FSCA May 2015 E-News

FSCA May 2015 E-News May 14, 2015
Important Announcements from FSCA... Awards FSCA School Counselor of the Year - 2015 Applications Now Open!! http://www.fla-schoolcounselor.org/files/2015FSCAAwardApp.pdf Great News!  The FSCA School Counselor of the Year 2015 application window has opened!  Please use the link above to access the application.  All applications and supporting documents are due by July 15th.  Please nominate someone (or nominate yourself) and apply for this prestigious honor!  Feel free to contact Terry Kalten -  terrakalt@gmail.com with any questions. FSCA 2015 Convention Registration Now Open! The 2015 Convention will be held Oct 22-24, 2015 in Orlando, FL at the beautiful Doubletree Hilton at Seaworld.  The keynote speakers are Dr. Pat Martin & Dr. Brett Zyromski! To see the schedule at a glance, more information about keynote speakers, and register, CLICK HERE. Submit a Proposal to Present! Be an active participant at this year’s FSCA Convention. Share your expertise and evidence based practices, programs, or interventions. The convention committee is accepting program proposals for 90 minute presentations.  To submit your proposal, CLICK HERE. Deadline for proposals is June 12 Graduate students: The call for graduate student poster sessions will come out in August, so stay tuned! Membership NOW is the Time to Join or Renew Your FSCA Membership!  Why is it so important to be a FSCA member? Watch this video showcasing school counselors who explain why they are members of the Florida School Counselor Association!  Click here to watch the video College and Career Readiness FSCA's College and Career Readiness Survey Dear Florida School Counselors, Thank you for all you do for your students, families, and school communities!  As you know, professional school counselors are a vital part of helping children develop into well-rounded individuals. And FSCA is a committed to helping school counselors develop the programs necessary to meet students’ needs in Florida.  We know how busy it is this time of the year (not that every part of the year isn’t busy for school counselors!), and would greatly appreciate your time to provide your valuable perspectives by taking FSCA’s brief College and Career Readiness Survey. The survey will open until July 1. Please direct any questions you may have to: fsca@fla-schoolcounselor.org In advance, thank you for completing this survey. Click the link below to begin the survey:  FSCA College and Career Readiness Survey More CCR News:  Check out the article on Florida College Access Network's (FCAN) website about Broward County and student-level FAFSA data. FCAN and FSCA have been working in partnership with counties around Florida to enable school counselors to have access to a school-based list of students who have completed the FAFSA. Broward County school counseling leaders successfully advocated for access to FAFSA student data. Congratulations to Ralph Aiello and his team! This will help high school counselors better pinpoint which students need assistance with the FAFSA application. Click Here to Read the Article New Emerging Leaders Program Accepting Applications! Last call for the newly formed FSCA Emerging Leaders Program.  The deadline to submit an application is May 30, 2015. The purpose of the program is to identify and support potential leaders who will assume leadership roles within the governance of FSCA.  The program will develop school counselors with strong leadership skills, provide training in leadership and the structure of the association, with guided mentoring. The benefits of participating will entail one year FSCA membership, leadership training, mentorship, professional networking, and recognition at FSCA Convention.  Participants are committing to attend all coordinated emerging leaders program event, serve on FSCA committee, attend and assist at FSCA convention and other FSCA events and attend specified board meeting.   CLICK HERE to learn more about the benefits, responsibilities, and application process for emerging leaders. Submit your application to Araseli Martinez-Peña, Chair at emergingleaders@fla-schoolcounselor.org Advocacy News Update on OPPAGA Survey The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) is an office of the Legislature that provides data, evaluative research, and objective analyses.  OPPAGA surveyed school counselors throughout the state between October-November 2014 to determine how counselors spend their time and the impact counselor-to-student ratios have across the state. OPPAGA recently shared a draft of the survey results with FSCA but the data has not been officially published.  The FSCA advocacy team recently reviewed the draft report of the data and submitted questions on the report to OPPAGA through our lobbyist, Carole Green. The advocacy team will reflect on the official OPPAGA report when it is released to make a plan for advocacy efforts for the 2015-16 school year. We will keep FSCA members apprised of the advocacy plans and we encourage you to be involved in our advocacy efforts!    If you are interested in assisting FSCA’s advocacy committee please contact our committee chairs, Summer Kuba(summer.kuba@stlucieschools.org) & Veritza Kostovski (veritza.kostovski@gmail.com).   Committee Members Needed! FSCA Needs YOU... FSCA is looking for a few members who can assist with committee work. Some roles that need to be filled include: Technology committee member- assistance needed includes social media posts or website management Convention committee member- assistance needed with exhibitors and sponsors Membership committee member- assistance needed with recruiting members in your region of Florida If you are interested in being on any of the committees, please contact Carolyn Berger at president@fla-schoolcounselor.org We hope you will consider assisting FSCA with any of the above tasks! Chapter Announcements FSCA Chapters, if you have information for future newsletters please email your announcement to Samantha Rey at ReyS@collierschools.com.	Would you like to become a member of FSCA? Click below to join! Has your membership lapsed? Click below to renew! Save the Date! 2015 FSCA Convention October 22-24, 2015 K-12 College & Career Readiness: Skills for Living, Learning, & Earning To be held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Orlando For more information, CLICK HERE Keynote Speakers: Dr. Pat Martin & Dr. Brett Zyromski We hope to see you there!
(888) 785-8611 fsca@fla-schoolcounselor.org P.O. Box 752 Safety Harbor, FL 34695-0752