Celebrating Excellence in Pennsylvania
By PSCA | December 2019
PSCA honored the Pennsylvania School Counselor of the Year 2019–2020 and several other individuals at the PSCA Annual Conference.
Emilia Peiffer
East Allegheny High School
East Allegheny School District, North Versailles, Penn.
Emilia Peiffer, for the last 24 years, has served as the sole school counselor for grades 9–12 at East Allegheny High School. Throughout her career, Peiffer has been a true advocate for school counseling. She has taken on leadership roles in her local county association, PSCA and ASCA. She is a PSCA past president and served on the ASCA board of directors. Within her district, Peiffer has advocated to get all of her students SAT fee waivers for their junior and senior years, she runs an active and involved advisory council, and each year she collaborates with community members to implement an exit interview program for seniors that was adopted by the district as a graduation requirement in 2017. Her other accomplishments include applying for and receiving RAMP status in 2014 and re-RAMP in 2017, and she has presented at both the state and national level to school counselors on the topic of advocacy.
School Counselor Educator of the Year: Dr. Jennifer Barna, Marywood University
According to her current and former students, Jennifer Barna’s commitment to the field of school counseling is unmatched. Barna structures her classes to provide presentations by practicing school counselors and PSCA board representatives. She has been known to help students apply for doctoral programs and provides advice for job interviews. In her own words, “School counseling is sacred work.”
PSCA Legislator of the Year: The Honorable Dan Miller
Representative Miller currently serves on the Education committee, the Judiciary committee and the Human Services and Children and Youth committees. He is co-chair of the subcommittee on Special Education and Autism and Intellectual Disabilities Caucus and is a member of the Steel, Government Reform, Early Childhood Education, Equality and the Fire/EMS caucuses. Representative Miller co-sponsored HB 1500, a bill to increase access to school counselors, school psychologists, social workers and nurses. He believes our students need to have access to trained, professional support services in every school district across the commonwealth. The legislation has heightened the awareness of the need for increased access by students and has stimulated conversation for other proposed legislation.
PSCA Advocate of the Year: Noe Ortega, Deputy Secretary of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education
Noe Ortega was named PDE’s deputy secretary in 2017. In his bi-monthly reports to the State Board of Education, he often references school counselors and their importance and impact on the postsecondary activities of their students. Ortega was instrumental in the implementation of the first two school counselor symposia in 2018 and has supported and reported about the five symposia offered across the state in the fall of 2019.
For achieving ASCA RAMP Status in 2019, PSCA Pride Awards were awarded to:
PSCA awarded scholarships to two Duquesne University Graduate Students, Sherese Jefferson and Amber Niedomys.
Bill Lee Leadership Grants, which cover conference registration costs for first time attendees, were awarded to:
Thank you to the sponsors of the 64th Annual PSCA Conference:
Army ROTC,Bella Capelli Academy, California University of PA, Carlow University, Chatham University, Clarion University of PA, Duquesne University, Edinboro University of PA, La Roche College, Michigan State University, Milton Hershey School, Neighborhood Ford South, Neumann University, PIA-Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, Pittsburgh Psychotherapy Association, PTC-Pittsburgh Technical College, SCUTA, Shippensburg University of PA, Slippery Rock University of PA, University of Pittsburgh, UTI-Universal Technical Institute, St. Vincent College, White Deer Run.
Emilia PeifferEast Allegheny High School
East Allegheny School District, North Versailles, Penn.
Emilia Peiffer, for the last 24 years, has served as the sole school counselor for grades 9–12 at East Allegheny High School. Throughout her career, Peiffer has been a true advocate for school counseling. She has taken on leadership roles in her local county association, PSCA and ASCA. She is a PSCA past president and served on the ASCA board of directors. Within her district, Peiffer has advocated to get all of her students SAT fee waivers for their junior and senior years, she runs an active and involved advisory council, and each year she collaborates with community members to implement an exit interview program for seniors that was adopted by the district as a graduation requirement in 2017. Her other accomplishments include applying for and receiving RAMP status in 2014 and re-RAMP in 2017, and she has presented at both the state and national level to school counselors on the topic of advocacy.
School Counselor Educator of the Year: Dr. Jennifer Barna, Marywood University
According to her current and former students, Jennifer Barna’s commitment to the field of school counseling is unmatched. Barna structures her classes to provide presentations by practicing school counselors and PSCA board representatives. She has been known to help students apply for doctoral programs and provides advice for job interviews. In her own words, “School counseling is sacred work.”
PSCA Legislator of the Year: The Honorable Dan Miller
Representative Miller currently serves on the Education committee, the Judiciary committee and the Human Services and Children and Youth committees. He is co-chair of the subcommittee on Special Education and Autism and Intellectual Disabilities Caucus and is a member of the Steel, Government Reform, Early Childhood Education, Equality and the Fire/EMS caucuses. Representative Miller co-sponsored HB 1500, a bill to increase access to school counselors, school psychologists, social workers and nurses. He believes our students need to have access to trained, professional support services in every school district across the commonwealth. The legislation has heightened the awareness of the need for increased access by students and has stimulated conversation for other proposed legislation.
PSCA Advocate of the Year: Noe Ortega, Deputy Secretary of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education
Noe Ortega was named PDE’s deputy secretary in 2017. In his bi-monthly reports to the State Board of Education, he often references school counselors and their importance and impact on the postsecondary activities of their students. Ortega was instrumental in the implementation of the first two school counselor symposia in 2018 and has supported and reported about the five symposia offered across the state in the fall of 2019.
Further Recognitions
PSCA presented an Administrator Appreciation Award to Jeffrey Rojik, Principal, Burchfield Primary School, Shaler Area School District.For achieving ASCA RAMP Status in 2019, PSCA Pride Awards were awarded to:
- Cheston Elementary School, Easton Area School District
- Muhlenberg Elementary School, Allentown School District
- Robert D. Wilson Elementary School, Western Wayne School District
PSCA awarded scholarships to two Duquesne University Graduate Students, Sherese Jefferson and Amber Niedomys.
Bill Lee Leadership Grants, which cover conference registration costs for first time attendees, were awarded to:
- Mary Balich, Bon Air Elementary, Burrell School District
- Erin Hockenberry, Clarion-Limestone Elementary, Clarion-Limestone Area School District
Thank You to PSCA Conference Sponsors
The generous support of conference sponsors enables PSCA to offer an exemplary professional development opportunity.Thank you to the sponsors of the 64th Annual PSCA Conference:
Army ROTC,Bella Capelli Academy, California University of PA, Carlow University, Chatham University, Clarion University of PA, Duquesne University, Edinboro University of PA, La Roche College, Michigan State University, Milton Hershey School, Neighborhood Ford South, Neumann University, PIA-Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, Pittsburgh Psychotherapy Association, PTC-Pittsburgh Technical College, SCUTA, Shippensburg University of PA, Slippery Rock University of PA, University of Pittsburgh, UTI-Universal Technical Institute, St. Vincent College, White Deer Run.