President's Letter: Tending to Our Diverse Needs

When meeting people from other parts of the country, they often ask where we’re from. I respond with “Colorado” and can see in their eyes that have this picturesque mountain scene in their mind. Don’t get me wrong; I love the mountains – they are gorgeous and we spent so much of our summer driving to almost every corner of the state in order to take in the beauty of the mountains and the plains.

However, that’s not me. Southern Colorado (and more specifically, Pueblo) is my home and our temperatures, sunshine and aridness are all so much closer to the climate of New Mexico than that of Estes Park. I count myself lucky for this because all of these circumstances come together to make the most delicious Mirasol or Pueblo chile. Likewise, Palisade grows incredible peaches and Rocky Ford has their cantaloupes. Our differences of course extend so much further than just our agriculture and climate.

The Colorado school funding formula being what it is means that we often have a wide range of available money and other resources within our districts. Local control also means that each of the districts of Colorado are run very differently. Within our schools and districts, our students each have very different needs, and that’s why we consult the data and do our own needs assessments in order to best serve our students. As we drove these stunning highways, passing from Pueblo to Fort Morgan, South Fork to Ridgeway, Leadville to Palisade, and marveled at these differences, the thought occurred to me that the members of CSCA are just as diverse as our beautiful state, and our needs vary.

I want to carry this thought with me throughout my year as president of CSCA. Our students, schools and districts come with unique challenges and it’s an important question how CSCA, as a statewide organization, can best serve our membership. This is why we need to hear from you, to understand your unique needs. Please consider filling out this brief needs assessment to help us understand what your needs are so our CSCA board can work together and live our mission to promote excellence in the field of school counseling. These are trying times and we want to do what we can. If you have talents to share and are looking to get more involved, flexing your leadership muscle, please consider joining the board to help us make this happen!

Contact Katie Brown, CSCA president and school counselor at Prairie Winds Elementary School, Pueblo School District 70, at president@coloradoschoolcounselor.org.