President's Letter: Goals to Support You
By Maureen Ponce | November 2023
Happy fall, school counselors! As the MSCA president, I want to share my goals for this year.
- Innovative professional development to build our membership capacity to implement comprehensive school counseling programs aligned with the ASCA National Model.
- Two opportunities for our members to interact with our policy advisor in order to build our capacity to advocate for appropriate school counselors’ roles and delivery of services.
- Two opportunities to support school counselors in addressing counselor burnout and replacing it with healing and joy.
It is a challenging time for educators today. Burnout is at an all-time high. We are often pulled in many directions with more tasks than we have time, and we are weighted down with non-counseling tasks, which compromises our ability to provide direct services, indirect services, and program planning. We see you and we hear you. Your association is here to be another avenue of support. Let's be intentional about looking for opportunities where we can heal and find joy. Please be encouraged today. If there is anything I can do to be supportive, please reach out to me at president@mscaonline.org.
Advocacy and Legislative Committee Highlight
The Advocacy and Legislative Concerns Committee is meeting monthly in anticipation of the 2024 Legislative Session in January. We are tracking topics such as recruitment and retention, National Board salary enhancement eligibility, and Medicaid expansion and are planning an advocacy night in Annapolis during National School Counseling Week in February. We can use your help reporting back information from MSDE and midday listening sessions. Our next meeting is Thursday, Oct. 26 from 6-7pm via Google Meet. Questions, email hkleiderlein@mscaonline.org.
Conference Committee Highlight
The Spring Conference registration is open. We are working on providing exceptional professional development sessions for our attendees. Register online now!
Submit your proposal to present at the conference – proposal deadline is November 15, 2023. Suggestions for Proposals:
- Sessions which address school counseling practices at the elementary, middle, and high school level
- Sessions addressing diverse student needs, such as LGBTQ+, Latine, African American, Asian American
Membership Information
Looking to renew your membership? Log on and view your MSCA member information:- Go to the Login page
- Enter the email address you used to register.
- Enter your password. If you do not know your password, you can reset it on the login page.
- Once logged in, if no message appears regarding a balance due, click on your name at the top of the screen.
- This will take you to your account information page where you can renew your membership.