President’s Letter: WSCA – Soaring to New Heights

“There is a superhero in all of us; we just need the courage to put on the cape.” –Superman
Over the years, I have watched many of my fellow colleagues put on their school counseling cape of courage during the school day to help our students succeed, while making sure our schools are a safe and healthy place to learn. There are some days when it is just plain tough work. But rest assured, school counselors are there every day throughout our state. They are superheroes, who often go unnoticed and unappreciated for all that they do.

In keeping with the superhero theme, the title of this year’s WSCA conference is “Super Counselor: Soaring to New Heights.” It will be held February 26–28 at the SeaTac Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center. I hope you will all join in this celebration of our profession! We are excited about our line-up of outstanding speakers and individual workshop presentations. To kick off our conference, don’t miss our first keynote speaker, Brian Coleman, the national 2019 School Counselor of the year. He is the very definition of a “super counselor” and is the first African American winner of this prestigious honor. Brian is also a 2019 Human Rights Campaign Upstander Award recipient for his commitment to LGBTQA+ youth advocacy. His keynote is entitled “Embrace and Empower the Unicorns.” He will speak about harnessing our own unique gifts to create a safe space for our students to shine. Houston Kraft will be another amazing keynote speaker. His message is about character, leadership, compassion and kindness. Again, his message speaks to the very definition of a school counselor superhero. We are also very fortunate to have Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, well-known author and researcher, at our conference this year. We will learn tools and strategies to create stronger girls, safer schools, and more successful students.

If you have questions about our conference and/or you are interested in becoming more involved at any level with the Washington School Counselor Association, please contact Chris Kelly, our executive director, at chriskellywsca@gmail.com. View complete information and register online.

As I have said in previous articles, remember that membership is crucial in continuing our advocacy for the profession of school counseling. The larger our membership, the stronger our voice. Encourage your fellow school counselors to join our association if they have not done so. Please also remember that participation in our annual conference helps us to fund our association and our advocacy work for the profession of school counseling. I look forward to seeing you and all our school counselor superheroes at our conference in February!

Contact Jenny Morgan, WSCA president, at jennymorganwsca@gmail.com.