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!
Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA) Conference 2018
I am Amy Ligon, second-year school counseling graduate student. I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia School Counselor Association’s annual conference in Hampton Virginia. I attended the conference with several of my fellow Longwood University school counseling classmates. It was a wonderful experience. I volunteered Wednesday afternoon at the registration booth where I got to meet several school counselors from around Virginia who were attending the conference as well. Thursday, we attended three to four breakout sessions covering topics pertaining to all levels of school counseling. I also had the opportunity to attend the graduate student career café where I received feedback on my resume and interview tips from seasoned school counselors from all over Virginia. On Friday we attended three more breakout sessions. I enjoyed the breakout sessions that were interactive and had fun take homes to bring back to my internship. I did actually end up using two activities that were introduced to me VSCA at my internship the following week. After the breakout sessions on Friday, we packed up and headed back to Farmville. All in all, VSCA was a great experience. I am already looking forward to the conference 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!
