MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION MARCH 2015VOL. 51, NO. 7

MASCA

Pete the Cat: Teaching, the Fun WayBy DONNA BROWN

MASCA Executive Director

Join us for theAnnual Spring

Conference

C ome join us for an exciting profes-sional development and network-

ing experience this spring. The Annual MASCA Spring Confer-

ence is scheduled to be held on Tuesday,April 7. A pre-conference workshop willbe offered in the afternoon on Monday,April 6, and it will be followed by a Pres-ident’s Reception & Awards Ceremony.

A one-time registration fee will includeaccess to all events, which will be held atthe Holiday Inn in Boxborough. A dis-counted hotel room rate is available forconference attendees. Check out the“Events” tab on the MASCA website(www.masca.org) for a summary of theconference program and informationabout the keynote speaker, pre-confer-ence workshop, online registration, thehotel link, and much more. ■(continued on page 2)

H ave you met Pete the Cat yet? Thecobalt blue (yes, blue) cat is a

favorite of my students and me. In fact,I have come to love Pete.

I first met Pete several years ago in agallery in Savannah, Georgia. His “dad,”James Dean, had adopted a stray blackcat who did a lot of silly cat things aroundthe house. Dean started sketching Pete,focusing on an adult market. I boughtan early print for my husband that fea-tured Pete with a corded computer mousedangling from his mouth, staring at theviewer. Dean’s friends suggested that buy-ers might not like a black cat, so Petebecame a lovely shade of blue.

Enter Eric Litwin, a songwriter, per-former, and story teller. He tracked downJames Dean (literally) and pitched anidea for a children’s book using Pete theCat. Thus, Pete the Cat started singingand telling his story.

The Pete the Cat stories are ideal forschool counselors to use in elementaryclassroom lessons. Positive attitudes,kind ness, resiliency, and problem solv-ing are all features in these colorful pic-ture books. Pete’s world isn’t perfect, buthe goes through each day looking for thegood in every situation.

In the first Pete book, I Love MyWhite Shoes, Pete has new white shoesthat turn various colors as he stompsthrough a strawberry patch, blueberries,

mud, and, finally, a puddle. As his newshoes change color, Pete keeps groovingalong, changing his song about lovinghis white shoes to: I love my red shoes,I love my blue shoes, I love my brownshoes. And on it goes because “it is allgood.” Pete is unflappable, even whenhis new shoes are soaked.

Pete the Cat and His Four GroovyButtons offers both an introduction tosubtraction and resiliency. Pete goes outwearing his favorite shirt with four groovybuttons. He sings a song about howmuch he loves the buttons on his shirt.Suddenly, one of the buttons pops offand rolls away. As part of the math les-son, children are asked how many but-

MASCA PreconferenceProfessional Development Workshop

Monday, April 6, 2015 • 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

MASCA Annual Spring ConferenceTuesday, April 7, 2015

Go to www.masca.org for details.

2 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

tons Pete now has. They answer, three.The story then returns to Pete. The nar-rator asks, “Did Pete cry?” The answer(usually shouted out by the class) is“Good ness, no!” because “buttons comeand buttons go.” Pete continues on hisway, singing and periodically losinganother button until all of them havepopped off and rolled away. As before,the class is asked “Did Pete cry?” andthe answer still is “Goodness, no! But-tons come and buttons go.” At this point,Pete looks down and discovers “mybellybutton, my bellybutton” and keepssinging his song. It’s a funny, appropri-ate ending that shows children how tomake the best of a situation and see that“it is all good.”

The newest book, Pete the Cat and theNew Guy, addresses several issues in -cluding being different, trying and fail-ing at something new, and finding whatyou are good at. The story also usesrhyming patterns and sequencing (thedays of the week).

The new guy is Gus, a platypus. Ini-tially, Pete is too shy to knock on Gus’door, so he just skateboards by. The nextday, he meets Gus and the two of themgo off to play. They meet a squirrel whoinvites them to climb the tree. Pete doesthis handily; Gus can’t climb. The nextday, they meet Grumpy Toad, who invitesthem to play leapfrog. Again, Gus triesto leap but fails. The octopus tries toteach them to juggle, but Gus can’t. Dis-couraged, Gus tells Pete that there isnothing fun for him to do and he goeshome. Pete feels sad because he has toldGus that everyone can do something well.Suddenly, Pete hears cool drumming com-ing from across the street. He goes tocheck this out and finds Gus rocking onthe drums. He’s thrilled and invites Gusto join the rest of the guys. By story’s end,the whole diverse gang is rocking out withtheir garage band—and it is all good.

The Pete the Cat books provide coun-selors with a fun, positive vehicle to teachsome of life’s lessons. Teachers across thecountry have posted Pete the Cat activi-ties that can be used in conjunction withthe books. Googling Pete the Cat activ-ities will produce coloring pages, match-ing games, discussion questions, andinterdisciplinary exercises. Additionally,the themes and concepts presented in thebooks support many of the benchmarksand competencies of the MA Model. ■

BROWN (continued from page 1)

RESEARCH NOTES

Teens continue Indoor tanning

“Indoor tanning remains a persistent partof American adolescence, popular all yearbut especially in winter, when bodies arepalest. A review of the scientific evidencepublished last year estimated that tan-ning beds account for as many as 400,000cases of skin cancer in the United Stateseach year, including 6,000 cases of mela -noma, the deadliest form....

Public health experts say tanning re -mains a persistent problem, especiallyamong white teenage girls, a full third ofwhom say they have tanned in doors, morethan the share who smoke cigarettes.”

— Sabrina Tavernise, “Teens remain at riskfrom tanning fad,” New York Times, January 11,2015. ■

2014 – 2015 OFFICERS

PRESIDENTTINA KARIDOYANESMansfield High School250 East Street, Mansfield, MA 02048E-mail: president@masca.org

PAST PRESIDENTTHERESA A. COOGAN, Ph.D.Bridgewater State UniversityBridgewater, MA 02325Tel. 508-531-2640E-mail: theresa.coogan@bridgew.edu

PRESIDENT-ELECTRUTH CARRIGANWhitman-Hanson Regional High School600 Franklin Street, Whitman, MA 02382Tel. 781-618-7434 • Fax 781-618-7098E-mail: Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org

VICE PRESIDENT ELEMENTARYVERONICA KNIGHTLowell Elementary School175 Orchard Street, Watertown, MA 02472Tel. 617-926-2666E-mail: veronica.knight@watertown.k12.ma.us

VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE / JUNIOR HIGHKATHLEEN SCOTTE-mail: scottk@amesburyma.gov

VICE PRESIDENT SECONDARYJOHN S. STEEREWellesley High School50 Rice Street, Wellesley, MA 02481Tel. 781-446-6290 x4653 • Fax 781-446-6308E-mail: john_steere@wellesley.k12.ma.us

VICE PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATORSTBA

VICE PRESIDENT POSTSECONDARYJOHN MARCUSDean College99 Main Street, Franklin, MA 02038Tel. 508-541-1509 • Fax 508-541-8726E-mail: jmarcus@dean.edu

VICE PRESIDENT COUNSELOR EDUCATORSMEGAN KRELL, Ph.D.; AMY L. COOK, Ph.D.E-mail: vpcounselored@masca.org

VICE PRESIDENT RETIREESJOSEPH D. FITZGERALD, Ed.D.5 Progress Street, Weymouth, MA 02188Tel. 781-264-3426E-mail: jdfitz1831@gmail.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORDONNA M. BROWNAdjunct Professor, UMass BostonP.O. Box 366, 779 Center StreetBryantville, MA 02327Tel. 781-293-2835E-mail: executivedirector@masca.org

TREASURERASHLEY CARON25 Belmont Ave., Stoughton, MA 02072Tel. 508-212-0676E-mail: ashcicero@hotmail.com

SECRETARYKATIE KOZAKE-mail: secretary@masca.org

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORDONNA BROWNE-mail: membership@masca.org

WEBMASTER/TECHNOLOGY COORDINATORROSS WOLFSONE-mail: webmaster@masca.org; info@masca.org

COORDINATOR OFPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTHELEN O’DONNELL, Ed.D.E-mail: pdchair@masca.org

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK EDITORSALLY ANN CONNOLLY19 Bayberry Road, Danvers, MA 01923Tel. 978-774-8158 • Fax 978-750-8154E-mail: sallyconnolly@att.net

MARCH 2015 3

RESEARCH NOTES

Blue light is detrimental to sleep

“Use of a light-emitting electronic book(LE-eBook) in the hours before bedtimecan adversely impact overall health, alert -ness and the circadian clock, which syn-chronizes the daily rhythm of sleep toexternal environmental time cues, accord-ing to Harvard Medical School researchersat Brigham and Women’s Hospital….

‘We found the body’s natural circadianrhythms were interrupted by the short-wavelength enriched light, otherwise

known as blue light, from these electronicdevices,’ said Anne-Marie Chang, corre-sponding author and associate neurosci-entist at Brigham and Women’s Divisionof Sleep and Circadian Disorders.”

Other devices emitting blue light includelaptops, cellphones, and LED monitors.

— Elaine St. Peter, “E-Readers Foil GoodNight’s Sleep,” Harvard Medical School, http://hms.harvard.edu/news/e-readers-foil-good-nights-sleep, January l5, 2015. ■

4 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

FOCUS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY

“Football has the highest injury rateamong team sports.”— Christopher M. Filley, MD, University of Colo -rado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO

Playing football before age 12increases risk MINNEAPOLIS — Former NationalFoot ball League (NFL) players who par-ticipated in tackle football before the ageof 12 were more likely to have memoryand thinking problems in adulthood, ac -cording to a new study published in theJanuary 28, 2015, online issue of Neu-rology®, the medical journal of theAmerican Academy of Neurology….

For the study, researchers tested 42former NFL players with an average ageof 52. All of the participants had expe-rienced memory and thinking problemsfor at least six months. Half of the play-ers participated in tackle football beforethe age of 12 and half did not. The num -ber of concussions sustained was similarbetween the two groups.

The study found that compared withformer NFL players who started football atage 12 or later, former players who startedbefore age 12 performed significantlyworse on all test measures, even after re -searchers took into account the total num-ber of years of football played and the ageof the players at the time of the tests….

“Our study suggests that there maybe a critical window of brain developmentduring which repeated head impacts canlead to thinking and memory difficultieslater in life,” said Stern. “If larger stud-ies confirm this association, there maybe a need to consider safety changes inyouth sports.”

Larger and newer cars canreduce teenage driver fatalities “Per mile driven, the crash rate (nonfataland fatal) is three times higher for teen -aged drivers than for adult drivers in theU.S. Drivers of heavier and better-designedcars are less likely to die in a crash….

Teenagers were significantly more likely

than adults to have been driving a minior small car (29% vs. 20%) and signifi-cantly less likely to have been driving alarge pickup truck (10% vs. 17%). Teen -agers were also more likely to have beendriving older cars compared with adults(cars aged 6–10 years, 21% vs. 13%;11–15 years, 20% vs. 12%).”

— Alain Joffe, MD, MPH, FAAP reviewingMcCartt AT and Teoh ER. Inj Prev 2014 Dec 18,“Types of Cars Driven by Teenagers in FatalCrashes,” NEJM Journal Watch, www.jwatch.org,January 23, 2015.

Obese children may bedeveloping heart problemsA study reported in the Journal of theAmerican College of Cardiology (Octo-ber 8, 2014) found early signs of hearttrouble in obese children: higher bloodpressure, higher levels of bad cholesterol,lower levels of good cholesterol, andlarger heart chambers.

— http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141008203940.ht ■

MARCH 2015 5

Reach HigherMassachusetts:What is YourCommitment?By RUTH CARRIGANMASCA President-Elect

O ver the past few months, I hope youhave heard a lot about the Reach

Higher initiative in Massachusetts throughMASCA e-mails from Bob Bardwell andarticles in the Counselor’s Notebook.

For those of you unfamiliar with theprogram, the goal of the initiative is tohelp inspire every student in America totake charge of his /her future by complet-ing education past high school, whether ata professional training program, a com-munity college, or a four-year institution.

In Massachusetts, we have challengedour members to make a commitment totry something new and/or differentbeyond activities that are already part oftheir school counseling programs. Now,we’d like to hear about commitments orpledges that counselors across the Com-monwealth have made. Remember, com-mitments can be large or small scale butshould focus on creating a culture of con-tinuing education and training beyondhigh school. If you have implemented anew or different counseling activity tohelp your students “reach higher,”please let us know by following the linkbelow. We are excited to hear about theimpact you are making on the lives ofyour students.

If you are interested in finding outmore about the Reach Higher initiativein Massachusetts, our next planning meet-ing will be held on Thursday, March 19,from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the MSSAAoffice, 33 Forge Parkway, Franklin. Atthis meeting, we hope to review progressmade at the San Diego White HouseConvening, discuss goals for the pro-gram, and make some concrete plans tomove the Reach Higher Massachusettsinitiative forward.

If you would like to join us for thisimportant work, please contact me atRuth.Carrigan@whrsd.org. We also en -courage you to attend the MASCA AnnualConference in April, where folks involvedin the Reach Higher Initiative in Massa-chusetts will be conference presenters.

We hope that you will be part of thisstate-wide collaborative effort to help allstudents become college and career readyfor life beyond high school. ■

6 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Remapping the College DecisionBy WILL ENGLISH

TEAMM Program Counselor, North Andover High School

Counselors can serve students best by informing them aboutall options, including those beyond their borders.

I grew up in an American family whereall the siblings decided to tear up the

standard college playbook and pursueeducation in Canada. (All three of uscontinued on to earn master’s degrees,and all are successfully pursuing careersin the United States.)

What we gained in Canada was aninternational experience, a world-classeducation, and a great value. Tuition inCanada is significantly lower than in com-parable U.S. schools, and— dependingon the exchange rate—that differencecan prove to offer an even more substan-tial discount. As I write, the Canadiandollar is $.87 on the U.S. dollar.

In my family it was my older brother,eight years my senior, who discoveredCanada as an educational destination.

His decision to attend McGill Universitywas clinched when he compared thebursar’s statement from McGill with histop U.S. pick, a well-known liberal artscollege. McGill was less than half theprice, even without financial aid.

McGill is usually the one name a typ-ical American school counselor can comeup with when asked about educationaloptions in Canada. Its attractive cam-pus in downtown Montreal is six hoursfrom Boston, and thanks to consistentpressure from students, the university hasmaintained tuition rates that are loweven by Canadian standards. Given thelarge number of U.S. applicants, McGillcan be quite selective in the number ofAmericans it accepts.

But McGill is by no means the only

game in town. Many other schools inCan ada offer a quality educationalexperience.

My sister attended Queen’s Universityin Kingston, Ontario. Like McGill, Queen’sis one of the “Canadian Ivies,” an inter-nationally recognized research institu-tion with high academic standards. Forher first year my sister elected to studyin a fifteenth-century castle in England,a facility that was a gift to the school andnow serves as a study abroad center.Kingston itself is a beautiful historic townin a popular vacation area, hugging theshores of Lake Ontario; and thanks to itsmany discriminating visitors, Kingston isalso home to dozens of great restaurants.

I attended King’s College, a small, selec-tive school set around a quad in Halifax,Nova Scotia. One notable distinction ofKings is its widely-respected and highly-competitive great books program, whichis available to first-year students. Kings’campus offers an intimate, collegial set-ting in a beautiful maritime city. Halifaxis also home to several other schools,including Dalhousie University, which isadjacent to Kings and shares its facilitiesand course offerings with Kings students.With its robust student population, theambiance of Halifax is reminiscent ofBoston’s lively college town feeling.

Recently, I attended a college fair inNewton put on by the Canadian Con-sulate in Boston. I was excited to see morethan 100 students seriously consideringCanada as a potential college destina-tion. While there, I learned about severalother interesting Canadian schools, in -cluding Quest University in British Colum-bia, an exciting campus where studentshave the chance to design their ownprogram of studies.

With the tuition rates in Americanschools continuing to rise, as counselorswe would do well to inform our studentsabout all their options, including theadvantages of Canada as an educationaldestination. ■

MARCH 2015 7

Professional Development NewsBy HELEN C. O’DONNELL, Ed.D.

MASCA Professional Development Coordinator

Welcome to a spring full of wonder-ful professional development op -

portunities designed especially for schoolcounselors!

Join the 2014 Institutes cohorts of MAModel for Comprehensive School Coun-seling Programs and past Institute par-ticipants for a workshop and reunionon Monday, April 6, at the Holiday Innin Boxboro from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Celebrate MASCA’s milestone recog-nizing one hundred MA AccountabilityReport Cards (MARCs and MARC JR.’s).The topics tentatively scheduled include:ASCAs Mindsets and Behaviors for Stu-dent Success, Designing Assessments,iPads for School Counselors (hands-onworkshop), Individual Learning Plans,practitioner panels (DDMs, CCR curricu-lum implementation initiatives, Standards-Based Lessons), MARC JR. showcase,and collegial networking.

The cost of the workshop/reunion is$25 per person. Certificates of Attendancewill be provided. Registration details andagenda can be found at www.masca.orgor e-mail me at pdchair@masca.org orhelenod@att.net. All MASCA colleaguesare welcome to attend.

MA Model InstitutesThe 2015 MA Model Institutes are nowopen for registration. The kick-off dateis Monday, April 6, with additional train-ing dates to join the cohorts during thesummer and fall. The Introductory MAModel Institute for Comprehensive SchoolCounseling Programs and the Institute2.0: Next Steps will be offered onceagain for 45 MASCA PDPs, with theoption of three graduate credits fromFitchburg State University for an addi-tional fee. Information and registrationare posted on MASCA’s website or con-tact pdchair@masca.org.

MASCA PD InitiativesReach Higher MA has inspired theProfessional Development Committee toexplore exciting new MASCA PD oppor-tunities and develop new PD partner-

ships. These include:• Recorded PD webinars • Three new graduate level courses

(45 MASCA PDPs or 3 graduate credits)• College Advising (face-to-face)• Financing Postsecondary Education

(online)

• Building School Counseling Curricu-lum (face-to-face and hybrid)

We urge you to attend the MASCAAnnual Spring Conference to be held onTuesday, April 7. For information andregistration details, go to MASCA’s web -site, www.masca.org. ■

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Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc.COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Sally Ann Connolly, Editor

IN CASE OF NON-DELIVERY, RETURN TO:Donna M. BrownP.O. Box 366Bryantville, MA 02327

DESE MonthlyWebinars

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School Counseling Programs

Your membership renewal date is indicated by year and month on your address label above.To renew your membership, go to MASCA’s website, www.masca.org.