Mark your calendars for February 3rd-7th so you can join in the fun of National School Counseling Week 2020!

This yearly event is the perfect opportunity to educate your stakeholders, say thank you to your supporters, and have some fun showcasing the work you do! 

ASCA has resources available, including the NSCW photo challenge, to help you celebrate to advocate for your role as a school counselor. Click here to visit their website and see what all they have to offer. 

SDSCA is once again happy to be offering ASCA publications at reduced rates.

Grow and strengthen your program with the brand new 4th edition of the ASCA National Model, just released this summer. Also available is the new 2nd edition of the ASCA National Model Implementation Guide and 2018's 4th edition of Making Data Work.

Limited numbers of these titles will be available in Brookings during Counselor Connections on October 25th. Please bring cash or check to bring home any of these titles or buy all three for an even bigger discount!

SDCA's Sioux Chapter invites you to participate in an afternoon or professional development.

Kris Miner, who was a keynote speaker at last spring's annual SDCA conference, will be the featured presenter on November 1st from 12:30-4:30 at the USD Community College of Sioux Falls (formerly University Center). For more details or to register, please see the flyer below.

If you are in or around the Sioux Falls area and have students and families that are grieving the loss of a loved one, Sad Isn't Bad is a great resource to share.

A free four week session begins October 15th at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls.

See the flyer below for more details.

Or visit: sadisntbad.com 
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/sadisntbad
Email: sadisntbad@gmail.com 
Phone: 605-299-2224

From the South Dakota Counseling Association...

The Call for Programs for the 2020 SDCA Conference is now open!
Our theme this year is Strengthen CommUnity Strengthn YoU. Special consideration will be given to proposals that give a voice on how a community is addressing an issue, meaning that instead of the usual connections to the theme we encourage people to share a problem being faced in a community and how that problem is being tackled. This will provide others with great insight, and hopefully tools, to then tackle that issue on their community.
Please note, while we do give special consideration to presentations connected to the theme, our goal is provide a well rounded conference experience for all community mental health, private practice, and school counselors, and welcome a varsity of presentation submissions.

Not sure what to present on? Here are some suggestions from last year...

• collaboration between schools and agencies
• working successfully with low motivational and lower achieving students
• Working with students in poverty
• Law/ethics/how to testify in court
• Crucial conversations
• Lifespace Crisis Counseling
• Social Skills Teaching
• Diversity & Multiculturalism with students
• Grief in late adolescence-ideas to help students through loss
• Theories- CBT, DBT, Adlerian
• Technology/gaming
• Suicide prevention, recovery

Have an idea on a presentation topic, but maybe are not an expert in that area? Email us at sdca.counseling@gmail.com and we will see if we can find a presenter on that topic.

Call for Programs can be submitted through our Members Only portion of our website! Then it is saved to your profile for future reference! Not a member, take the opportunity to join SDCA!​

Call for Programs can also be submitted via email with the attached form.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at sdca.counseling@gmail.com

The latest issue of our ASCA partnered news letter is here!

This issue features:

• The use of breakout boxes for student engagment
• Integrating yoga and art into your program
• Bibliocounseling
• AND MORE!

An article in the Fall 2019 edition of Harvard Ed. Magazine highlights the shift in the nature of school counselor, from it's primarily vocational roots to the wide range of social, societal, academic, and other concerns addressed today. It further explains that school counselors entered the field because they cared about and wanted to help students, but staggering ratios, non-counseling duties, and role confusion prevents us from doing the work we were trained to do.

A worthwhile read for school counselors and a potential advocacy for you and your program.

​

Our 11th Annual Counselor Connections brings a special opportunity to partner with the South Dakota Early Childhood Mental Health Collaborative.

To learn more and register today, please see the following message from Amanda Bender, SDSCA Preside-Elect :

Hello Fellow School Counselors!I hope this finds you recharged from your summer break and ready to make a difference in the lives of students across the state! Your SDSCA board wants to support your efforts by providing relevant professional development opportunities. Below you will find information regarding our 11th Annual Counselor Connections Workshop as well as a FREE Play Therapy opportunity for the day before. I am including a tentative agenda. You can register via Eventbrite or mail-in registration (see below). Registration for the two events are separate – we encourage you to take advantage of both! If you register for Counselor Connections before October 15th you will be put into a drawing for a FREE registration to the SDCA PreConference in Spearfish SD on April 23rd 2020. Let me know if you have any questions! (Amanda.Bender@k12.sd.us)*2019 Counselor Connectionsby South Dakota School Counselor Association
Friday, October 25thLink to online tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-counselor-connections-tickets-67484569163 Join mental health and education professionals from across the state at the 11th Annual Counselor Connections! This year the SD Early Childhood Mental Health Collaborative is joining us to provide even more presentation opportunities. Presentations include: Career Development Activities, Mindfulness, Play Therapy Techniques, community resources and MORE!*Play Therapy with Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disordersby South Dakota Early Childhood Mental Health Collaborative
Thursday, October 24th (Free before October 15th)Link to tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/play-therapy-with-autism-and-neurodevelopmental-disorders-tickets-68005302691
 Come explore how play therapy can be a viable and effective treatment for neurodevelopmental disorders! This training will focus on learning play therapy approaches and interventions that address the core struggle areas of children with autism, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental disorders which include: social skill deficits, emotional regulation challenges, relationship development issues, concentration and focus issues, and anxiety struggles. 

Please see the information below regarding upcoming Department of Education Webinars about Graduation Requirements:
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Still have questions on the new, 2018 High School Graduation Requirements?Get the scoop by attending one of the upcoming webinars.

Overview of the 2018 High School Graduation Requirements Webinar Offerings
Thursday, Aug. 15: 10:00am-11:00am (CST)
Tuesday, Aug. 20: 10:00am-11:00am (CST)
Wednesday, Aug. 21: 3:00pm-4:00pm (CST)
Wednesday, Aug. 28: 4:00pm-5:00pm (CST)

NOTE: Webinar offerings will be canceled if there is no attendance within the first ten minutes of the webinar.

How to Access the Webinars:
Join a webinar offering at: https://meet.lync.com/stateofsouthdakota/andrea.diehm/BKBMTCH5
For sound, either use your computer’s speaker via the link above, or call in at: 800-410-8397 (Conference ID: 579 573 5425)
Will the webinar be recorded?
A recording will be posted onto the 2018 Graduation Requirements Web Site in the future, after the live webinars have aired.
I attended a webinar offering of the 2018 Graduation Requirements back in January/February 2019. Is this the same thing?
Although not exactly the same presentation as was used in the winter webinar offerings, the information shared will be mostly the same.
How do I get more information on the 2018 Graduation Requirements?
Visit the 2018 Graduation Requirements web page at: https://doedev.sd.gov/gradrequirements/. 
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thanks!

Andrea Diehm
School Counseling & Career Development Specialist
Career and Technical Education
South Dakota Department of Education
800 Governors Drive | Pierre, SD 57501-2291
P: 605.773.4150 | www.doe.sd.gov/cte