Person

Room

Description

Audience

School Counselors Role in Increasing Graduation Rates

Steve Brown, Lake Shore High School

School Counselors play a critical role in increasing graduation rates in their school district. Learn effective programs and strategies you can implement that will demonstrate your commitment to assist your district in meeting graduation standards. Participate in the discussion of how Lake Shore Central School Districts, NYSSCA’s award winning program, helped Lake Shore increase their graduation rate with the Class of 2011 based upon a comprehensive school counseling program.

All

Preparing Students for STEM Careers: What school counselors need to know

Dr. Roselind Bogner and Patricia McIntosh, Niagara University

School counselors will learn about the resources, strategies, and lesson plans necessary to inspire  students of all ages to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.  In order for the US to compete successfully in a global economy the youth must develop skills in STEM disciplines.  Eighty percent of jobs created in the next decade will require math and science skills. As a result of this workshop you will be prepared to  enhance your school's career development program by utilizing a variety of career related websites, assessment measures, games, and techniques. 

All

LEAD: A Targeted Intervention for Struggling Learners

Erin Cusanno and Erica Oliveri, Brighton Central Schools

Title:  LEAD:  A Targeted Intervention for Struggling Learners

Description:  Counselors and teachers collaborate to provide support for students identified as at risk of not graduating.  Presenters will:

• describe the process of identifying students in need of targeted support,
• outline how teachers and counselors collaborated to develop a model of academic and emotional support,
• share tools utilized to gather data related to the impact of the program,

                  share student and parent
             perceptions of the program.

Middle

School Counselors: An Integral Component for Student Achievement

Sharon Greenwood, Honeoye Central School and NYSSCA VP for Secondary Schools
Beth Johnson (English), Jeff Sulecki (Social Studies), Sadie Beeman (Special Eduication), Leigh Vallone (Academic Support): Honeoye Central Schools

School counselors can no longer be ancillary service providers in schools, but rather must transform to become an integral part of the school community’s work to increase student achievement. This workshop will show one counselor’s journey in collaborating with 10th grade teachers to develop a classroom curriculum and a cohesive team that delivers skill-building activities and interventions (well before RtI mandates!).

Grad, High, Directors

Data 101: What All School Counselors Schould Know and Be Able to Do

Dr. Lesli Myers, Ithaca City School District

School Districts across New York State are faced with helping students meet or exceed academic standards. Correspondingly, school counselors must see themselves as critical players in this process. This workshop will address data elements that school counselors must have facility with. Further, participants will walk away with simple tools to assist with data analysis.

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All

Best Practices: What’s in Your Toolbox

Ronald Smith, New York City Schools and NYSSCA President-Elect

The session will provide elementary and middle school counselors with examples of various activities that can be used during individual and group counseling. Each attendee will have an opportunity to participate in selected activities. Activities associated with academic, social  - emotional, and career education will be presented.

Grad, Middle

Board Member

Room

Elementary Level

Middle Level

Secondary Level

Director’s

Grad. Students

Counselor Educators

Journal Committee

Person

Room

Description

Audience

A Safe Space for All: LGBT Issues in Elementary Schools

Barbara Jean A. Douglass and Dr. Edward Brockenbrough, University of Rochester

This workshop will provide conceptual frameworks and practical strategies that
will enable school counselors and educators to address LGBT issues in elementary school
settings. Participants will learn key terms and concepts associated with LGBT identity
development, explore tactics for curbing bullying and creating school communities that are aware
of and sensitive to LGBT issues, and familiarize themselves with resources for supporting long-
term efforts to accept and respect diversity in schools. Through the use of film clips, personal
reflections, discussions of real-life scenarios, and collaborative problem solving, participants will
learn how to create schools that are welcoming places for all students.

Elem

Sexting: Social Development and Challenge

Kim Luce, Stacy Essex and Stefan Perkowski, Child & Adolescent Treatment Services WNY

The explosion of technology has accelerated the ability of youth to give expression to how the see themselves developing physically and socially.  Youth’s psychological maturation processes have not kept up and in fact has led to accelerated risk-taking behavior.  Schools are the zone where the problems related to sexting surface the most.  This presentation will provide examples regarding the socio-legal-psychological issues stimulated by sexting and professional responses to this phenomenon.  

All

Strengthening the pipeline for historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students through New York State’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)

Daniel Lupa, SUNY Oswego (other presenters TBD)

The NYS Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) assist historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students who intend to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and NYS licensed professions.  Presented by the Central New York Region One consortium of institutions: Cazenovia College, Le Moyne College, Morrisville State College, Onondaga Community College, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Oswego, Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University, the objective of the presentation is to inform and demonstrate the importance of resources in the educational pipeline, such as STEP (grades 7-12) and CSTEP (college undergraduate and graduate students), that implement programming fostering student achievement through support and opportunity. A second objective is to demonstrate the importance of collaboration among institutions in support of each other in order to provide effective programming.

High, Directors

Homework and Student Achievement: The Role of the School Counselor

Dr. Christopher Carroll, New York Institute of Technology

The longstanding debate regarding the relationship between homework and student achievement has recently heated up with the distribution and screenings of the documentary "Race to Nowhere." Emotions and opinions are running high on both sides of the fence. This presentation and discussion will examine the pivotal role that the school counselor can play in developing policies and practices that integrate existing research with school based data, while taking the concerns of all stakeholders into consideration.

All

“Groups Gone Wild”: Dealing With Difficult Counseling Groups

Maureen Rundle and Linda Fortin, Merton Williams Middle School and NYSSCA Region 8 Co-Governors

Forming and norming are critical for group success.  At times groups may not function as well as they could.  What went wrong during the forming and norming processes?  How do we deal with silent groups, wild groups, breaches of confidentiality, and inconsistent attendance?  How can we get groups to function at a deeper level?  These questions and more will be explored in this workshop.

All

HESC Services: Helping Your Student Prepare for College

Joseph Gorman, HESC

The Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) is New York’s student financial aid agency, helping people pay for college by providing more grant and scholarship award money than any other state in the nation.

By administering programs like the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the New York Higher Education Loan Program (NYHELPs), and numerous state scholarships, and providing college planning and financial aid guidance to students, families and counselors, HESC puts college within the reach of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year.

Learn how HESC can help you with:

• Up to date information on HESC.org
• Publications for students and families
• Free financial aid and financial literacy presentations

Person

Room

Description

Audience

Personal Experiences of Students Previously Identified as At-Risk

Sydney Houseknecht             

This is a phenomenological study of students who were identified as at-risk in the ninth grade but did not drop out of school. Elements that identify a student as at-risk, the ninth grade transition, and interventions being implemented are discussed. Participants explored their impressions of life throughout their difficulties with academic and social issues. Results reveal the students had negative self-descriptions but not poor self-concept. All had poor study habits and were bored in classes. All participants were readers, viewed themselves as good learners and felt personally accountable for their grades. The students had realistic hopes for productive futures.

Elem, Middle, High, DIrectors

Measure 101

Dr. Robert Rotunda

The NYSSCA Model sends a powerful message: school counselors do contribute to the bottom line of school improvement by ensuring that every student can transition successfully to the next grade level and ultimately graduate with access to all options after high school.

This hands-on workshop will focus on using MEASURE, a six step accountability process which will help align your work with the NYSSCA Model and your school’s improvement plan in your building and school district; collaborate and team with colleagues to develop strategies to collaborate with others to move this data in a positive direction; and become empowered to communicate school counselor contributions to student achievement to your principal, faculty and staff.

High

Tap into the Strengths, Skills and Talents of Your Student

New York State Department Of Labor Career Development and Youth Initiatives Office staff

Due to the many changing roles and practices in education today and the federal emphasis on being College and Career ready, school counselors are tasked with a greater role in helping students prepare for adult success. Students must be able to answer the critical questions “Who am I, Where do I want to go, and How do I get there?  The NYS Department of Labor has resources to help counselors assist students in answering these questions through the identification of their strengths, skills, and talents. Please join us for an engaging session to learn more about how you can impact student achievement and play an integral role in the overall well-being and successful college and career development of our next generation

All

What We Know About Bullying Prevention and Intervention: A Case Study

Dr. Janice DeLucia-Waak, University at Buffalo and Phyllis Conley

This presentation will begin with a summary of research related to bullying prevention in the schools, specifically programs and interventions that have shown some efficacy. Then a case study of how to implement an anti-bullying campaign into a school district K to 12 will be described. Specific examples of policies, task forces, classroom guidance and tertiary interventions will be discussed. Recommendations for what to do (and what not to do) will be provided.

All

Never the Twain Shall Meet: Creating an Effective School Counselor-Mental Health Counselor Partnership to Overcome Barriers to Student Achievement

Dr. Karen Mackie, University of Rochester and Dr. Bonnie Rubenstein, Rochester City School District

Both school and mental health counselors care deeply about children’s school and home success, working daily to overcome barriers to their learning and development, but they don’t often have the opportunity to articulate how each goes about this work and as a result misperceptions, misunderstandings and challenges to their professional collaboration can flourish. This session presents solid data and professional wisdom from urban and suburban districts in which such challenges to mutual collaboration have arisen and been worked through, leading to more student success. Today’s highly professional school counselor must meet this complex challenge of collaborating across professional specializations in order to fully meet children’s needs. This session will help you learn how.

All

Underrepresented Student Achievement: School Counselors Help to Eliminate the Gap

Dr. Lesli Myers, Ithaca City School District and Mone’t Kendall, Syracuse University

As educators within a constantly changing society, we are charged to provide the best education for our students.  As local schools and districts become increasingly diverse, inclusion plays a great role in our instruction, program coordination and implementation. As educators, we must begin tailoring more our lessons and programs to the various cultural needs and experiences of our stakeholders. In turn, the achievement gap will begin to decrease. As socially just and cross-culturally competent school counselors, we are equipped with the knowledge and skills to assist our colleagues, students and community in attending to the needs of underrepresented student populations who have difficulty achieving academically and personally. This workshop will highlight commons issues related to underrepresented student population within our schools. Participants will walk away with practical examples of how school counselors can lead efforts toward closing the achievement gap for underrepresented students.

All

Person

Room

Description

Audience

ASCA Counseling Standards + NYS Learning Standards = Great Sexting Curriculum

Sharon Greenwood, Honeoye Central School and NYSSCA VP for Secondary Schools
Keith Green, School Resource Officer – Honeoye Central Schools

This workshop presents how a classroom sexting lesson plan was developed by the high school counselor and school resource officer and is delivered annually in US History 11 classes during the Constitution unit. The workshop will include a historical and current review of the statutes and legal cases and demonstrations of activities used with students.

Grad, High, Directors

Impacting Student Achievement Through Online Learning: It’s About Time!

Kelli Eckdahl, Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES

What can online learning do for your students and for you? Are you finding it increasingly difficult to fit courses in their schedules? There was a time when those courses were “wishes” but now those courses may be imperative to their success. High School courses that are fully online can help: offering courses to students that are no longer available in the building; mitigating scheduling conflicts from students who are doubling up; providing both credit recovery and credit accrual; offering core, elective and Advance Placement courses. Come hear (or share) what online learning can do for you.

Middle, High, Directors

Where Will You be in 20 Years?: A Career Awareness Curriculum

Joseph Fesel

Three lessons help students develop knowledge and awareness of:
• The world of work
• Personal values and beliefs concerning themselves and careers
• Career and job options to correct faulty perceptions regarding these careers
• Their capabilities and interests
• Long-and-short term goals

I have taught this curriculum as an ELA teacher and by co-teaching a career awareness
curriculum, school counselors can market themselves and help their students navigate some
important life decisions. The lessons involve group discussions, research, utilizing online
resources, public speaking and essay writing.

Middle, High

Business-Education Alliance: Spanning the Disconnect Between Education and Career Preparation

Carrie A. Malone, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership

The mission of the Livingston County BEA is to, “facilitate a mutually beneficial partnership between business & education to prepare productive citizens”. BEA programs have received regional & national attention.
The schools in Livingston County have worked with the BEA for over two decades providing Career Exploration opportunities for grades K-12 to meet the NYS CDOS standards.
This workshop will discuss best practices in distance learning, career days and Bridge to Employment. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of CDOS education and the tools needed to ensure successful collaboration with community/business leaders in order to design a framework for an effective career awareness program.

All

One Hand Washes the Other: Collaborative Classroom Programs for High School Counselors and Teachers

Cynthia Sodeur, Harpursville Schools

One of the challenges of delivering comprehensive programming, particularly on the high school level, is getting access to classrooms of students.  This workshop will present three high school guidance activities which address both guidance and content area standards and can be presented in collaboration with content area teachers.  Workshop participants will be asked to brainstorm about additional activities which can be done in your school district.

High

Helping Students Succeed: The Challenges of Connecting with Students in Residential Schools

Thomas Ohl, Hillside School and NYSSCA Residential School Liaison
Jessica Polito, Hillside Children’s Center

This workshop will discuss some of the challenges faced by those working in residential settings.  We will discuss and address how to best understand, work with, and advocate for students in residential schools.  We will discuss strategies and the best approaches school counselors can use to help residential students be successful in school and successful in life.

All