VAASL Conference Fun!
I was fortunate enough to attend the conference this year in Williamsburg. I learned so much there! One of the new things I learned were all the benefits of having a maker space in the library. In the keynote speech, Leslie Preddy, shared how students are able to use their creativity and problem solving skills to learn from informal activities that encourage the development of critical thinking skills and fine motor skills. These activities are self-directed and driven by the students’ own interests. Creating library maker spaces is an easy and inexpensive project that can be done with donations and grants. Offering a variety of activities of different levels of difficulty helps students develop resiliency and perseverance, skills that they will use for the rest of their time in school, in their careers and for the rest of their lives. I look forward to attending more conferences!
Virginia Counselors Association 2018 Annual Convention! Norfolk, VA.
Hello! My name is Jessica Bardenheier and I am a second year graduate student at Longwood University in the Counselor Education program, Mental Health Counseling Track. I recently attended the VCA Annual Convention in Norfolk, Virginia. It was an incredible experience! Many current students from the cohort attended as well as professors and alumni. I felt right at home with all the friendly faces!
The convention offered a wide variety of sessions, covering diverse topics in the field of counseling. As well, I attended an awards ceremony to be recognized by the Virginia Counselors Association Foundation as a 2018 Pete Warren Fellows. I got to receive the award from my current professor and Department Chair, Dr. Kevin Doyle. This made the whole experience feel like it came full-circle because of all the Lancer representation at the convention and awards ceremony! We filled two big tables!
My favorite sessions at the convention focused on trauma-informed care, self-care for clinicians, and utilizing the concept of “positive triggers” and compassion in crisis situations, in order to re-frame cognitions, and minimize traumatization on clients. I felt that everyone at the conference was like-minded in that there was a palpable passion for this helping profession being expressed and felt throughout. It was energizing to be around so many well-versed counselors from all over the Commonwealth of Virginia and to be able to learn and grow with them.
Specifically, it was especially refreshing to see so many sessions being presented by other graduate students, not just professors. This allowed me to see the depth of work that is being done at all levels of this profession and how many amazing, well-rounded Counselor Education programs there are in the state. I saw sessions from students at JMU, Virginia Tech, and others. Longwood was in good company at this convention! This also made me start thinking about doctoral programs once I graduate because of all the growth opportunities in this field.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to have received a travel grant from Longwood for this event. Without it, I would not have been able to engage in this caliber of professional development in such an intentional and meaningful way. I highly recommend seeking out professional development opportunities and avenues to represent the graduate cohorts within Longwood Graduate Studies! This opportunity allowed me to grown in my professional and therapeutic identity as a counselor and graduate student. I am looking forward to VCA’s 2019 convention and to have an even great Longwood turnout!
VSCA Conference 2018
I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA) Conference on October 17th-October 19th in Hampton, Virginia. As a school counselor, it was awesome to learn new ways to support students in achieving their social/emotional, academic, and career goals. I also had the opportunity to learn new activities and techniques to utilize when working with students. One of my favorite sessions was “Calm Down Smack Down” during this session the participants learned how to create calm down stations for students to utilize during the school day. I had the opportunity to create mindfulness bottles and stress balls as part of the “Calm Down Smack Down” session. Lastly, it was nice to network with counselors from the elementary, middle, and high school level. I am looking forward to attending the VSCA conference next year!!!
Agents of Change – VSCA 2018
Hello! My name is Emory Read and I am a graduate student in the Counselor Education program and I am in the School Counseling Track. This past October, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Virginia School Counselor Association Conference. I was able to network with other school counselors and learn valuable information that will help me as a future school counselor. They had wonderful keynote speakers who spoke about how school counselors can make an impact. There were also representatives from various colleges/universities, companies, and programs who had information to give that would be helpful to us in the school counseling profession.
It was amazing to experience this conference with my classmates and be around so many people who are passionate about making a difference in the lives of students. There were various breakout sessions that we could attend that ranged from learning about classroom management to learning how to use mindfulness/yoga in the classroom. I went to a session called “How do you want to change the world”, which stood out to me because the purpose of this session was to change the way that we talk to students about what they want to do in the future.
I would recommend going to a professional conference if you get the opportunity because not only are they a great experience, but it really makes you appreciate the profession that you are going into. I am already looking forward to the VSCA conference for next year!
VSCA Conference
I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA) Conference on October 17th-October 19th in Hampton, Virginia. As a school counselor, it was awesome to learn new ways to support students in achieving their social/emotional, academic, and career goals. I also had the opportunity to learn new activities and techniques to utilize when working with students. One of my favorite sessions was “Calm Down Smack Down” during this session the participants learned how to create calm down stations for students to utilize during the school day. I had the opportunity to create mindfulness bottles and stress balls as part of the “Calm Down Smack Down” session. Lastly, it was nice to network with counselors from the elementary, middle, and high school level. I am looking forward to attending the VSCA conference next year!!!
VSCA 2018 Conference: Agents of Change
Experiencing my first Virginia School Counseling Association Conference was an amazing opportunity to network, gain knowledge on different topics, and receive practical resources to use at my internship. My entire cohort attended the conference, where we had the chance to go to different sessions and share the information we learned to one another. The session that stuck out to me the most was called: “Suicide and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention” presented by Melissa Reeves. One of the greatest takeaways was learning the differences between non-suicidal self injury and suicide and ways in which school counselors can promote suicide prevention. One example could be complete training with administrators and staff on Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).
One of my favorite parts of the conference was being able to volunteer with my classmate. We were given the role of check-in on the first day of the conference. It was a perfect opportunity to welcome each member to the conference. I also enjoyed introducing myself and hearing stories as a school counselor. I gained a lot of insight on the role of a school counselor, as well as, made connections with counselors in the field. Overall, I had an amazing time at the conference and I look forward to returning next year!
Project JumpStart Assistant
2018-2019
Part-Time, Fall & Spring
This GA will support Project JumpStart, a preschool early literacy program, and will provide support to the Director in preparing materials for the preschool activities, newsletters for parents, and marketing materials.
This position is open to students in the CSD master’s program.
If you have questions, contact Dr. Lissa Power-deFur, powerdefurea@longwood.edu, 434.395.2369
Standard Part-Time Academic Assistant Position
College of Education & Human Services – Communication Sciences & Disorders
Funding Source: Project JumpStart Foundation funds
Status: FILLED
J. Taylor at SHAV Conference!!!
Hello Longwood Students, Faculty, and Staff!!
My name is Jalyn Destene Taylor and I am a first year Graduate student in the speech language pathology program. I am originally from Philadelphia, PA and I have found that I love the small town of Farmville, VA and the Longwood University community. I attended the 60th Annual Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) Conference from March 22nd to March 24th, 2018 in Williamsburg, VA. I learned a lot during the seminars that I attended during the conference. I look forward to using my new knowledge about pediatric dysphagia and feeding therapy, collaborating with other professionals when it comes to working in the schools, and integrating tele-practice into my future work as a speech language pathologist. Another thing that I did during SHAV was a poster presentation with my parters, Seraphina Chabinec and Leah Horton about Vocal Hygiene pertaining to Physical Education Majors. To our delight, we won the first place prize out of 22 posters during the convention!!! Above are some pictures of me and my partners from the convention with our stunning poster. It was such a wonderful experience and I would love to attend next year!
SHAV Conference 2018
SHAV was a wonderful experience. I had the opportunity to go many different presentations to further my education in Communication Sciences and Disorders. The presentations that were of interest to me included Social Pragmatics Communication Disorders: Best Practices for Intervention, Supporting Students with Communication Deficits in Social Participation, Social Language Skills Training Within School-Based Curriculum, Getting Started in Telepractice for the SLP and Intensity of Treatment in Aphasia: More Than One Definition. In addition to going to these presentations, I had the opportunity to present a poster with my group on whether speaking fundamental frequency influences ratings of speaker competence and social attractiveness. Although we did not place in the poster competition, it was a wonderful experience being able to present our research to professionals and being able to look at other graduate programs research posters. It was interesting to look at the different interests regarding research topics between the graduate programs. Overall, I feel like I have furthered my education in many areas because of the SHAV conference. I am not from Virginia, but I hope that my home state has a similar type of conference so that I can further my knowledge in Speech Language Pathology. This is a field that is always changing. It is important that SLPs go to these conferences to stay in tune with current information in all the areas of Speech Language Pathology. 
SHAV 2018
This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) Conference with my graduate cohort in the Longwood Communication Sciences & Disorders graduate program. During my experience at this event, I was able to hear from leading professionals in our field about their research and experience treating patients, and many taught us new tips and tricks that we can apply in therapy to achieve better outcomes with patients. I was able to network with professionals across the state and learn about their careers and positions as speech language pathologists in different areas of our field. During my attendance at SHAV, I was also lucky enough to have the opportunity to present the research that I have been working on with my cohort members TIa Javier, Kristen Knowsley, and Rachel Pegelow. During our presentation, we were able to hone the professional skills we have learned while in our program here at Longwood. Overall, I had an absolutely amazing and eye-opening experience at SHAV this year, and I am so thankful that the professors in my program here at Longwood were so encouraging and supportive in this research and presentation experience!
