Emilia Peiffer, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania School Counselor Association, talks with us about the importance of being a leader in your school as a school counselor.  She covers everything from why it's important, practical ideas to show leadership, and how to establish yourself as a leader when you feel stuck and overlooked.  Leadership helps you advocate for your program, which means more resources and opportunities for your students!  Spoiler alert: ASCA tells us we ARE leaders!  This podcast episode will help you own that title!

Raegan Schulte embodies why, as school counselors, we need to fight for EVERY student.  Raegan's personal story of resiliency and how she defied odds that were stacked against her is captivating from the start.  It is our hope that you will be inspired to go find the "Raegans" in your school after listening to this episode.  We would challenge you to read the ASCA preamble before and after listening to our interview with Raegan.  "School counselors are advocates, leaders, collaborators and consultants who create systemic change by providing equitable educational access and success by connecting their school counseling programs to the district’s mission and improvement plans. School counselors demonstrate their belief that all students have the ability to learn by advocating for an education system that provides optimal learning environments for all students."

Jeff Ream, Better known as "The Counseling Geek," was using technology before using technology was required!  In this very fun interview he shares how he uses some of his favorite technology tools. More importantly, he inspires us and encourages us during this new season of virtual counseling. After listening to this episode, it is our hope that you will be equipped with new ways to use tech tools, but that you'll also know you're not alone, and we're all in this together! Oh, and we hope you laugh with us, too!

https://www.thecounselinggeek.com/

We are attempting to answer one of our most asked questions EVER!  How do we run small groups in a virtual setting?  In this episode we share tech tools that you can start using TODAY to connect with students.  We also share a small group formula that might help guide your small group meetings.  We discuss different types of small groups and ideas for activities.  If you are running a virtual school counseling program, this episode is for you!  We hope it helps!

School counselors are in a unique position.  Our primary role is to serve the students in our schools, but raise your hand if that has ever meant taking care of parents, too!  In this episode Chelsey Wilson, or Counselor Chelsey, shares tips for connecting with parents.  We're talking about it all on this episode: going above and beyond to provide information to parents, how to disarm and engage an angry parent, and what we can do to encourage those parents who need a boost of confidence.  These tips work whether your school is meeting in the traditional format or in a virtual learning model.  Listen through the end to find out what our #counselorcallchallenge is!  We hope you'll join in!

If you are like 99% of educators right now, you may be worrying and wondering about how to do your job virtually. Take our advice and listen to this podcast episode!  Our guests, Vicki Jordan and Candace Doak, have worked as school counselors at Alabama Virtual School.  In this episode they  share their best tips for organization, connection, and overall how-to's and must-do's.  We are pretty certain you will have a few laughs while feeling informed and ready to put some of their tips into practice.

Steve Zaharakis has created one of the best tools for school counselors. If you haven't heard of SCUTA, your life is about to be changed! Listen as Steve shares his unique background and the incredible inspiration behind SCUTA, an all in one school counseling program that will add to your success.  SCUTA collects your data, schedule, survey results, and creates instant use of time analysis results, closing the gap results, small group results, annual administrator conference documents, and so much more!  When you're ready to sign up, use promo code accents for a discount that's exclusively for our listeners!

Michael McKnight won't admit to being an expert; however, we found him to be a treasure trove of information regarding students who have experienced trauma. He is especially passionate about how to educate educators on ways to work with students.   In this episode Mr. McKnight talks about the power of caring adults in students' lives.  He also believes in what we call "Rubber meets the road" strategies to engage and encourage students.  In fact, listen as he takes us through a "wake-up activity" that you can implement in your classroom immediately!  

In a very timely episode, Alicia Oglesby and Rebecca Atkins discuss their book, Interrupting Racism: Equity and Social Justice in School Counseling. Their book is specifically for school counselors, as we are the "social justice advocates" according to the ASCA Ethical Standards. In this episode we talk about culturally relevant instruction at all grade levels, implicit bias, using data to support all students, and What to say when you're scared of saying the wrong thing.

In an unforgettable episode, teacher and motivational speaker, Joseph Roberts, shares his personal story of overcoming obstacles and how those events have shaped him into the educator he is today. He tells us the Importance of never giving up on our students, how to build trust with students with specific things to consider for black students and people of color. Plus what is in a why box and why you should have one!