program. Students will
often listen to students more than they will listen to adults. I-Movie is a
technological tool that enables students to show their skits and interviews
to the whole student body. When you are teaching units on subjects such
as conflict management, respect, organizational skills, and career awareness,
these short movies will help students learn and practice the skills you desire.
The movies should only be around three minutes long. The students are
excellent at editing and putting titles on the movies. The students will do
most of the work for you. Being on a Student Leadership team has turned
around many students at risk. These teams are one of the favorite and most
effective interventions for some school counseling teams.
Page 8 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
Technology and
School Counseling
By Jan Bilden, MSCA Northeast Division
Is this oil and water, or what? I did not go into school counseling so that
I could interact with hardware! And one of my more distressing moments
as a school counselor was the day a computer took up residence on
my desk.
Now that you know you are not reading an article written by a dyed in
the wool techie, I con confess that today I don’t know what I would do
without modern technology. Namely:
• Infinite Campus, that allows me to get a student’s enrollment history,
current grades, transcript, parent information, behavior record, test
scores, and schedule in a moment. Even better, I can see a picture so
that, I can smile and call the mby name.
• MCIS (Minnesota Career Information System) which we use with our
juniors to get them started with an interest inventory, electronic file,
career and college search.
• The internet, a bottomless pool of information, so that our office
doesn’t have quite the Hallmark Card Shop look with catalogs and
brochures. Almost all colleges have online applications too. This
year our senior handbook is on the school website, as is the Common
Scholarship application. All of this reduces paper waste and is easier
to keep current and accessible.
• E-mail to communicate with students, parents, colleagues and other
schools.
• FAX machines so that we can send and receive records and
communications quickly.
• Online courses give students more options for their education.
• An LCD projector was used to do our senior classroom sessions. We
were able to show them MCIS, a school website, the senior handbook
and the high school/counseling website.
There is more on the horizon. We’ll begin using Docufide, an electronic
transcript service, on January first and students will order and pay for
transcripts on the internet from our school website. This week I went to
a presentation on a Smartboard. I hope I can retire before this arrives,
helpful as it may be.
Is there a downside to all of this? Absolutely. With the ease of e-mail,
we’re hit with 30 or more e-mails per day. It takes time to respond to
this deluge of communication and information, to learn to use the new
technology, and unfortunately the expectations may increase. No one is
removing anything from the counselor job description. Therefore, it is up
to each of us to make thoughtful decisions as to what will help us serve
our students and what might be bells and whistles. Function needs to
be the primary watachword, and I must admit, that by and large the new
technological advances have been very helpful.
Carry on!
Establishing a School Counselor Career
and College Information Website
By Ken Radke, MSCA Northwest Division President
In order to establish a career and counseling information website some JOB SEARCHES
of the things that need to be considered are that you will need to specify careerprep.com
monster.com
kuder.com
exactly what you would like to have created, and work with a technology jobtrack.com
getcareerskills.org
iseek.org
person or a web design class to create it.
These are only a few of the many websites that are available, but they
Once you have established a relationship with someone to complete the are some of my favorites. There are several other sites available on
project you can certainly find a variety of ways in which to format your the website.
website and things that you may wish to include. You can include within
your website various links or portals and either way will work well as long The website can be viewed at tricounty.k12.mn.us or newfolden.k12.mn.us
For more information contact Ken Radke at Tri-County School email:
as it is user friendly.
ken_radke@tricounty.k12.mn.us
The different career and counseling items that I have included in my website
are grouped in the following areas and include various search engines.
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
collegeboard.com
finaid.org
collegefund.org
kuder.com
Introducing Dr. Jennifer Pepperell,
fastweb.com
uncf.org/scholarship
FINANCIAL AID RESOURCES
edlgov/studentaid
ed.gov/offices/ope
finaid.org
FederalStudentAid.ed.gov/pubs
COLLEGE & CAREER
blis.gov/oco
collegenet.com
iseek.org
mncareers.org
fafsa.ed.gov
iseek.org
fastweb.co
mheso.state.mn.us
MSCA Ethics Chairperson
Jennifer received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University in
Counselor Education and Supervision. Her primary counseling
focus has always been with children and adolescents, either in
shelter settings, or in schools. Her research interests are with
adolescent girls, identity development, and feminist issues. She is
an assistant professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato. For
assistance with ethical questions of concerns she can be reached
via email at Jennifer.pepperell@mnsu.edu.
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 9
Helping Students Find a Technology Balance
By Laurie Sandness-Boeshans,
MSCA West Central Division President
Welcome back to another school year! We’re already a month in at the
time of this writing, and the hectic pace of the last week lets me know we’re
officially settled in for the year. Now that the year’s underway and I’m
starting to see students walk through my office door again, I find myself
reminded about how much technology is playing a role in students’ lives
these days. Kids tell me they’re playing video games all weekend or during
their entire evening instead of doing homework or getting outside. Middle
school friendship drama rises and falls with each text message – many of
those being sent or received during class or study periods while the busy
fingers work hidden inside sweatshirt hoodie pockets. Already, students are
distraught because of lost or stolen cell phones and iPods that seem to go
missing from lockers and backpacks. So we advise kids to turn off the video
games, not look at the text messages, and leave the iPods at home – all in the
hopes of getting kids to focus on schoolwork and face-to-face interactions.
Yet at the same time, we’re infusing more and more technology into each
school day. In my school, we’ve got interactive whiteboards, clickers,
YouTube clips, computerized standardized testing, web programs for career
exploration, websites for most departments, GPS units, a weekly student
news program that’s digitally recorded and edited, finger scanners in the
lunch line, DDR in PE, podcasts, an online system for students and parents
to check grades, and more technology every day.
So how do we teach kids to unplug yet at the same time encourage them
to explore and be excited about technology? It’s a big question that I don’t
have the answers to, but here’s what I’m going to try this year: I’m going
to challenge kids to live in the moment instead of in cyberspace or on their
cell phones – for example, “What if you talked to your friend face-to-face
instead of e-mailing her when you get in a fight?” I’m going to try to lead
by example – by having students help me improve our webpage so it better
meets their needs and by turning off my phone’s ringer when I’m talking
with a student. I’m going to make a point to talk with kids about how
technology gets in the way of their goals, but how it can help them meet
their goals if they use it wisely. I’m going to talk with classes about how to
stay safe on the internet. I’m going to find the best, most engaging resources
on the web and share those with my students as we explore careers and plan
for high school.
While we’re at it helping students find a technology balance, perhaps we
should pay attention to the lesson ourselves. When our server goes down,
I feel lost because so much of my day-to-day work relies on my computer.
I can’t call parents, return e-mails, write letters, or even find the students
I want to see because all of that information is inaccessible to me out on
the network somewhere. Instead, I end up hanging out in the lunchroom
and hallway catching up with those kids I don’t usually see. I actually go
and talk with the teachers I’d been meaning to e-mail. I get to enjoy a
lunch that’s not hurried. Life’s a little more relaxed and a little more in-themoment when I’m unplugged. Although technology’s a fantastic tool that
allows us to reach out to students and families in great ways, we’d probably
all benefit from unplugging ourselves more often.
Good luck finding your own balance this year with technology and all
aspects of your job – and good luck finding ways to pass your wisdom of
balance on to your students!
Technology & Technology
By Mary Beth Higgins,
MSCA Elementary Vice-President
Using technology can be a little like organizing your Tupperware. It
seems like a lot of work to match all of the lids to containers and group
them by size in the cabinet, but it’s worth it if it helps you avoid sitting on
the kitchen floor on the verge of tears with plastic strewn about looking
for any lid to match any container. Over the long term technology can
save time and reduces stress, but often involves an initial investment to
learn or use.
For the past several years I have done sociograms with the entire student
body in order to find out how connected the students are to their
classmates. The students who are not well connected are put in friendship
groups in hopes to establish a stronger bond with others. I had always
done this on paper and while the information was useful, it took many
hours to analyze the results and track the progress of my efforts from year
to year. Also, referencing the data as needed later was a time-consuming
exercise in paper shuffling.
I often thought it would be so much easier and more manageable if I
could record the information on the computer. Last year, with the help
of someone more comfortable with Excel spreadsheets, I recorded student
information by class and have reaped several benefits:
1. It is easier to see who has strong connections with others and who
does not.
2. I can identify cliques within a class and who is in the center of it.
3. If an issue with a student arises I can quickly and easily look up
sociogram info to help inform my understanding of what could be
going on.
4. When stakeholders want to know how I am making a difference in
the lives of students I have data to support my claims (e.g. friendship
groups have a positive impact).
5. When I want to gather the information next year I can add data to the
existing table.
If you have information stored on paper that you would like to make
easier to access it may be worth your time to put it in a spreadsheet. For
me, it has been very valuable. I only wish I would have done it sooner.
Page 10 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
I Have a Myspace Account
By Dawn Brown,
MSCA Central Division President
I have a MySpace account. Yes, I am almost 40 and I am way cool.
Actually, about three years ago, I had a student walk into my office and
begin to talk to me about the harassment she was experiencing on the
computer. MySpace, blogging, messaging, comments….I felt like she
was talking circles around me. It was frustrating and I tried to keep up
but it just didn’t work. The technology lingo was over my head and I felt
completely incapable of helping this student with her trauma. So, I did
what logic told me, I made her log into this phantom web land and I
experienced my first MySpace page. It was traumatizing for me what had
been done to this poor girl. An entire webpage designed to make fun of
this wonderful young woman. Well, needless to say, I refused to be web
stupid anymore.
I made a MySpace page and it was pretty lame. At first I was incognito,
fake name, fake place, fake age, because I didn’t want people to think I
was some old lady stalking the youth of today. However, through the
process, I have learned that there are tons of ways that students can hurt
others, and be hurt themselves, with ease and not just on MySpace but
all over the internet.
My concerns with the internet are multiplied every day but the benefits
far outweigh the positive. There are great resources available for us to use
in our work with students. I am going to list a few of them for you here:
http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/topics/bullying.asp
http://www.netsmartz.org/netteens.htm
http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/default.mspx
http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/
There are many more that are available and I have learned a great
deal from just taking the time to research. However, I think the best
learning comes from actual experience and I highly recommend that we
as professionals actually start getting tech savvy. Learn how to instant
message someone. Create a Face book page. Log into You Tube. Get your
own MySpace account. It really has its benefits as well. I keep in contact
with many of the foster children we have had over the years. I post photos
of my cute kids and videos of lots of stuff (and yes, my page is private).
I talk with my friends’ kids and my sister and brother-in-law who live in
other states. My brother has his own music page and we listen to his the
music that he posts. I even communicate with a long lost cousin who I
have never met who lives in Oregon. And, I might add, my page is pretty
fantastic now that I have learned how to design it. So, join me! I promise,
it will help you to be that much more effective the next time a student
needs you when they are in crisis over bullying on the internet!
The Big Bang Theory has nothin’ on us!
By Jackie Mosconi,
MSCA Minneapolis Division President
Do you remember the t.v. “clicker? These were little devices actually attached
to the television by a long cord that when you pressed the button to change
the channel, they actually made a loud “click” sound (ergo, “clicker”). And
WOW did we think that was the coolest thing ever invented. Rather than
have to get up from the Barcalounger and change the channel up or down,
you could save your self the 10 steps… far out luxury!
Fast forward 40 years. Now what our students think is “cool” is light years
away from the tv clicker. A 9th grade student told me that Naviance is
“like MySpace for school.” Naviance? MySpace? Alien terms…add to that
a myriad of other techie terms: megabytes, gigabytes, RAM, CD-R/W,
flash drives, Discovery.net, OCR, Windows 97/2000/2007/Vista (what
version are we on now?), Excel, Outlook, Internet – the information
superhighway). Oh, and we can’t forget that four-letter word: DATA!
Speed, efficiency, faster, faster… Whew… Breathe everyone.
And with all this technology infiltrating our mother ship, I find it ironic
that counselors, quite often the “touchy-feely” sorts of folks who’d rather
have a lengthy heartfelt conversation with a real live person than download
the newest version of something or other, are at the center of not only
technology use, but are promoting its use in our buildings.
We know licensed school counselors influence student development in
these domains: social/emotional, career development, and academic.
Where does technology fit? It’s truly an out-of-this world concept.
Or is it? What is clearly different about technology in our jobs today is
that it is not merely the convenience as with the tv clicker. Technology
is not going away and students are more savvy than most of us in its use.
Not only do counselors need to be aware of what students are using in
terms of technology, but also need to be leaders in integrating technology
in classroom guidance lessons and individual academic and career
development. Additionally, counselors who open themselves to technology
use are able to find efficiency on the recordkeeping and data end, and find
time to forge better connections through those all-important counselor to
student conversations.
An exciting effort that integrates the students’ realm with counselor
expertise is the Ramp Up to Readiness project. This partnership between
the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the U of MN’s College
Readiness Consortium brings counselors and higher education leadership
together on a design team that is creating a tool that will be made available
to counselors and students across the state of Minnesota. A key component
of this tool will be a technology-based social networking tool that connects
students to one another to help navigate the college preparation process.
So, while the counselor who is less comfortable with technology may be
crying “Beam me up,” the adaptable professional school counselor looks at
this collision of worlds as a happy modern-day “Big Bang” with a students
emerging prepared well for life beyond high school, thanks in part to their
dynamic intergalactic school counselor!
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 11
Representing Our Profession
through Leadership
By Tami Johnson, MSCA Public Relations Chair
From time to time, all of us do good things, above and beyond the
call of duty, that get our profession noticed. In this section, we will be
spotlighting counselors in the news and counselors that represent all of us
through educating others on what we do for students, families and schools.
We all make a difference and we need to celebrate and share our good
news with others! If you are a current MSCA member and would like to
submit something for this section, contact the MSCA Public Relations
Chairperson, Tami Johnson at tami.johnson@spps.org.
Now, it’s your turn…Help us shine that spotlight on your professional
leadership.
Volunteers needed to work a few hours or work a whole day at the MSCA
booth at the Minnesota School Board Association Conference on January
15-16. Email of call tami.johnson@spps.org or (651) 293-5191 ext. 209.
I’ll get us started...
Representing counselors at the State Fair was Teresa Savage of Coon
Rapids. Working at the Education MN booth and getting MSCA’s name
out there to students and families from all over the State.
Representing counselors at the National College Fair was Kim Oppelt,
both an MSCA and MACAC member. Kim helped get MSCA’s mood
pencils in the hands of our students at this year’s college fair.
Representing our profession at the Minnesota Minority Education
Partnership’s annual State of Students of Color Report Conference on
Thursday, November 6th at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is
Tami Johnson, MSCA PR Chair. Tami Johnson, enrolled member of the
White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is a licensed school counselor for the Indian
Education Program for St.. Paul Public Schools. She is presenting a session
on the impact of American Indian boarding schools on American Indian
families’ view of education and the role of counselors for an audience
of Minnesota K-16 educational leaders. For more information on the
conference go to www.mmep.net.
On Sept. 26, Tami Johnson and Teresa Savage represented MSCA at
the Education Minnesota booth at the MN State Fair. They handed
out our mood magnets and assisted with Ed. MN. photo calendars.
Technology in Counseling
By Sarah Rach,
MSCA Post Secondary Vice President
It’s all about technology! It’s all the buzz! What can we use it for? How can
we integrate technology into counseling? Since counseling is such a person
to person process, it seems counterintuitive that we would want to integrate
such a thing into the process. What we are learning, though, is that it is, in
fact, quite helpful in our jobs as counselors. I use technology everyday!
Technology allows me to communicate with students who can’t get to
campus. Email is one of the most popular ways that technology is used in
counseling. There are, of course, some issues that go along with this means
of cyber communication. But, when used appropriately, it can enhance the
relationships with students tremendously. Then there is the Facebook craze.
Facebook is designed to be a social networking tool… which has turned out
to be so much more. We are even considering putting a counseling facebook
page out there. Don’t forget that the internet allows us quick access to tons
of resources, materials and other people. I “Google” daily and find lots of
things that are valuable to me. My flashdrive is getting full! J We also have
the ability to communicate quickly with other counselors across the state
via the use of our list-serve. What a great way to find out what others are
doing, get feedback on difficult situations, and find out what events are
coming up next.
The most innovative way that our counseling team has used technology has
been through the development and use of our “Early Alert” system. This
system was created in house by some very talented people. We are able to
have our faculty log into the Early Alert system and see their classes and
the students in there at a glance. Once there, they are able to check boxes
that range from: “Poor Performance”, “Sporadic Attendance” to “Outside
of Classroom Distractions”. They are also able to add specific comments to
the alert. The alerts are then sent by email to a central location where they
are dispersed to the appropriate people to follow up. The student is also sent
an email to let them know that their instructor is concerned about them.
Many of the alerts will come to the counselors who then follow up with
each student by phone, email, in person or through a letter. We track who is
contacted and how and keep a “Communication Log” on the system, located
on our college “Intranet”. Faculty are able to see if we followed up and when.
This system has been a great way to reach students before it is too late. It
has been a lot of work, but well worth it in terms of retention! Students are
even giving positive feedback. One student commented that she “felt good
to know that someone cared enough to contact her to see how things were
going and how they could help” her. To me, this shows a successful way to
use technology to enhance our counseling services to students.
Page 12 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
Hot Technologies for Education:
What’s Happening Now and Later?
Consortium for School Networking
As technology companies introduce innovative products and services
for the education market, school districts have the opportunity to invest
in technologies designed to improve instruction and operations—from
teaching, learning, and assessments to organizational efficiency.
Perhaps the greatest promise of anticipated technologies is their potential
to transform schools through innovation. Students themselves are driving
innovation. They are willing to experiment, collaborate, and immerse
themselves in new ways of communicating, learning, and getting things
done. Their boldness and flexibility position them well to discover cuttingedge ways to apply technology creatively to the educational enterprise.
Educators, armed with increasingly powerful tools that will help them truly
make a difference in the lives of students, will be able to approach their work
with renewed purpose and passion as well.
The Consortium for School Networking’s report Hot Technologies for
K–12 Schools: The 2005 Guide for Technology Decision Makers discusses
some of the technologies that are likely to be tomorrow’s “must-have” tools
in schools. We look here at emerging technologies in the areas of instruction
and assessment.
Galvanizing the Instructional Process:
Hot Technology: MP3 Players Plus What happens when you cross a trendy
entertainment product with the school classroom? A remarkable array of
innovative learning activities, according to early reports from pilot studies.
MP3 players such as the Apple iPod, which fits in a pocket, are marketed
now for the sheer fun of downloading and listening to a personal, portable
playlist of music. However, they are transforming learning in K–12 schools
as well. Apple is converting the iPod from a music player into an active
highly portable large storage device, and with its success, other companies
will soon follow.
These portable devices have a storage capacity of between 20 and 50
gigabytes. But they can do much more than store music. They’re also
“active,” which means they can be used to create and manipulate digital
files, not just store them.
Storing and transferring files and images. Portable hard drives enable
students to store their classroom assignments, portfolios, digital photos
and other images, and sounds and take them anywhere. They can back up
schoolwork, then transfer this work to a desktop computer and continue
works-in-progress elsewhere.
Portable hard drives also afford teachers a way to collect assignments and
access them at home or share student work with other staff members, which
can be a powerful way for teachers to learn from one another.
Recording classroom lectures, discussions, and notes. With a microphone
accessory, students and teachers can record classroom talk or take oral
notes on a science experiment in the field, then play these back at any time
to study or share with others. With a camera attachment, students can
create images or videos as they explore and learn. Students also can record
interviews and practice oral presentations. Teachers can record lectures or
assignments and post them on a Web site for students to download.
Listening to audio books and music. Students and teachers can take
advantage of the increasing variety of audio books available in the
marketplace—from Shakespeare’s plays to Robert Frost’s poetry. Reading
and listening to books simultaneously improves comprehension for some
students and increases time for learning in transit or simply enjoying a
good book.
Creating multimedia presentations. Students can use their files to put
together multimedia presentations with text, images, and sounds by using
a variety of digital photo, video, and other presentation software. Students
also can store, transport, and share digital portfolios.
Trends to Watch
Right now, the iPod is being piloted in K–12 and higher education settings
with favorable reviews from teachers and students. These users will define
the educational uses of these devices. Here are some trends that are likely
to emerge:
• Continued expansion of mass storage capacity and all-in-one functionality,
including phone, Web, computer, and calculator applications.
• Increased portability and accessibility advances, which will allow people
to work on different computers in different places while minimizing the
number of high-end machines needed for high-powered projects such as
video production.
• Revival of portfolio assessment, made possible with the file storage,
creation, and manipulation possibilities of this technology.
Improving Assessment and Evaluation
Hot Technologies
• Digital Assessments
• Intelligent Essay Graders
• Intelligent Pattern Analysis and Performance Projections
These technologies can transform education by making assessments more
valuable and less burdensome to educators and by culling existing data
for new insights, which educators can use to make better decisions. Three
new digital technologies on the horizon will make it faster and easier for
educators to collect, assess, and evaluate student performance data.
Digital Assessments
Wireless or online classroom assessment systems can be used for standardsbased formative and summative assessments. Teachers, schools, or districts
develop questions that reflect classroom teaching and learning. Students
answer or respond electronically, using infrared devices similar to a
television remote control, handheld devices, personal digital assistants, or
graphing calculators to communicate via a wireless network.
Teachers access the results immediately on a desktop computer and can
share them with students on a classroom television or digital projector.
With digital assessments, teachers gain immediate insight into “knowing
what the students know.” They can quickly determine next steps for a class
or with individuals. Students, too, can see their strengths and weaknesses
immediately, which may motivate them to participate more effectively in
their learning.
Continued on the next page
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 13
Hot Technologies for Education:
What’s Happening Now and Later?
Consortium for School Networking
Continued from the previous page
Intelligent Essay Graders
Intelligent essay graders are automated systems that assess students’ essays
on content, structure, and writing mechanics. At a time when student
writing is increasingly important, this technology has a clear potential to
make it more feasible for teachers to assign essay writing and for states to
require essays on tests.
Grading essays takes time—more time than most teachers now have
to assign them regularly. With this technology, students submit essays
electronically on specific writing prompts, then receive instant feedback and
diagnostic analysis on their writing skills. The essays are graded against pregraded samples on the same topic, which are part of the software program.
The software for intelligent essay graders maintains students’ essays and
diagnostic data, so teachers and students can track progress over time.
Typically, the software also allows teachers to provide their own comments
on students’ writing.
Intelligent essay graders have been available for some time, but they are
only beginning to enter the K–12 education market. Intelligent essay
graders provide nonjudgmental, consistent, and timely feedback to students
about their progress over time, so they may increase student motivation to
strengthen their writing skills.
Intelligent Pattern Analysis and Performance Projections
This technology helps teachers and administrators make sense of the
increasing volume of data that schools are collecting and storing. School
data warehouses integrate existing information on student demographics,
attendance, discipline, grades, and standardized test scores, as well as digital
assessments. Some districts also integrate data on teachers, school climate,
bus schedules, finances, and other measures of organizational efficiency.
The technology to enable schools to make smart use of this mountain of
information works in three ways:
In effect, teachers can become “classroom researchers” who have a wealth of
data at their fingertips. They will thus have much better insights into their
students’ performance.
Trends to Watch
With powerful, capable new technologies on the horizon, more schools will
adopt digital assessments to monitor student progress and improve results.
Here are a few trends that are expected in the coming years:
• Closer ties among teaching, learning, and assessments. Digital assessments
make it possible for districts, schools, and teachers to know immediately
which topics pose difficulties for particular students, thus making it
possible to address problems as they arise.
• More classroom writing. Intelligent essay graders make it possible for
schools to require students to write more often.
• More frequent use of data for decision making. Visual displays of data give
more people access to the information by making it easier to understand.
• Better dissemination of best practices. These tools give districts a
perspective on what is working where. They can identify practices that are
working with a particular group of students.
Trends for Tomorrow’s Technologies
With technologies evolving rapidly, it’s difficult to predict which ones will
be the must-haves and exactly how they will be used. But administrators,
teachers, parents, and students will be on the front line of figuring out
effective, productive, and engaging ways of using technology innovations.
It is an exhilarating prospect. What it will take for this to happen are educators
who embrace technology to help them solve problems coupled with parents
and community members who support technology investments. It will also
take federal, state, and local funding commitments and less burdensome
regulations that serve as barriers to innovative use of technology.
• Analyzing data to find novel patterns or relationships between points
or types of data that would not be readily apparent to educators. For
example, software may show that there is a negative outcome on student
test results for afternoon math courses compared with morning courses.
• Projecting how students will perform on future tests based on interim
test results—in time for educators to adjust instruction mid-course.
For example, if third grade students perform poorly on math questions
involving multiplication on classroom assessments, they are likely to
have trouble with similar questions when they take the fourth grade
state test. With intensive instruction, however, educators can change this
predictive pattern, as long as the standards, curriculum, and assessments
are aligned.
On the horizon are educational technologies that are:
• Providing the visual display of information in charts and graphs, which
can help people understand and use data more effectively.
Customized and Content-Rich. Tomorrow’s technologies will allow schools
to tailor information to suit their needs, which will enable districts to better
collect and manage data, for example, and individual teachers to provide
specific, standards-based content to students.
The technology will help administrators and classroom teachers identify
such problems as low performance of at-risk students in specific subjects.
Administrators will be able to look at district and school trends using
aggregated and disaggregated data. Teachers can retrieve an instant snapshot
of their students’ progress from a variety of longitudinal data.
Convenient. Tomorrow’s technologies will be smaller, more portable,
and more accessible than today’s. Wireless, take-it-anywhere, use-itanytime designs will make it easier to incorporate technology into the
educational enterprise. Also, an ever-growing number of wireless “hot
spots” in communities will make it increasingly easier to access and use
technologies.
Capable. Tomorrow’s technologies will feature more powerful processing,
transmitting, storage, and interactive capacities, which will enable educators
and students to rely on them to do more complex and interesting work with
real-time immediacy.
Continued on the next page
Page 14 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
Hot Technologies for Education:
What’s Happening Now and Later?
Consortium for School Networking
Continued from the previous page
Convergent. Tomorrow’s technologies will allow people to work on different
hardware platforms, brand-name devices, and software applications with
fewer barriers to transferring from one to another and sharing work
with others.
Collaborative. Tomorrow’s technologies will be designed with features
that enable people to work together in real time, over great distances, with
technical tools at their fingertips.
Creative. Tomorrow’s technologies will take advantage of the tools people
like and use most today—phones, e-mail, the Web, and portable electronic
devices, for example—and build in more creative uses and more flexibility.
Compliant. Tomorrow’s technologies will help schools meet the requirements
of the federal No Child Left Behind law and other federal and state
legislation. Technology decision makers will want to make note of these
characteristics of new technologies as they consider future investments.
Recommendations for Technology Decision Makers
Think before banning. If you want to take advantage of compelling new
learning opportunities, embrace technologies that students like and use in
their daily lives rather than banning them from school.
Consider how technology can help you meet your educational goals. Look
for technologies that fit with district or school priorities—not just now, but
five years forward. This will help you narrow your focus from the many
technologies available to the technologies that could be most beneficial.
Consider all the ramifications of new technologies. Consider the instructional,
legal, security, privacy, technical, and cost issues associated with new
technologies, as well as the anticipated benefits. The time to bring up these
issues is before purchasing, not after problems arise. But approach these
issues positively, as challenges that can be solved rather than as barriers to
moving forward.
Look for technologies that will engage, empower, and motivate students
and teachers. These technologies may stand the best chance of profoundly
transforming teaching and learning. Explore how other districts, schools,
classrooms, teachers, and students are using the technology.
Get all constituencies involved up front. Bring together administrators,
teachers, parents, community members, and students, as appropriate, as
well as the technical team, to discuss and plan how new technology can
be used.
This article is excerpted with permission from Hot Technologies for K–12 Schools: The 2005 Guide for
Technology Decision Makers, published by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). For the full
report, additional resources from CoSN, and suggestions for further reading, please visit www.cosn.org.
Students, Counselors and Technology
By Shirley Jackson,
MSCA St. Paul Suburban Division President
The impact that technology has had on the capacity of school counselors
to meet the needs of students is enormous! Computers have totally
revolutionized the operations of school counselors. The extent of the data
available to track student achievement, behavior, attendance, as well as to
develop schedules, is amazingly helpful in meeting the needs of students.
Thinking back to school counseling in the 1980’s, I remember registering
students with paper and pencil, tracking class totals on a gigantic chart
filled with erasures, penciled in numbers and stickers for full classes. I can’t
imagine surviving in a contemporary school counseling office without the
technical systems now available.
Besides the use of technology as a counseling tool, I want to mention the
extensive role that computers and the internet play in student use, both
positive and negative, for school, home, and social connections. Most of
us are aware of and pleased with the extent of the positive uses. Counselors
frequently encounter the results of negative uses. An article in Counseling
Today (Kickin’ the Net habit, October 2008) identifies internet addiction
as one of the high points on the list of client issues identified by members
of the counseling profession. A similar article (Issues for SSM-V: Internet
Addiction,” March 2008) is referenced in which it is “suggested that Internet
addiction has risen to the level where it merits inclusion in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” Mentioned forms of Internet
addiction include online gaming or virtual world, online gambling, cybersex/
affairs and online auction addiction. School counselors know that other
issues, such as cyberbullying, might be added to this list of concerns.
An article on technology that does not mention cell phones would
be incomplete! Students with cell phones have immediate connections;
cell phones are wonderful tools when used appropriately. However, the
inappropriate use of cell phones may cause concern for school officials
and parents. Students have the capacity to “text” messages-copies of test
questions included-silently and under cover, snap photos of any situation
imaginable -from locker rooms to lunch tables to tests-and then send the
photos to friends, family and others near and far. Parents are able to contact
their students during the school day by calling cell phones set on vibrate
or by sending text messages, bypassing the school switchboard and school
guidelines against directly communicating with their students without
permission. Entirely new dilemmas are emerging from these situations that
require creative solutions. I welcome the challenges!
Nominate Someone for Counselor
or Administrator of the Year...
If you’d like to nominate someone for “Counselor or Administrator
Of The Year” the forms can be found on the MSCA list serve.
Fall 2008 - MSCA Guidelines - Page 15
Techonology Abuse
By Jan Larson,
MSCA Secondary Vice President
The use of technology is it as many forms have become a major intrusion
in our daily lives. It’s hard to admit, but we’ve all become victims—and
perpetrators. Society is in big need of some rules and guidelines
that address the use of cell phones, I-pods, computers, and other
communication devices we all hold “innocently” in pockets or purses.
High school students with whom I have visited agree that technology has
influenced their lives tremendously. We all know what technology can do
for us—we all use it in some way at work and in our personal lives. The
issue that challenges each of us is Technology Abuse.
We, our kids, our students, friends, spouses, and just about any other
person we may be with during the course of the day suffer and cause
suffering through technology abuse. Anyone can be reminded of their
own similar experiences by a few examples.
My husband and I were celebrating our anniversary in a nice restaurant
with three friends. Toward the end of the main course, all three were
suddenly on their cell phones, without excusing themselves from the
table, without a word to either of us, chatting away on their phones.
None of them thought it strange that we were suddenly left to sit and just
watch, unable to visit with each other because THEY were all on their
phones within three feet of us.
In telephone conversations with my adult son, who lives in another state,
I often notice that he sounds distracted and unengaged. If I mention that
he doesn’t seem to be listening or absorbing what we’re discussing, he
defensively insists that he can manage both talking and working on his
computer—but it doesn’t feel as though he’s really hearing me.
This past school year a coworker carried his cell phone with him
constantly. On every occasion that I met with him, he received a phone
call from a family member. One day he apologized to me for the frequent
interruptions when we were trying to conduct school business. Ignoring
my suggestion to turn the phone off during meetings, his conversations
continued to be disruptive and time-consuming, wasting much valuable
time and opportunity for school-related issues.
The husband of a dear friend spends every evening until bedtime playing
on-line computer games with friends who live in other states as a means
of “staying in touch”. He and his wife only have meaningful conversation
when they go on occasional car trips—if he’s driving.
Last spring a student came to my office, severely distraught because she
had just received a text message during class that informed her that a
friend had just died in a car accident in a nearby town. Another girl
in the car had texted the student who was crying uncontrollably over
the tragedy. This information was verified for me later by the police,
who had not yet arrived at the scene when the death was reported to the
student in her class.
The examples of technology are endless , but those mentioned here
should give us cause for concern. This past week I’ve had conversations
with various high school students about the issue of technology in their
lives. All have freely admitted that time on computers, cell phones, and
other devices takes most of their free time. They agree that talking to
parents is a rare event. One girl said that she has noticed that people get
together much less often than even a few years ago. She said that talking
on the phone is “weird” because texting has become the norm. Friends
don’t even hear one another’s voices in social settings. All the students I
visited with said that technology is as much a problem as it is a boost in
their lives.
The main concern is that relationships are suffering and people of all ages
are increasingly isolated from each other because of technology abuse.
People are using machines as extensions of themselves, for convenience,
for avoidance, for personal entertainment. But they are missing time with
each other; missing the rich human elements of social discourse—tone of
voice, facial expression, body language, spontaneous laughter and tears.
The essence of relationship is being forfeited for electronic isolationism.
As a high school counselor I’m seeing more students each year who
complain of depression, feeling overwhelmed, who feel the lack of friends
and connection with people in general. While technology is helping all of
us move forward in our work lives, I believe that overuse of our “gizmos”
is tearing us apart. It’s an issue to consider for our times. The students
I work with agree. They are taking steps to explore technology use with
their classmates. They want to become more aware of how they use
technology and how it affects their personal lives. Abuse of one another
is rampant in this society. Hopefully, our students as well as our loved
ones can develop awareness to use technology respectfully to enrich all
our lives. Technology abuse poses yet another challenge for counselors –a
challenge we must prepare ourselves to meet to help students succeed.
Falling Behind on the
Kids’ Technology?
By Amy Paton, MSCA Lake Area Division President
Have you heard about popular Internet sites such as Webkinz, Club the wide-ranging technologies available and appreciate the significant
Penguin, MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube? Monitoring where kids role you play in teaching them how to be responsible and safe users of
travel in cyberspace can be tricky, but is critical to their safety and future technology at Lake Area’s fall workshop titled “Catching Up with Tech
opportunities. Learn about the technology our kids are using - from Savvy Kids.” We will be meeting on Thursday, November 6th from
cell phones and iPods to text messaging and web cams and more about 9:00-11:00 a.m. at the Edina Community Center. You can e-mail me for
how some students are using the latest technologies to cheat and what to details if you wish to attend or for handouts that we receive at patona@
look for to prevent this. Find out about potential risks associated with district279.org.
Page 16 - MSCA Guidelines - Fall 2008
MSCA
MN School Counselors Assoc.
2007-2008
Governing board
officers
President
Shelly Landry
Student Placement Services
Phone: 612-668-1825
Shelly.Landry@mpls.k12.mn.us
President-Elect
Murray Smart
Breckenridge High School
Phone: 218-643-2694
smartm@breckenridge.k12.mn.us
Past-President
Colleen Baldrica
Phone: 651-439-6388
colleenbaldrica@yahoo.com
Secretary
Jen Landy
Wayzata High School
Phone: 763-745-6630
jennifer.landy@wayzata.k12.mn.us
Treasurer
Rachel Karnitz
Redwood Valley MS/HS
Phone: 507-644-8266
rkarnitz@redwood.mntm.org
VP Post-Secondary
Sarah Rach
MSCTC-Fergus Falls
Phone: 218-736-1536
Sarah.rach@minnesota.edu
VP Secondary
Jan Larson
Worthington High School
Phone: 507-727-1134
Jan.larson@isd518.net
VP Middle-Jr. High
Theresa Weber-Sexton
Pine Island Middle School
Phone: 507-356-2488
tweber@pineisland.k12.mn.us
VP Elementary
Mary Beth Higgins
Lino Lakes Elementary
Phone: 651-982-8844
Committee Chairs
ASCA President
Jim Bierma
Minneapolis Public Schools
Phone: 651-303-2736
Jim.bierma@mpls.k12.mn.us
MSCA Guidelines
Newsletter Co-Editor
Karen Krause
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Schools
ckkrause@myclearwave.net
Public Relations
Tami Johnson
St. Paul Schools Indian Ed
Phone: 651-293-5191
Tami.johnson@spps.org
Human Relations/Ethics
Dr. Jennifer Pepperell
MSU – Mankato
Phone: 507-389-2423
jennifer.pepperell@mnsu.edu
MSCA Guidelines
Newsletter Co-Editor
Heather Krause
Mankato East High School
Phone: 507-387-5671
hkraus1@isd77.k12.mn.us
Career Development
Al Hauge
MN Department of Ed
Al.Hauge@state.mn.us
TECHNOLOGY
David Warner
Fair Oaks Elementary
Phone: 763-533-2246
warnerd@district279.org
Minnesota School Counselor web site:
www.mnschoolcounselors.org
American School Counselor web site:
www.schoolcounselor.org
Membership Database
Ann Kvaal
MSCAmembership@comcast.net
Government Relations
Kitty Johnson
St. Paul Schools
Phone: 651-523-6334
kitty.johnson@spps.org
Guidelines is published 3 times per year by the Minnesota School Counselors Association
(November, March and June) with an Election Ballet in March. Opinions expressed in the
articles published here-in represent the ideas and/or beliefs of those who write them and do
not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Minnesota School Counselors Association.
Questions concerning submission of articles, publication deadlines, advertising or anything
else related should be addressed to:
Heather Krause or Karen Krause, Editors
121 Gambrelle Court, Mankato, MN 56001
(507) 385-0011 • FAX (507) 387-5314
hkrause_26@hotmail.com
A Newsletter of the Minnesota School
Counselors Association, Inc.
121 Gambrelle Court • Mankato, MN 56001
Division Presidents
Anoka
Richard Mack
Roosevelt Middle School
Richard.mack@anoka.k12.mn.us
Southeast
Carol Heemeyer
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown HS
Phone: 507-362-4431
heemecar@wem.mn.k12.us
Central
Dawn Brown
Sartell High School
Phone: 320-656-3709
brown@sartell.k12.mn.us
Southwest
Marie Atkinson-Smeins
Luverne Elementary
Phone: 507-283-4497
Lake Area
Amy Paton
Osseo Area Schools
patona@district279.org
St. Paul
Kris Moe
St. Paul Public Schools
Phone: 651-603-5036
Kristian.moe@spps.org
Minneapolis
Jackie Mosconi
Minneapolis South High School
Phone: 612-668-4374
Jackie.mosconi@mpls.k12.mn.us
St. Paul Suburban
Shirley Jackson
North High School
sjackson@isd622.org
Northeast
Lee Oling
Cloquet High School
Phone: 218-878-3028
loling@cloquet.k12.mn.us
West Central
Laurie Sandness-Boeshans
Detroit Lake Middle School
lboeshans@detlakes.k12.mn.us
Northwest
Ken Radke
Tri-County Schools
ken_radke@tricounty.k12.mn.us
DEADLINE for the next (February) issue
of GUIDELINES is January 9, 2009.
The topic: School Counselors as Leaders.
Please send all submissions to:
Guidelines, 121 Gambrelle Court, Mankato, MN 56001
or email
hkrause_26@hotmail.com