|
Dear MASCA Colleagues -
Spring is in the air and the year is quickly winding down. While we are gearing up for the annual spring conference there are other things happening this month in MASCA.
In this issue:
Emerging Leaders Program deadline extended until April 10
Vote for 2007-08 officers
New affiliate approved
Seeking Graduate student liaison for 2007-08
Jay Carey to speak at UMASS Boston
New financial aid resource available
Koplik update now available
SCORE RFP available
Committee Chair Profile - Meet Tim Poynton
EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL APRIL 10
Due to the few number of applications received thus far, the deadline for the new program to encourage new leadership has been extended until April 10. Called the Emerging Leaders Program, this initiative hopes to encourage professional school counselors who have not previously been in an appointed or elected position to get involved with MASCA. Participants will receive a free one-year membership, free training, a Governing Board mentor and an opportunity to earn PDP's. In return, one must present or co-present at either the fall or spring conference, participate on at least one standing committee, attend at least one Governing Board and affiliate meeting and write periodically for the Counselor's Notebook. If interested, please submit a resume, letter of intent and recommendation from a supervisor to Bob Bardwell, MASCA President, no later than April 10. No more than 15 emerging leaders will be chosen and those selected will be announced at the Spring Conference. Specific criteria can be found at http://www.masca.org/pdf_05_06/Emerging_Leaders_Proposal_2006.doc
MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT
Elections are currently underway for the 2007-08 officers. Ballots and candidate Information were included in the March 2007 Counselor's Notebook or you can vote at the spring conference. Contact Sheila Deam at sheiladeam@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
NEW AFFILIATE APPROVED
At its March 21 meeting, the Governing Board approved MASCA's 16th affiliate, the Urban Counselors of Massachusetts or UCAM. Counselors in all parts of the state who work with students in urban schools or those who are interested in this topic should consider joining. There will be no membership dues and technology will be utilized to communicate with members and provide professional development opportunities. For more information please go to www.urbancounselors.org. Congratulations and welcome to MASCA.
CALLING ALL GRADUATE STUDENTS
Once again, the position of graduate student liaison on the MASCA Governing Board will be open for the 2007-08 school year! We are searching for graduate students who will complete their graduate work no sooner than the spring of 2008. Applicants should be willing to travel to five or six meetings throughout the state, including the summer Leadership Development Institute, which will be held in Franklin on August 5 and 6. In addition, the graduate liaison should be willing to write articles for the Counselor’s Notebook and help plan graduate student events in conjunction with other professional development activities, including the fall and spring conferences. The graduate student liaison has a critical voice on the Governing Board, representing the hundreds of school counseling graduate students in the state professional organization for school counselors.
Interested candidates should submit a resume and letter of interest to Jennifer Just, MASCA President-elect, c/o Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, 220 Sandwich Road, Bourne, MA 02532 by May 15. Materials may also be submitted via e-mail to jjust@uppercapetech.org. Any questions should be directed to Jennifer at (508) 759-7711 x247.
UMASS BOSTON PRESENTATION
Jay Carey, PhD will present INITIATING THE RESEARCH--PRACTICE DIALOGUE IN PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING on Thursday, April 26th at 4 PM at the University Club on the 11th Floor of Healey Library at UMASS Boston. PDP documentation will be available. All MASCA members are welcome to attend. The program is sponsored by the UMASS Boston School Counseling Student Association.
NEW FINANCIAL AID RESOURCE AVAILABLE
Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce our newest tool to help students and their families plan for college. The FAFSA4caster provides students with an early estimate of their eligibility for federal student financial assistance. Students considering furthering their education beyond high school can use this FREE tool to:
Calculate their eligibility for federal financial aid, including grants
Reduce the time it will take to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the qualifying form for all federal financial aid
To access the tool, visit www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/ .
KOPLIK MATERIALS AVAILABLE
Please be informed that the list of students in the class of 2008 who initially qualified for the Koplik Certificate of Mastery has been posted on the Certificate of Mastery site on MassONE. In addition to the list of students, updated Koplik materials (class of 2008) parent letter and application form) are also posted. If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact Richard Salus at 781.338.6252 or by e-mail at: rsalus@doe.mass.edu. If you have any technical difficulties using MassONE, please email MassONE Help at massonehelp@doe.mass.edu.
SCORE RFP AVAILABLE
You may be familiar with SCORE, the peer mediation grants offered by the Attorney General's office to middle and high schools throughout Massachusetts. Under SCORE a school in partnership with a local community mediation program receives funds (that must be matched locally) for implementation of a peer mediation program. All the materials are provided by the Attorney General's office . SCORE is entering its 18th year and has been implemented in schools throughout the state. The RFP can be found at http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=2402. Please contact Nora Mann, Assistant Attorney General at 617-573-5384 or Nora.Mann@state.ma.us if you have any questions.
COMMITTEE CHAIR PROFILE - Meet Tim Poynton
Tim is the chair of the recently created MASCA Research and Evaluation Committee. Currently he is the director of the school counseling program at Suffolk University. Prior to that he was a school counselor at Rensselaer Middle High School and a research associate at the National Center for School Counseling Outcome Research at UMASS Amherst. He has presented at state school counseling conferences in Alaska, Arizona, California, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon (joint conference with Washington), Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. He has also presented in Orlando and Chicago at the American School Counselor Association national conferences. Tim currently serves on the editorial board for the journal Professional School Counseling.
Tim has a BA, MS, and CAS from the State University of New York Albany and his Ed.D. in Human Development and Education from Boston University. His research interests include the school counselor's use of data, professional development in school counseling, school counselor preparation, technology applications and urban school counseling. Highlights of his published work include Free Tech Tools in the January/February 2007 edition of ASCA's School Counselor and two 2006 articles in ASCA's Professional School Counseling - An Integrative Model of Data-based Decision Making for School Counseling and Evaluation of an Innovative Approach to Improving Middle School Students’ Academic Achievement.
Tim and his wife Chrissy welcomed their first child, Kayleigh last August.
Bob Bardwell
School Counselor & Director of Guidance & Student Support Services
President, Massachusetts School Counselors Association
Monson High School
55 Margaret Street
Monson, MA 01057
413.267.4589x1107
413.267.4157 (fax)
bardwellr@monsonschools.com
www.monsonschools.com/guidance
The Monson Public Schools provide Equal Educational and Employment
Opportunities without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national
origin, sexual orientation, and disability.
|
|
