Keeping Youth Safe

• By: Kelly Curtis
• On: 05/05/2008 13:22:53
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 0

May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month, and school counselors often direct considerable effort toward addressing safety issues, particularly in the spring. I devote an entire chapter of my book to the topic of safety -- it's identified as one of the 40 Developmental Assets, and empowerment is a key component.

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Honor in Work

• By: Richard Wong
• On: 04/25/2008 15:39:59
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 3

My friend John retired from the Navy a few years ago with a simple plan for the rest of his life. He wanted to be a school janitor so his biggest responsibility would be to change light bulbs. He’s not a janitor, but he got his wish. At 50, an age when the rest of us are at the height of our earning potential, John mows lawns, shovels snow and does odd jobs. He works when he wants and tinkers in his garage when he doesn’t. John doesn’t have a college degree, and he doesn’t have a “profession,” but he is socially acceptable because he is retired from the military. If John led his current lifestyle when he was in his 20s, he might have been called lazy, unambitious or worse.

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Rainy Days

• By: Rick Auger
• On: 04/14/2008 17:46:07
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 1

It has been a long winter here in southern Minnesota, and at this moment it is 36 degrees, gloomy, with a rain/snow mix forecast for the next couple of days. As I talk to people, I hear lots of talk about how worn out we all are by the winter. People talk about how the weather is affecting their mood. We of course know about people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, but this is much more pervasive (if less serious). Minnesotans are grumpy about the weather.

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Lighting a SPARC

• By: Jim Bierma
• On: 04/08/2008 15:21:34
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 4

The Support Personnel Accountability Report Card (SPARC) is a tool used by California school counselors to let others see the positive results coming out of their comprehensive school counseling programs. It’s a great way for school counselors to show stakeholders how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. I recently had the chance to represent ASCA at a SPARC meeting in Lake Arrowhead, Calif.

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Miss Guided

• By: Richard Wong
• On: 03/18/2008 11:43:53
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 4

A few ASCA members have contacted us with concerns about “Miss Guided,” a new television show on ABC about a school counselor returning to her old high school. Several months ago, when we first heard that it was airing, we contacted ABC but were told that the episodes had been filmed and no changes could be made, even if the studio would make changes for us. We were able to preview some scenes, and I was surprised that I wasn’t offended by the way the school counselor was depicted, and in fact, I found the clips to be very funny.

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To PSC or Not to PSC

• By: Rick Auger
• On: 03/10/2008 09:38:15
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 0

A few of us had an interesting discussion today about the use of “PSC” in articles published in Professional School Counseling – at least interesting if you are the sort of person like me who gets excited by discussions about apostrophes and semi-colons and acronyms. The discussion was spurred by a comment from one of the editorial board reviewers for Professional School Counseling, who objected to the use of “PSC” as an abbreviation for “professional school counselor.”

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Richard and Peter’s Excellent Adventure: The Return

• By: Richard Wong
• On: 03/04/2008 15:02:39
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 1

I met a man from Canton years ago. After speaking with him a little in Chinese, I explained to him in English that I had come to America as a young child and told him where my family had lived in China. He said he knew already by the way I talked. He said I had a country accent; in fact, he said I spoke like a “hillbilly.” He probably didn’t mean it as an insult. He probably didn’t completely understand what he had said to me because he didn’t understand the nuances of the English language. He probably didn’t know the negative connotations of the word “hillbilly,” or maybe he did and just didn’t care. He couldn’t have known that his offhand remark would influence me for decades and possibly for the rest of my life.

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Richard and Peter's Excellent Adventure, Day 4

• By: Richard Wong
• On: 03/03/2008 00:10:54
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 0

After two days in Hong Kong, we finally connected with Peter Yarrow. We visited two schools today, a private elementary school in the morning and a public secondary school in the afternoon. As expected, the children loved Peter and his message of tolerance and understanding. Peter has been working for several years to bring his Don’t Laugh at Me program to Hong Kong, and it’s showing results. Because the Hong Kong schools are very interested in character education, they have embraced the program.

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Rock, Paper, Scissors

• By: Rick Auger
• On: 02/29/2008 14:19:35
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 2

I have nine-year-old twin sons. As you might imagine, at times they disagree. Where to go to eat, what game to play, who should start the game, when to quit the game -- all are potential and frequent debates for my boys. About a year ago, though, it dawned on me that the arguing wasn't nearly as constant or lengthy as it had been. And I think I know why that happened. It was because they had started settling their arguments by using the rock, paper, scissors game.

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Richard and Peter’s Excellent Adventure: Day 3

• By: Richard Wong
• On: 02/28/2008 11:21:40
• In: Uncategorised
• Comments: 0

Some of you may remember Brian Lee, with the Hong Kong Education Bureau Guidance and Discipline Section. Brian attended ASCA’s annual conference in St. Louis in 2004 and has visited the United States numerous times since then. He’s been working with Norm Gysbers and has been using the ASCA National Model to implement a comprehensive school counseling program in Hong Kong schools. Brian and his staff have dome an amazing job, and as a result, Hong Kong, with a student population of one million students, has a guidance program that is more progressive than many in the United States. Today I met with members of Brian’s counseling staff as well as representatives from four counseling associations in Hong Kong.

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