From the Chair: MASCA Blooms Into 2020

Welcome to the 2020–2021 school year, Massachusetts school counselors!

As you settle into your new beginning-of-the-school-year routines, know that the MASCA Board is diligently working to continue to advocate and provide support for school counselors across the commonwealth.

Last year, the Governing Board prioritized the areas of advocacy, membership and professional development. This focus ultimately yielded tremendous growth both within our membership and organization as a whole. A few key highlights include:

• increasing our membership 21% from April 2019 to April 2020
• offering nearly 30 Zoom professional development and networking opportunities with more than 3,000 registered attendees
• launching the MA Model 3.0
• developing the MASCA Book Club
• creating the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) Committee

We are excited about the current energy and are moving full steam ahead.

The MASCA Governing body begins this year with the Leadership Develop Institute dedicated to creating the next three-year strategic plan. At the forefront of our thinking is the significant number of novel situations and obstacles that school counselors will face this school year. We commit our efforts to provide leadership, collaboration and professional development for our members to navigate these new circumstances and overcome challenges as seamlessly and effectively as possible.

We are honored to serve the MASCA members during the 2020–2021 year, and we wish you a safe and successful entry into this history-making start of the school year.

Contact Kerry Bartlett, MASCA board chair, at kabartlett@hudson.k12.ma.us.