Maine Represents in Boston
By Bonnie Robbins | August 2019
With the new school year beginning, I hope everyone was able to have a rejuvenating yet relaxing summer with some practice of self-care. As school counselors, we put so much energy, compassion and commitment into our students, families, staff and communities that we often forget to take care of ourselves.
Although it still may be considered work, I was extremely excited to see so many of our Maine School Counselors at this summer’s ASCA 2019 National Conference in Boston. We had our largest turnout ever with more than 70 school counselors from Maine. Many people told me that they found the conference not only educational, informative and a tremendous learning arena, but that they found self-care through networking, meeting new people, re-connecting with old friends and colleagues, walks/runs along the Charles River and tours of the Many had a chance to visit Mike’s Pastries in the North End – a must-do in Boston! School counselors were pleased to hear ASCA announce the release of the fourth edition of the ASCA National Model and Implementation Guide. This is an exciting update to the model and will help in your creation and/or continuation of building a comprehensive school counseling program.
The MESCA board held its first meet-up at the Sheraton Boston, giving our school counselors a chance to network and share ideas, stories and laughs. It was nice to see so many people attend – see the photo at the top of the page.
We also celebrated our second RAMP school in Maine at the RAMP awards dinner. A big congratulations to our 2017 Maine school counselor of the year, Kelly O’Brien Weaver of George B. Weatherbee Elementary School in Hampden. Kelly is also an incoming MESCA board member this year and we are excited to have her knowledge and leadership as part of our team. Congratulations, Kelly!
Maine school counselors also represented at the conference by presenting sessions. My principal, Shawn Vincent, and I presented a two-hour breakout session on restorative practices; Kelly O’Brien Weaver presented a session on breakout boxes and escape games; and Elena Perrello, a retired school counselor from Eddington, Maine, conducted a session on supporting students living with trauma. All sessions were all attended and received.
Maine was lucky to have two school counselors working on the ASCA conference. Angela Avery was chosen to be part of the ASCA Conference Committee, for which she helped choose sessions for the conference, and Tara Kiersted, our 2018 school counselor of the year, from Hall-Dale Middle/High School served as an ASCA Ambassador.
MESCA was awarded a Certificate of Recognition at the ASCA Delegate Assembly meeting for 40 years of being in existence.
Wow! Lots of leadership and great things happening in Maine. If you were unable to attend the national conference in Boston, be sure to come to our state conference on Friday, November 22, 2019, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Save the date!
I’m excited to serve as your chair of the Board of Directors once again. Although this is my second time serving as MESCA president, I am always learning and growing thanks to all of you. It’s a challenging time to be a school counselor, yet an exciting and rewarding one.
Contact Bonnie Robbins, NCC, MESCA board chair, at brobbins@rsu16.org.
Although it still may be considered work, I was extremely excited to see so many of our Maine School Counselors at this summer’s ASCA 2019 National Conference in Boston. We had our largest turnout ever with more than 70 school counselors from Maine. Many people told me that they found the conference not only educational, informative and a tremendous learning arena, but that they found self-care through networking, meeting new people, re-connecting with old friends and colleagues, walks/runs along the Charles River and tours of the Many had a chance to visit Mike’s Pastries in the North End – a must-do in Boston! School counselors were pleased to hear ASCA announce the release of the fourth edition of the ASCA National Model and Implementation Guide. This is an exciting update to the model and will help in your creation and/or continuation of building a comprehensive school counseling program.
The MESCA board held its first meet-up at the Sheraton Boston, giving our school counselors a chance to network and share ideas, stories and laughs. It was nice to see so many people attend – see the photo at the top of the page.
We also celebrated our second RAMP school in Maine at the RAMP awards dinner. A big congratulations to our 2017 Maine school counselor of the year, Kelly O’Brien Weaver of George B. Weatherbee Elementary School in Hampden. Kelly is also an incoming MESCA board member this year and we are excited to have her knowledge and leadership as part of our team. Congratulations, Kelly!Maine school counselors also represented at the conference by presenting sessions. My principal, Shawn Vincent, and I presented a two-hour breakout session on restorative practices; Kelly O’Brien Weaver presented a session on breakout boxes and escape games; and Elena Perrello, a retired school counselor from Eddington, Maine, conducted a session on supporting students living with trauma. All sessions were all attended and received.
Maine was lucky to have two school counselors working on the ASCA conference. Angela Avery was chosen to be part of the ASCA Conference Committee, for which she helped choose sessions for the conference, and Tara Kiersted, our 2018 school counselor of the year, from Hall-Dale Middle/High School served as an ASCA Ambassador.
MESCA was awarded a Certificate of Recognition at the ASCA Delegate Assembly meeting for 40 years of being in existence.Wow! Lots of leadership and great things happening in Maine. If you were unable to attend the national conference in Boston, be sure to come to our state conference on Friday, November 22, 2019, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Save the date!
I’m excited to serve as your chair of the Board of Directors once again. Although this is my second time serving as MESCA president, I am always learning and growing thanks to all of you. It’s a challenging time to be a school counselor, yet an exciting and rewarding one.
Contact Bonnie Robbins, NCC, MESCA board chair, at brobbins@rsu16.org.