National School Counseling Week 2021

Make sure you listen to our most recent podcast on this topic.
While you’re at it, listen to our episode from last year, too!

National School Counseling Week 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: we’re coming up on the Super Bowl for school counselors. We’re from the south so of course we have to do a football reference. There are several times throughout the year that feel like important big games, play-off games, if you will: testing season, Red Ribbon Week, and even meal distribution or gift sponsoring around the holidays. National School Counseling Week, however, is THE SUPER BOWL! And if it isn’t your Super Bowl, keep reading to find out why it should be.

National School Counseling Week is a week to advocate for your program. This is a time to brag about all of the great things you’ve done this year! If you think, “Ugh, I hate bragging on myself!” First, spend a little more time with Kim who has NO problems bragging on herself, as you may already know if you’re a frequent listener to our podcasts! Next, look at the suffix “-ing” on “Counseling.” The focus isn’t on you, the Counselor, but instead on your job- counselING! Download our free National School Counseling packet. We’re going to make this easy for you!

And just so you know, we use food and various small trinkets and gifts to get our message in front of the teachers. It works! Consider it a way to bribe them to read our message and learn about all of the wonderful things we’re doing!

How can you do this if you are in a virtual setting? Kim and I say that if there’s a way to do it in a traditional setting, we can do it in a virtual setting! You may not be able to set up a NSCW table in the teachers’ lounge like in past years, but you can still get your message out through email and social media.

All In For All Students

ASCA has given each day throughout the week a different focus. And we can’t do anything without giving it a theme! Last year we did a construction theme. The year before that we did a super cute Farmer’s Market theme. This year I’m excited to announce our week will have a (drumroll please… Side note, Laura can’t do a drumroll. It’s embarrassing) nautical theme!

Day 1 according to ASCA is All In For Students. This is your chance to tell everything that you do for students. If it falls under the umbrella of serving students, talk about it! Consider providing information about the following:
-Tell the teachers about your favorite whole group lesson you did this year. -Share some of the results of your pre-post tests.
-Talk about your small groups.
-How did you decide which small groups to run?
-What has been the progress of those small groups?
-How many students have you seen through individual counseling?
-What kind of statistics can you provide about individual counseling? 70% friendship troubles, 10% worrying about academics, etc. (Keep everything confidential, of course).
-You may even want to use this section to talk about how you used data to determine which topics to discuss with students.

Since this is the first day of National School Counseling Week, and we’re using that super cute nautical theme, we thought using individual bags of Chips Ahoy cookies would be so cute to use. It’s like we’re setting sail on our National School Counseling Week!

All In For Professional Development

We see huge opportunities for Day 2 of National School Counseling Week. What professional development have you taken? Tell them! Remember that professional development can be podcasts you listen to, and we’ve got you covered on that! It can also be books you’ve read, webinars you’ve attended, or courses you’ve taken. If you’re one of the people who took advantage of our course this year, that’s worth 12 hours of professional development! Make sure you brag about all of the great things you learned!

We see the second part to this as what professional development can you provide? Don’t sell yourself short here. If the thought of standing in front of the whole staff scares you, start small. Communicate that you’d be happy to come to a grade level meeting and let them know the role of the counselor.

We chose a lighthouse as the icon for professional development because it illuminates opportunities for growth. One idea we have is to display individual bags of Cape Cod potato chips. That particular brand has a light house on the bag to match the icon for the day. 

All In For Collaboration

Day 3 is a perfect extension of Day 2. Remember how we said to go to grade level meetings and provide professional development about the role of the counselor? Well, at those grade level meetings take some time to ask questions and collaborate. What are the teachers’ biggest stress points? If there are certain behaviors they are seeing, you might be able to offer a whole group lesson on that. For example, teachers told us they were seeing bullying issues increase, so we created a bullying lesson to meet their needs. Make sure you do what we call “humble brag” and tell the teachers that you listened to their needs and you’re meeting it through __________. If they talk about overall behavior, use data to drill down and find which students need help and then put them in a small group.

Don’t forget that collaborating also means you work with all parts of the school and beyond. How are you collaborating with the school nurse? How are you collaborating with the school resource officer? What about your advisory council? Tell your teachers that you have an advisory council! And if you don’t, it’s not too late. If you’re totally unclear on how to start an advisory council, we have a podcast about it!

We chose a compass as the icon for collaboration. Think about how a compass has several directions with the goal of keeping each “centered.” All directions on a compass are important, as are all parts of a school and community. For the compass day our ideas were to give out something shaped like a compass. Maybe check with a local bakery to see if they could do compass shaped cookies. Or you could set out cupcakes with compass flags in them.

All In For Building An Equitable and Inclusive School

Have you heard the story about the starfish? A man and a boy were on a beach that was covered with starfish. The little boy was throwing the starfish back in the ocean, one by one. The man asked the boy why in the world he was taking the time to throw the starfish in. He said it would be impossible to throw all of them in. The little boy replied, “It made a difference to that one.”

We see day 4 as your chance to explain how the role of the school counselor is to make sure every voice is heard. How do you do that? Do you do that through “I Need to See the Counselor” Forms? Do you do that through Minute Meetings? It would also be a great time to explain how the books and resources you use have windows and mirrors. Let us explain this: windows allow students to see the plights and heroism of students who may be different from them. The mirrors allow students to see themselves in various situations. This especially important to our students who may be in a minority group. This ensures that every student voice is heard.

We have found these starfish on Amazon. We’ll give them a reminder of the starfish story. We will tell them how valuable they are to us in making sure every student voice is heard.

All In For School Counseling

We want Day 5 to be a celebration! In keeping with the nautical theme, all educators and students have weathered quite a storm this year. We didn’t “abandon ship.” At times we might have been afraid we were about to capsize, but we dropped our anchor and held on! There’s a saying, “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust the direction of your sails.” I believe that phrase is fitting for this past year. Many times we might have had to change direction. But school counselors and educators alike provided a port within the storm. We provided a harbor, or a safe place. That’s something to be celebrated.

So what would be something good to do for a celebration? Popcorn? Candy? Cupcakes? I think all of those would be appreciated, and they would all serve as vehicles to spread our message.

How do I spread my message?

We use posters that we change out daily. (Get them free here!) Each day we put out a spread that matches the daily theme. We also have morning announcements that could be shared over the intercom or even through a scheduled email. You could also consider using a recorded video to send the teachers and staff members to communicate your role and mission.

Don’t forget to include all stakeholders! Make sure your teachers get your messages, but also your advisory council, your board members, your supervisor! Who else can you include?

Happy NSCW!

We hope you are celebrated this year, no matter what your school setting may be this year. If no one else tells you, WE appreciate you! You take care of those unseen problems and situations that your students are struggling with. You, my friend, are a hero.