ISCA/ICAN Webinars

Below are scheduled webinars from ISCA and ICAN. Follow the links to register for this great information:

Four Legged Counselors: Bringing Therapy Dogs into Schools
Presented by Amber Urbain – Middle School Counselor - College Community School District

March 5, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Register Today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1827080850544551170

Amber Urbain will share her experiences utilizing a professional therapy dog in the school setting. This webinar presentation will focus on the research supporting the implementation of a therapy dog program in schools as well as providing tools for building a program and how to best utilize therapy dogs in schools. Participants will come away with valuable resources and ideas on how to move forward!

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Organizing a Stress Management/Self-Care Awareness Day 
Presented by Shelby Bryce - K12 Counselor - Lone Tree Community School District

March 20, 2018 at 3:30 PM
Register Today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8319342970152253697

Organizing a Stress-Management/Self-Care Awareness Day at your school might be overwhelming to think about; however, there are many research based activities/strategies that we can expose students to for little to no cost. Stress is a very natural and healthy part of life. Studies have shown that more and more adolescents are reporting large amounts of stress in their life, often leading to anxiety, depression, etc. Teaching our students appropriate ways to deal with stress is a great way to hit on some of the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors standards: Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional, and physical well-being; Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem; etc. This Webinar will get you started with some tips and resources you can use to start planning a day like this at your school soon! 

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ISCA/ICAN Webinar Series: Resilience 
Presented by Bengu Telkinap - Counselor Educator - Drake University

April 27, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Register Today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6028134460833742593

Over the years, the interest in studies examining human strengths, virtues, and well-being has increased with the positive psychology movement. Resilience is an important for understanding how our students strive and bounce back when they are faced adversities. Resilience research examines individuals' ability to cope with stressful and traumatic life conditions and their ability to recover and return to the previous level of functioning. This webinar will present definition of resilience, risk and protective factors, measurement and simple yet effective strategies for counselors to promote resilience in their students.

Objectives:
1. Learn about resilience and related concepts
2. Learn about risk and protective factors
3. Strategies to promote resilience

My Academic Plan Guide

Terri Heisterkamp, the HS Counselor from Roland-Story City has created a guide for using the My Academic Plan (MAP) program from ISU for her career program at RS. If you are interested, she has graciously agreed to share it and you can find it here. Many thanks to Terri for sharing!!

New Resources on StopBullying

StopBullying.gov is sending a corrected email, as there was an error in our earlier distribution.

Bullying Prevention Training Resources Did you know that training resources are available on StopBullying.gov? The Bullying Prevention Training Center offers webinars and other training resources and prevention tools for educators, parents, and others working with kids. Available trainings include: The Bullying Prevention Continuing Education Course (with CEU credit) Training for Educators and School Bus Drivers Organizing a Community Event Working with Stakeholders Learning from Others Visit StopBullying.gov to access these tools and learn how to take a public health approach to bullying prevention.   Latest Bullying Research Highlights Preventing Social Victimization of Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder Classroom-Level Differences in Child-Level Bullying Experiences: Implications for Prevention and Intervention in School Settings In the News Monte Bella Takes Huge Class Photo As Part of Anti-Bullying Campaign Valentine’s Day Marked as Stop Youth Bullying Day New Rochelle Schools Introduce App That Lets Students Anonymously Report Bullying ‘No One Eats Alone’: School Leaders and Lawmakers Work to Fight Bullying Upcoming Events StopBullying.gov Twitter Chat! Learn about bullying prevention and intervention efforts of high-risk groups with experts Dr. Michael Sulkowski and Dr. Susan Swearer. QUESTION ® CHAT ® PREVENT

School Mental Health Conference Registration!

understanding minds. changing lives.

Registration is now open for the 6th Annual School Mental Health Conference themed Culturally Competent School Mental Health on October 16, 2018 at the Iowa Event Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Registration includes lunch and access to all workshops & presentations and partner exhibitions. This year we welcome two key note speakers, Jane Elliott and Dr. Michael Lindsey.  Ms. Elliott will be focusing on how racism impacts youth mental health while Dr. Lindsey will address how culturally competent school mental health fits into a school/district's safety plan. Jane Elliott, internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education, exposes prejudice and bigotry for what it is, an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. over thirty years ago, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise. This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority. Everyone who is exposed to Jane Elliott's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or video, is dramatically affected by it. Dr. Michael A. Lindsey became Director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research and Constance and Martin Silver Professor of Poverty Studies at NYU Silver School of Social Work in September 2016. Dr. Lindsey was previously an Associate Professor at NYU Silver. Prior to joining NYU Silver in 2014, Dr. Lindsey was an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and concurrently a Faculty Affiliate at the University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry’s Center for School Mental Health. Dr. Lindsey is a child and adolescent mental health services researcher, and is particularly interested in the prohibitive factors that lead to unmet mental health need among vulnerable youth with serious psychiatric illnesses, including depression. He has received research support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to examine the social network influences on perceptual and actual barriers to mental health care among African American adolescent males with depression. He also received NIMH funding to develop and test a treatment engagement intervention that promotes access to and use of mental health services among depressed adolescents in school- and community-based treatment. Dr. Lindsey’s current research, funded by the Robin Hood Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation, involves the delivery of an innovative combination of interventions aimed decreasing PTSD and depression, and improving positive parenting skills, among child-welfare involved mothers with trauma-related disorders. A standing member of the National Advisory Council, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and a board member-at-large for the Society for Social Work and Research, Dr. Lindsey is also a member of the Ford Foundation Scholars Network on Masculinity and the Wellbeing of African American Males; the Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network; and the Mental Health Education Integration Consortium. His published research has appeared in the American Journal of Men’s Health, Journal of Adolescent Health, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, Journal Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, Journal of Black Psychology, General Hospital Psychiatry, Prevention Science, Psychiatric Services, and in the journal Social Work. Dr. Lindsey is also on the editorial board of the journals Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research and Children and Schools. Early bird registration (until July 1st): $90 Regular registration (starting July 2nd no exceptions): $120 Preservice professional (college student): $30 Register here:  https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/pleasepassthelove/event.jsp?event=18

Go Alliance Courses!!!

February 20, 2018

Registration open for spring Iowa Go Alliance Academy courses The following courses will run March 12 through May 4: Building a College-Going Culture for All Students How to remove barriers to higher education, especially for low-income, first-generation and minority students. College, Career, and Academic Planning (Prerequisite: Building a College-Going Culture for All Students) How to engage students in early college and career awareness, and support students in postsecondary and career planning. Financial Aid and College Applications  (Prerequisite: Building a College-Going Culture for All Students) How to support students and families navigating the complexities of filing the FAFSA and other financial aid and college applications. Maximizing Counselor Impact: Module for Administrators How school leaders can engage effectively with school counselors. Developed in collaboration with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Iowa Go Alliance Academy is a college and career counseling training program provided by Iowa College Aid in partnership with Southern Regional Education Board and AEA PD Online. See best practices in action and gain knowledge and resources that can be incorporated in your work with students immediately. Courses are offered for license renewal or graduate credit through Drake University, Morningside University and Viterbo University. Space is limited, so register today. For more information about Iowa Go Alliance Academy and course availability, e-mail Ashley McKenna.

Exploitation of Children

The Commercial Exploitation of Children is becoming a greater risk to our students all the time. Woodward Academy has paired with GEMS to provide some fantastic training for those interested in this. Please see this flyer for more information.

School Counselor of the Year!

What better way to celebrate National School Counseling Week than to nominate a fellow counselor for School Counselor of the Year!


Think of a counseling colleague…

• Someone with whom you work
• From whom you find support
• Whose counseling program supports the ASCA standards
• Who goes that extra mile to support students
• Who makes a true difference and is a credit to the school counseling profession

Doesn’t this individual deserve state-wide recognition? Take a few minutes and nominate a fellow counselor for a 2018 Iowa School Counselor of the Year Award!

Nominating is easy!

• Visit http://iowa.schoolcounselorawards.org/scoy/index
• Complete a short, one page nomination form

Your nominee will receive an immediate email notification asking them to complete the online application.  The application procedure is also detailed at www.iowaschoolcounselors.org/awards.

Click here to nominate.

Timeline
Nominations will be accepted until August 15, 2018.
Applications must be completed by September 15, 2018.
All nominees must be a member of ISCA as of September 15, 2018.

I encourage you to consider nominating a great counselor TODAY! Feel free to contact me at bergmann.troy@iowacityschools.org with questions regarding the nomination and/or application process.

Thank you and Happy National School Counseling Week!

Future Ready Iowa Summit

We'd like to make you aware of the Governor’s 2018 Future Ready Iowa Summit, which will be held on Tuesday, April 3, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The purpose of this all-day event is to amplify the public conversation about transforming education and the workforce, including expanding work-based learning and computer science instruction.

The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, which is hosting the summit, hopes to attract an audience of 1,000 leaders from business and industry preK-12 and postsecondary education, nonprofits, parents, students, elected officials and others, who will take information from the summit back to their communities to build upon existing initiatives.

Speakers include Mary Andringa, chair of the board of Vermeer; Brandon Busteed, Gallup's executive director of education and workforce development; Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org; Jeff Weld, senior policy advisor for STEM education at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Jemar Lee, a College Community School District senior and co-founder of EdRevision;  Nicole Smith, chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce; and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a computer science education pioneer. The agenda also features a showcase of work-based learning exhibits and breakout sessions.

Registration opened Thursday, Feb. 1, with a $50 fee for adults and no charge for students, at

https://iowastem.gov/futurereadyiowasummit

We hope that you will consider attending.  

Scholarship Opportunity

Please see the attached for a scholarship opportunity for seniors! Please share!!

Iowa Youth Survey

The Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) is the most frequently used source of data regarding Iowa’s

youth. IYS data are used for reporting at the school, community, and state levels for in-

formed policy, strategy development, and surveillance, funding at the local and state levels,

and research. The 2018 IYS will be taken through online survey software following much the

same procedure as in 2016 for sixth, eighth and 11th grade students only. The IYS will be

administered during October.

The IYS website, www.iowayouthsurvey.iowa.gov, will be utilized to disseminate information

about the 2018 survey including training information, forms and directions. This site is also

where publicly available reports from previous iterations are posted. Registration for the

2018 IYS will begin in March with more details distributed in a future update. For questions

about the 2018 Iowa Youth Survey, email Pat McGovern at

iowayouthsurvey@idph.iowa.gov

Visit the Hill

Visit the Hill Registration now open!

https://www.iowaacac.org/visit-the-hill

February 20, 2018

Embassy Suites, Des Moines

From budget cuts to issues of preparation, access, and degree completion, the students we work with face difficult decisions as they consider their postsecondary options. Meeting with elected officials is an important way to make your opinions heard on these and other issues.

During Visit the Hill, participants will be provided the necessary training and information to help lobby for issues critical to the interests of students transitioning from high school to college. Participants will then go to the state capitol to meet with their representative and senator.

Past breakout session topics have included,

• Prior-prior year and changes to the FAFSA
• College funding
• Effectively engaging with elected officials
• College readiness and preparation

There is no cost to participate in the Visit the Hill program. Travel scholarships are available. To RSVP please visit, https://www.iowaacac.org/visit-the-hill

If you are interested in staying in Des Moines please contact the Embassy Suites or other area hotels soon.    

Please contact Susie Hakeman, Iowa ACAC Chair of Government Relations, at hakemans@central.edu with any questions.