MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION NOVEMBER 2012VOL. 49, NO. 3

MASCA

Proud to be a School Counselorin Massachusetts

By JENNIFER LISK, MASCA President

You Have Your Headin the Clouds

By JAN TKACZYK, M.Ed., CAGSPast MASCA Executive Director

November isNational Career Development Month

November 14: Career Development DayNovember 12-16: Career Development Week

T he trip to the ASCA Conference inMinneapolis this summer was a re -

minder of how great it is to be a schoolcounselor in Massachusetts. During adinner with colleagues from Massachu-setts and surrounding states, I intro-duced Rich Lapan to another counselor.A few moments later, she leaned over tome and said, “THE Rich Lapan?” Thisis merely one example of the promi-nence of our Massachusetts colleagues.

Our state conferences feature manyspeakers that present at the nationallevel regularly, as well as those who Ibelieve to be our future leaders. I hopeyou were able to attend the MASCAFall Conference, which reinforced evenfurther what great colleagues we haveand what pro gress we have made as a

profession here in this state. Updates onthe counselor evaluation rubric as wellas on the state wide study conductedwith students in the graduating class of2012, illustrated just some of the cut-ting edge work that is taking place inMassachusetts.

Many eyes are on us, and deservedlyso. As the only state to include schoolcounseling in the Race to the Top appli-cation, we are in a position to show whatwe all know: school counselors make adifference.

I encourage you to utilize the talentsof your colleagues, from those a doordown to those presenting on a nationallevel. We all have something to offer eachother as we work together to make a dif-ference for students in Massachusetts. ■

(continued on page 10)

W hen I was young, having your“head in the clouds” didn’t have

anything to do with today’s cloud wherecomputer applications and files are storedon a large, centralized network.

It meant you had been outside in NateNickerson’s field, flat on your back, yourface to the sky, naming the shapes that yousaw as the clouds floated by and imag-ining all the possibilities the future held.Everything was achievable. You dreamedof romance, wealth, family, and career.Literally, the sky was the limit!

Back in those days, you were also onyour own when it came to planning yourvocation. Career education was not of -fered in school. There was no real con-nection made between coursework inschool and future career pathways.

The good news is that today our stu-dents are very fortunate because they haveprofessional school counselors whosetraining allows them to provide careerand postsecondary education that isage-appropriate, intentional, and, inmost cases, evidence-based.

Let’s have a look at several small groupand classroom examples of what is hap-pening around the country.

One of my favorite resources is www.missouricareereducation.org. Small groupand classroom lessons are provided at allgrade levels. Learning objectives arespelled out for each and every lesson.Hand outs are included. Here is oneexample:

• Divide the class into small groupsof 4-5 students.

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2 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

2012 – 2013 OFFICERS

PRESIDENTJENNIFER LISKMedway High School, Medway, MA 02053Tel. 508-533-3228 x5107 • Fax 508-533-3246E-mail: president@masca.org

PAST PRESIDENTMICHELLE BURKEBeverly High School100 Sohier RoadBeverly, MA 01915-2654Tel. 978-921-6132 x11107E-mail: mburke@beverlyschools.org

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

VICE PRESIDENT ELEMENTARYJACQUELINE BROWNEast Somerville Community School42 Prescott Street, Somerville, MA 02143Tel. 617-625-6600 x6517 • Fax 617-591-7906E-mail: jbrown@k12.somerville.ma.us

VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE / JUNIOR HIGHTBA

VICE PRESIDENT SECONDARYCARRIE KULICK-CLARKBraintree High School128 Town Street, Braintree, MA 02184Tel. 781-848-4000 ext 2273 • Fax 781-848-7799E-mail: jd02375@aol.com

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

VICE PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATORSTBA

VICE PRESIDENT COUNSELOR EDUCATORSTBA

VICE PRESIDENT RETIREESJOSEPH D. FITZGERALD, Ed.D.5 Progress Street, Weymouth, MA 02188Tel. 781-264-3426E-mail: jdfitz02188@comcast.net

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

SECRETARYJENNIFER JUST McGUIREUpper Cape Cod Regional Technical School220 Sandwich Road, Bourne, MA 02532Tel. 508-759-7711 x247 • Fax 508-759-5455E-mail: jmcguire@uppercapetech.org

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORDEBORAH CLEMENCEP.O. Box 805, East Dennis, MA 02641E-mail: membership@masca.org

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

NOVEMBER 2012 3

Let’s Dance: For Fitness and FunBy SALLY ANN CONNOLLY

MASCA Counselor’s Notebook Editor

As I finished spreading the remnantsof three yards of mulch on a glori-

ous May day, I thought: “I’d really ratherbe dancing.”

“Be patient,” I replied inwardly. “Thenext Zumba session starts at the SeniorCenter on Tuesday.”

And what fun we have in that ZumbaGold class. Twice a week, approximately40 women and 3 men twist and turn tothe music with so much enthusiasm thatwe give little thought to the increasedflexibility, strength, and muscle endurancewe are building. Not to mention the in -creased bone mass, improved cardiovas-cular health, and sense of well-being.

Regarding my own health and physi-cal well-being, I have never felt better. Ihave no restrictions on my physical ac -tivity and have energy to spare. My bloodpressure is under control. My weight isnormal for my age. With steady balance,I put my shoes on while standing. Best ofall, after an absence of more than sixtyyears, I have brought back the joy ofmove ment through dance. Zumba, I havefound, is a most enjoyable way to exercise.

Others have discovered its appeal aswell. USA Today reports that Zumba hasbecome one of the top 10 fitness activi-ties. More than 12 million people in 125countries are breaking a sweat to themerengue, salsa, flamenco, tango, andcumbia. My classes on Tuesday andThursday also include some cha-cha,with the twist and a little belly dancingthrown in for spice. The slightly differ-ent dancing styles of our two instructorskeep us on our toes.

Because Zumba, like all dance, com-bines art with athleticism, I considerZumba dancing a sport. As in any sport,proper equipment helps prevent injury,so I have carefully selected my footwear.My choice: aerobic dance sneakers thatprovide support, stability, cushioning,and traction.

Dancing next to me in class is an 83-year-old lady. She is an inspiration to usall. Promptly at the end of class, sherushes off with her friend to drive to acommunity sixteen miles away where sheattends a line dancing class.

Researchers are finding that in additionto physical benefits, staying active canpromote cognitive health. Writing in

Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2008),Hill man, Erickson, and Kramer say: “Anemerging body of multidisciplinary liter-ature has documented the beneficial in -fluence of physical activity engenderedthrough aerobic exercise on selectiveaspects of brain function. Human andnon-human animal studies have shownthat aerobic exercise can improve anumber of aspects of cognition and per-formance.”

Cotman and Berchtold say in Trendsin Neurosciences (2002): “Exercise couldprovide a simple means to maintain brainfunction and promote brain plasticity.”

Research, in fact, shows that exercisecan help prevent dementia. In 2003, astudy reported in the New England Jour-nal of Medicine looked at 469 subjectsolder than 75, who were living in com-munity. Researchers found that the leisureactivities of reading, playing board games,and playing musical instruments helpedreduce dementia and that—of all thephysical activities they studied—theone most clearly associated with reduceddementia was dancing.

The four UK Chief Medical Officers(CMO) have set forth physical activityguidelines for different age groups. Forthose 65 and over, they recommend 2½hours of moderate to vigorous activitieseach week, with some kind of physicalactivity each day. My Zumba sessionslast 45 minutes. On non-class days, I tryto meet the guidelines by getting in 30minutes of brisk walking or dancing tomy own mix tape. My favorite upbeattunes, I find, keep me moving with asmile on my face.

Smiles, and a little surprise, were whatwe saw on the faces of spectators at ourcommunity’s July Fourth celebration.On Oldies Night, my Zumba class helda Flash Mob performance in the middleof town square. Good times, for sure.

“Get up, get moving, and keep mov-ing” is good advice for all of us. I amdelighted that my children are encour-aging their own youngsters to get active,with t-ball, softball, swimming, soccer,karate, hip-hop, and competitive dance.Good habits start young. But we can allbe taught new tricks. For physical andcognitive health and for fun, I say: “Let’sdance.” ■

4 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

This and ThatBy DONNA BROWN

MASCA Executive Director

I had a hard time writing for thismonth’s CN. I had lots of little bits

of information, but nothing reallymeaty. So, I decided to just share a seriesof snippets.

The American School Counselor Asso-ciation (ASCA) has lots of resources avail-able for counselors. To really mine them,become a member ($115 including liabil-ity insurance). When I checked the ASCAwebsite for information on Career Dev el -opment, 74 websites were cited. Becauseit’s National Career Development Month,I followed up on several and found a lotof interesting, usable material.

• Job Descriptions (www.job-description.org). This free resource pro-vides students with job descriptions andjob details. The site currently contains over13,000 job descriptions, divided into majorcategories, divisions, and, finally, groups.

• iTeach-CareerTech (http://iteach-careertech.wikispaces.com). A product of

the Oklahoma ACTE, it is “a wiki for col-lecting and sharing resources and bestpractices.”

• Career Counseling Resources Onthe Internet (http://www.educationworld.com). The name says it all. There is in -formation on careers, career development,jobs, and job searches.

ASCA also provides counselors withNational Educational and Health Aware -ness Dates 2012-2013 Calendar. This isa very helpful tool to add awareness ofvarious cultures, disabilities, and causes.

For example, November is American Dia -betes Month, Lung Cancer AwarenessMonth, National Adoption Month, Na -tional Career Development Month,National Scholarship Month, NationalAmerican Indian Heritage Month, andNational Family Caregivers Month.Counselors looking for discussion topicsor classroom lessons could certainly useone of the monthly celebrations as aspringboard.

Free professional development is alsoavailable both online and face-to-face.The Harvard Graduate School of Educa-tion offers a series called the AskwithForum, which sponsors speakers on var-ious educational topics. The next presen-tation will be on Thursday, November 15,from 5:30-7:00. The speaker will be DougLemov, managing director at UncommonSchools and author of Teach Like aChampion and Practice Perfect. “Basedon his study of high-performing teachersin high-poverty schools, Lemov will reflecton what makes for effective teaching, howteaching can and should be the center-piece of school reform, how teaching skillscan be effectively developed, and the pol-icy implications of such topics.” Moreinformation is available at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/calendar.

Free book talks are given at the Gut-man Library. The November offering ison Wednesday, November 7, at 5:30. PaulL. Harris, Victor S. Thomas Professor ofEducation at HGSE and a researcher inthe fields of early development of cogni-tion, emotion, and imagination, will dis-cuss his new book, Trusting What You’reTold: How Children Learn from Others.“In the book, Dr. Harris discusses how farchildren rely on their own firsthand ob -servation or alternatively trust what otherpeople tell them — especially when theyconfront a domain of knowledge in whichfirsthand observation is difficult."

Also, you can check ASCA and NOSCA(www.collegeboard.org/nosca) for freewebinars.

I at tended the Canadian College Fairand have lots of information to share. Tolearn about the Nova Scotia Tour, go toMASCA’s website, www.masca.org. ■

NOVEMBER 2012 5

6 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

FOCUS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY

Program promotes teen health“A 10-week program that fits easily intothe high school curriculum could give stu-dents a lifetime of less anger and lowerblood pressure, researchers report.

Health and physical education teach-ers taught anger and stress managementto 86 ninth graders in Augusta, Ga., andfound their ability to control anger in -creased, their anxiety decreased and theirblood pressures were generally lower overthe course of a day compared to 73 oftheir peers who received no intervention,according to a study published in the jour-nal Translational Behavioral Medicine.”

— Medical News Today, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250063.php, AccessedSeptember 12, 2012.

Adequate sleep improveshealth“A new study suggests that increasing theamount of sleep that teenagers get couldimprove their insulin resistance and pre-vent the future onset of diabetes….Theauthors concluded that interventions to

promote metabolic health in adolescenceshould include efforts to extend nightlysleep duration. The American Academyof Sleep Medicine reports that most teensneed a little more than nine hours ofsleep each night.”

— “Teenagers Who Are Sleep-Deprived Are AtIncreased Risk Of Insulin Resistance,” MedicalNews Today, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250890.php, Accessed October 2, 2012.

NEJM takes stand againstsweetened beveragesThe results of three extensive studies pub-lished in The New England Journal ofMedicine (September 21, 2012) “suggestthat calories from sugar-sweetened bev-erages do matter.” The random, controlledstudies, according to the NEJM, “pro-vide a strong impetus to develop recom-mendations and policy decisions to limitconsumption of sugar-sweetened bever-ages, especially those served at low costand in excessive portions, to attempt toreverse the increase in childhood obesity.Such interventions, if successful, may also

help prevent the development of type 2diabetes and its complications in youth.”NEJM says: “The time has come to takeaction and strongly support and imple-ment the recommendations from the In -stitute of Medicine, the American HeartAssociation, the Obesity Society, andmany other organizations to reduce con-sumption of sugar-sweetened beveragesin both children and adults.”

Campaigns could curbdangerous driving“Distracted driving crashes are typicallyhigher force and produce more fatalitiesand more serious injuries than other typesof collisions….A well-designed publicsafety campaign, which reaches out andeducates all drivers—not just teen dri-vers—will not only help effectively curbdistracted driving, but it can also be usedto diminish other types of dangerous dri-ver behaviors on the highway, includingaggressive driving and impaired driving.”

— Douglas R. Horn, Esq., specialist in motorvehicle accident law and crash litigation.

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NOVEMBER 2012 7

NCAA Rules ChangeBy MICHELLE BURKE, MASCA Past President

The National Collegiate Athletic Asso-ciation (NCAA) has new academic

rule changes that will impact the highschool graduating classes of 2013 andbeyond.

Many of us counsel and educate tophigh school athletes and their familiesover the course of our year. High schoolstudent athletes must meet certain highschool academic requirements in orderto practice, compete, and receive ath-letic scholarships at any college or uni-versity in Division I or Division II ath-letic programs.

Division I Changes: Overview• Increase in the minimum required

core-course GPA from 2.00 to 2.30.• Ten of the 16 required core courses

must be completed before the beginningof their senior year.

• Seven of these 10 required coursesmust be in English, math, or natural /physical science.

• Increase in the overall core-courseGPA as it relates to the ACT or SAT score,which results in a new sliding scale.

• This new sliding scale with GPAand minimum SAT or ACT scores can befound on page 10 of the Guide for theCollege-Bound Student Athlete found atwww.eligibilitycenter.org.

Who does this impact? Your incomingninth grade class (Class of 2016) mustmeet these new requirements if they planto participate in intercollegiate athleticsat the Division I level.

Division II Change: Reminder• Increase in the number of required

core courses from 14 to 16.• One additional course in English,

math, or science.• One additional course in any core

academic area (English, math, science,social science) or foreign language, com-parative religion/philosophy.

• Division II requires a minimum SATscore of 820 (Critical Reading and Math)or an ACT sum score of 68 (the sum ofthe English, Math, Reading, and ScienceACT scores).

Who does this impact? Your currentseniors (Class of 2013) must meet this newrule if they plan to participate in intercol-legiate athletics at the Division II level.

For more information and resources toprint for your students visit the Re sources

Page at www.eligibilitycenter.org. This re -source was formerly known as the NCAAClearinghouse.

The NCAA Eligibility Center also of -fers a free course on the initial-eligibilityrequirements specifically designed forhigh school administrators and coaches.It is offered at www.nfhslearn.com.

Please help spread the word about thesenew rules. There should be a designee atyour school who is in charge of updat-

ing your school’s List of NCAA Coursesannually. At some schools the athleticdirector takes care of this, and at otherschools it is a duty of the guidance direc-tor or a designated counselor.

Students must send their official ACTor SAT scores to the NCAA EligibilityCenter. Scores on transcripts will not beaccepted. Tran scripts must be sent to theNCAA Eligibility Center after junior yearand again upon high school graduation. ■

8 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

RESEARCH NOTES

TV programs foster bullying“Social bullying is common on TV, even inshows made for kids, a new study shows.Insults, taunting, and other forms of non-physical aggression were found to be es -pecially pervasive in cartoons and situa-tion comedies, but they also showed upin some surprising places, like AmericanIdol....On average, there were about 14incidents an hour of social aggression in the50 most watched television shows among2- to 11-year-olds, and about nine out of10 shows contained the bad behavior.”

— Salynn Boyles, “Social Bullying Commonin TV Shows Kids Watch,” WebMD Health News,www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=163447, Accessed September 27, 2012.

Background TV takes tollA recent study finds that background TVaffects children’s attention and focus.“Children younger than age 8 spend anaverage of nearly four hours each daynear the canned patter of an unattendedTV. Children 8 months to 2 years get TVin the background for nearly six hourseach day.” This background TV affectschildren’s attention and focus.

Pediatrician Roya Samuels says: “Themore time the television is on, even if it’sjust on in the background, the greater riskthere is for seeing increased distractibilityin our children. It really raises the questionof whether or not this is a contributingfactor to our rise in ADHD diagnoses.”

Study recommendations:• Turn off TV if no one is watching.• Do not place a TV in child’s bed-

room. • Limit amount of TV viewing.

American Academy of Pediatrics recom-mendations:

• For children two years of age andyounger: no viewing.

• For older children: “no more thanone to two hours per day of educational,nonviolent programs.”

— Brenda Goodman, “Background TV Takesa Toll on Children,” WebMD Health News, http://children.webmd.com/news/20121001/background-tv-takes-toll-children, Accessed October 3, 2012.

NOVEMBER 2012 9

The Scheduling ChallengeBy BRENDA LEVIN, Master’s Student in School Counseling, Bridgewater State University

THE INTERN’S TALE

O n the first night of the semester anovel assignment was presented to

us in our practicum seminar. We weretold we would be doing a “PracticumScavenger Hunt” at our fieldwork sites.It was surprising to me that the item Ifound the most interesting was our dailymiddle school schedule.

One of the questions posed to us inthe scavenger hunt was to describe thedaily schedule at the school. What wasunusual about our school schedule is thatthere is not just one answer to that ques-tion. There are three separate answers forthe question, one answer for each grade.

The sixth grade has a six-day schedulewith six academic classes that rotate posi-tions each day. The seventh grade has afive-day schedule with five academic classesthat rotate positions each day. The eighthgrade has a five-day schedule with five aca -demic classes, yet only four academic classperiods per day, since one class is droppedeach day and reappears again the next day.Each of the grades uses a combination ofblock classes and regular periods.

I had not given this much thoughtbefore the assignment, other than thatthis schedule seemed much more com-plicated than when I was in junior high.I remember having the same classes everyday in the same order. It was as simpleas that. We had about six classes a day,and they were each about an hour long.I now know that this is referred to as a“traditional schedule” in contrast with“block scheduling” in the education re -search literature.

There are a few reasons given in theliterature for the benefits of block sched-uling. The main reason is that the longerclass periods allow teachers to be moreinnovative in the classroom by using avariety of teaching methods to get stu-dents involved. The longer block periodcould also be used to enhance the pro-fessional school counselor’s role withstudents. Sometimes the longer block couldbe divided into a time for academics anda time period devoted to a group guid-ance curriculum. This same period couldalso be used by counselors to provide in -dividual counseling as needed.

Despite these advantages, I think thatthis particular non-traditional scheduleposes some unique challenges:

• For counselors and teachers, for in -stance, it is difficult to plan and admin-ister. My recommendation is for eachgrade to have the same daily schedule.

• I also recommend that counselorsand teachers collaborate on ways to usethe longer block in a shared fashion, sothat students could benefit from both

time in academics as well as counseling. • In addition, teachers could benefit

from training in innovative instructionalstrategies to be used with a non-tradi-tional schedule.

Such improvements should help schoolsbetter reap the rewards of this non-tradi-tional schedule. ■

10 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

TKACZYK (continued from page 1)• Provide each group with a work-

sheet and a Tootsie Roll.• Have students list as many jobs as

they can that are required to get theToot sie Roll into their hands. Supple -mental activities include removing oneof the jobs; for example, the machine thatwraps the Tootsie Rolls breaks down.What do you do?

What a terrific way to demonstratethe importance of all the jobs in this onesimple product and its delivery, as well

as to discuss and to problem-solve mul-tiple issues that are thrown into the mix.Online searches, personal interviews, joboutlook, and education needed for dif-ferent jobs can all be added to the lesson.And this is just one of many free lessonsavailable to us.

Another free resource is Gene Kalb’sHigh School Counselor Week. Gene dis-tills postsecondary/career-related articlesfrom newspapers, blogs, and periodicalsaround the country to the most relevantand timely. A few titles from the most re -

cent issue include: “Don’t you dare notread this community college piece,” “8Ways to Search for Great Colleges,” “7Tips for Parents and Students to MasterCollege Essays,” and “Handling a Col-lege-Phobic Child.” You can register forthis news letter at www.HSCounselorWeek.com.

Post this site on your school counsel-ing web site page for community access.To acquaint your students with this week -ly resource, you might have them eachresearch an article in a recent edition ofHSCW and then have them report on itin class.

As for local postsecondary schools,most just need to be asked how they canhelp your students. Field trips, shadowdays with current students, and professor/teacher swap days are just a few of theopportunities to excite students aboutthe possibilities that await them, to edu-cate them about expectations, course offer-ings, and job placement, and to help bringthose cloud formations closer to reality!

Universal Technical Institute’s Norwoodcampus provides STEM-focused tours forstudents as they visit the state-of-the-in -dustry automotive and diesel postsecon -dary training facility. To schedule one ofthese tours, call the campus now.

Students tour and participate in aworkshop that addresses the following:

• Importance of making life choices• Value of education and possible op -

tions after high school• How global outsourcing impacts

em ployment within the United States• Overview of opportunities in the

transportation and motorsports industry• How STEM has impacted the trans-

portation and motorsports industry• How to prepare for transportation

and motorsports careersSo today, as I stare up at the clouds

above, I see wonderful formations of busyprofessional school counselors helping stu-dents stay imaginative and excited abouttheir futures. You are reinforcing the valuein all work, while encouraging high schoolcompletion, through relevant, intentionalguidance lessons such as the examplesmentioned in this article.

You are helping students hold ontotheir dreams while they shape their fu -tures. More than that, you are bringingthe clouds down to earth! ■

NOVEMBER 2012 11

PEOPLE, PLACES, ANDPROGRAMS

Financial aid tutorials forstudentsSome parents help finance a student’scollege education, but many students endup paying for all, or a significant portion,of their college tuition. A good under-standing of the types of loans, the amountof money they will need to borrow, andhow much their payments will be whenthey are finished, will help them makebetter financial aid decisions.

The Department of Education has cre -ated the new Financial Awareness Coun-seling Tool, which provides students withfive interactive tutorials covering a widerange of topics that will help them betterunderstand financial aid. The topics in -clude: Understanding Your Loans, Man-age Your Spending, Repaying Your Loans,Avoiding Default, and Making Finances aPriority. The tool takes students througha series of exercises that will help themcalculate how much money they will needto borrow to pay for their educationand how much their payments will bewhen they finish.

For more information, go to www.Kids.gov. Videos can be viewed onYouTube.

Facebook guide for schoolcounselors“The resource, Facebook for SchoolCoun selors, published today [April 16,2012] by Facebook, in partnership withThe Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe) and The American School Coun-selor Association (ASCA), aims to teachschool counselors how to use Facebookand teach students best practices on thesocial network….The guide focuses onproviding knowledge for counselors toeffectively lead four suggested actions:helping develop school policies, respond-ing to online incidents, detecting at-riskbehavior on Facebook, and dealing withhow students represent themselves on theplatform.”

— Ryan Lytle, “New Facebook Effort Targets Edu -cating School Counselors,” http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2012/04/16, Accessed April 23,2012.

Free workshop at CurryCollege Curry College is offering a free workshopfor guidance counselors and educationalconsultants on Friday, January 18, 2013,from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on theCurry College Milton Campus.

The workshop, Helping Students withLearning Disabilities Navigate the CollegeSearch, will be presented by professionalswithin Curry’s internationally renownedProgram for Advancement of Learning.Topics covered will include a review oflearning disabilities and po tential “rightfits” for postsecondary education options,

documentation and legal requirements,and the range of college admission re -quire ments facing students with learn-ing disabilities.

A complimentary lunch and optionalcampus tour follow the workshop. Spaceis limited, so register today at www.curry.edu/navigate or call 617-333-2250. ■

For the latest news,go to MASCA’s website,

www.masca.org

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE PAIDNEWBURYPORT, MA

PERMIT NO. 96

Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc.COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Sally Ann Connolly, Editor

IN CASE OF NON-DELIVERY, RETURN TO:Deborah ClemenceP.O. Box 805East Dennis, MA 02641

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.

MASCA Professional DevelopmentCalendar 2012-2013

November 6, 2012 Counselors for Computing: Professional Development in Emerging CareersMASCA, Boston University, Commonwealth Alliance for Information

Technology Education, National Center for Women & Information TechnologyBoston University, 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.(WMA SKYPE location, TBA)

November 15, 2012 DESE Connecting Activities ConferenceSheraton Four Points HotelLeominster, 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

November, TBA Summer 2012 MA Model Training: Three sessions

February 2013, TBA DESE Race to the Top workshops

April 7-9, 2013 MASCA Spring Conference, HyannisKeynoters:• Mandy Savitz-Romer, Harvard Graduate School of Education• Jill Cook, American School Counselor Association

April 9, 2013 MASCA/DESE Race to the Top College and Career Summit, Hyannis

22nd Annual Service Academies NightNovember 7, 2012 • 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.Danversport Yacht Club • Danvers