President's Letter: Growing and Leading with NJSCA

 Welcome back to school, New Jersey school counselors! As we embark on the start of the 2023–2024 school year, it is my privilege to be writing to you as the NJSCA president. I’m greatly looking forward to all the work we will accomplish together this year as a professional association representing over 1200 school counselors (and growing) throughout the state.

The New Jersey School Counselor Association remains committed to the mission “to promote excellence in the school counseling profession and to advocate for the development of all students.”  NJSCA accomplishes this by
 

• supporting legislative initiatives that promote the work and profession of school counselors
• providing professional development developed by and for school counselors
• annually recognizing school counselors for their impact on students, schools, districts, and communities throughout the state
• providing scholarships opportunities for students
• connecting school counselors with resources (including the NJSCA evaluation model) and tools for school counselors to utilize in their local schools and communities

NJSCA also continues to provide support for school counselors working on implementing a comprehensive school counseling program aligned with the ASCA National Model. Your membership supports all of this work and we will continue to share pertinent and important, reliable, and timely information via our newsletters and on the NJSCA website.

If you haven’t already registered, please consider attending our fall conference coming up in October for both the engaging and dynamic professional development opportunity and for further networking with your colleagues locally and across the state. We are excited to share that this year, in addition to the fall and spring conferences, we will also be hosting our first winter conference at Rowan University.


As you begin your school year, please know that all members of the NJSCA executive board are available and accessible as we continue to advocate for our profession and all students across New Jersey. With your work and support, we will continue to demonstrate in our local school districts and across the state that school counselors are school leaders.

Contact Jason Sabino, NJSCA president 2023–2024, at jasonjsabino@gmail.com.

New Jersey school counselors gather at the 2023 ASCA Annual Conference in Atlanta.