President's Letter: Learning and Leading Together

On behalf of the entire NJSCA Executive Board, I thank everyone who submitted a proposal for a session for our spring conference at Kean University. We received so many wonderful proposals and were overwhelmed by the expertise of our members! We can’t wait to join everyone at Kean on April 1 for the event. Mark your calendar and register today!

Our advocacy efforts continue in legislation. Assemblywoman McKnight (District 31) and Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson (District 15) reintroduced our school counselor advocacy bill (now A1516, co-sponsored by Assemblyman Simonsen) into the 220th Legislature. NJSCA’s Legislative Committee continues to work with Princeton Public Affairs Group to get face time with legislators so that we can explain the bill and advocate for it. We voluntarily do this work to support all of our members across the state of New Jersey. We still need a primary sponsor on the Senate side, so if you or anyone who loves you knows a state senator, please reach out to Jim Lukach or me directly. We hope the bill will be heard by the Education Committee and ultimately the entire Legislature this spring. We will be in touch again soon with the Voter Action campaign and will again need everyone’s support!

Contact Jessica Smedley, Ed.S., LPC, NCC, NJ School Counselor Association president, at jsmedley@htps.us.