In this powerful and heart-wrenching episode, we speak with Dave Neese, the father of Skylar Neese—a bright, spirited teenager whose life was tragically cut short when she was brutally murdered by two girls she considered her best friends. Dave shares Skylar’s story with honesty, courage, and a deep commitment to preventing similar tragedies.

This episode is intended for school counselors, educators, youth advocates, parents, and anyone who works with adolescents. Together, we explore the warning signs of relational aggression, how toxic friendships can escalate, and what trusted adults can do to identify and intervene before it's too late.

Through Dave’s voice, we honor Skylar’s memory while shedding light on the hidden and often overlooked dynamics of adolescent relationships. This conversation is both a call to awareness and a guide for those working to create safer emotional environments for all students.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses violence, loss, and adolescent mental health.

Terrence and Eileen Houlihan are a dose of what we all need right about now! They are knowledgeable and so much fun! In this episode they share a portion of the expertise they offer during their coaching or professional development sessions. Get ready for school counseling wisdom related to the developing student brain, as well as information we should be sharing with teachers, and even some tidbits for parents! This episode is one you will want to repeat in order to get all of the pearls of wisdom!

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Youth sex trafficking is a growing problem in today’s world.

Often, individuals don’t understand what trafficking looks

like in the United States...especially in rural areas. In this episode Adria Palmer focuses on the signs of trafficking and what we, as educators, can do to educate our families and communities.

Adria is a high school counselor in Missouri and was the 2007 Outstanding Young Professional from the University

of Missouri-Columbia and the 2020 Secondary School Counselor of the Year in Northeast, Missouri.

To contact Adria email her at [email protected].

You will definitely not want to miss this episode with our panel of behavior experts! They are answering the burning behavior questions that some of our Behavior Detour participants submitted. We guarantee you will nod your head as some of these questions are asked. So many of us are experiencing similar behaviors, no matter what age group or location you're in. This episode is full of rubber meets the road strategies you can implement immediately. Position yourself as a leader and listen and share this!

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We're gonna be honest- this episode is a chaotic hot mess, but our guest is amazing and joins us to share the fantastic school counseling initiatives he has started in the state of Kansas. Nick Brummett is one of our new obsessions due to his rubber meets the road ideas and general school counseling prowess. Get ready to take notes! You'll want to join in or start some of these same things in your own school counseling program!

If you're like us, you might have thought that The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children solely focused on helping locate missing children; however, the word "Exploited" actually covers a lot of the situations we as school counselors deal with on a daily basis.

In this episode Alejandra from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shares how this organization can support educators and the work we do daily.

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In this episode Geoff Heckman joins us to talk about the importance of advocating as school counselors. Geoff inspires us to be fearless in our role, even when we do feel scared or intimidated. This is a great episode to listen to whether you're preparing to become a school counselor, or if you are a veteran school counselor.

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In this episode we are joined by Lisa Pruitt. She describes the incredible work that is being done through the MO-CPAP (Missouri Child Psychiatry Access Program). There are endless resources available to school counselors, other educators, and parents through this program. Listen to the end to hear our friend, Mallory Jacobs talk about ways to incorporate the movie Wicked into your school counseling lessons.

As school counselors it is inevitable that we will have students who will be in CPS care each year. In this episode MJ Matthews shares ways that we can support students and families who are in foster care or who have already transitioned to the adoption process.

Grief is something that is unavoidable. It is almost guaranteed that at some point through the year you will be counseling your students through their personal grief. School counselor Jodi Fiore's mother was a huge personality, not only at home, but also in the community. In this episode Jodi shares how she processed the death of her mother as a young child, and how it has given her insight on how to talk with students about grief as a school counselor. She graciously shares those tips with us through this podcast, but also with the books she's written about Lia-RIA.

In this episode we also have Mallory Jacobs doing our "In the Mix with Mal Pal" segment sharing some much needed deep breathing techniques that you can share with your students!

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Lia-Ria and the Ostrich Feathers

Lia-Ria and the Lockdown Drill

Lia-Ria Meets the Angels

Lia-Ria and the Old Timers

Nee Doh Cube

Hobermans Sphere

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