It's time once again to share your wealth of knowledge and experience with your colleagues of the school counseling field!

SDSCA is now accepting proposals for the 10th Annual Counselor Connections Workshop. The event, for school counselors by school counselors, will be held November 2nd & 3rd in Brookings on the South Dakota State University Campus. 

To submit your proposal, please complete the form below, in its entirety, and email to Counselor Connections Chair Anna Eidem (anna.eidem@k12.sd.us) by July 15th.

You may also contact Anna with any questions.

Thank you for considering being a presenter and we hope to see you all in Brookings this November!

The penultimate newsletter for the 2017-2018 school year is here!

Inside you will find information on:

• A new relationship for ASCA and ACA
• How you can become part of the SDSCA board
• Member stipends for the 2018 ASCA conference
  
• One school counselor's journey of educating students about bullying
• Our School Counselor Spotlight
• and MORE!

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Are you looking for a way to get more involved in SDSCA?
We are currently looking at members to serve in the following roles:

* Government Relations Chair- follow and share pertinent legislative information with the board and members; works collaboratively with SDCA's government relations chair
*Technology Chair- manage SDSCA website and social media
* Graduate Student Liaison- serve as a link between SD graduate students and SDSCA; encourage students to join; be an advocate on behalf of graduate students in school counseling preparation programs
* Middle Level Vice President- fill a vacant position for the 2018-2019 fiscal year; be an advocate for school counselor working with middle school aged students; a voting member of the board (***MUST be a school counselor that works with grades 6th-8th***)
If you are interested or would like more information, please contact President-Elect Julie Nelson at julie.r.nelson@k12.sd.us
We look forward to working with you as part of SDSCA's board!

We are happy to welcome (or welcome back) the following people to our board's executive committee. 

2018-2020 Elementary Vice President: Amanda Bender
Amanda is the school counselor at Lead-Deadwood Elementary School. The past several years she has served a SDSCA's Counselor Connections Chair.

2018-2020 Secondary Vice President: Shannon Knuppe
Shannon is a school counselor at Aberdeen Central High School. The past two years she has served SDSCA in the Secondary VP role.

2018-2019 President Elect, 2019-2020 President, 2020-2021 Past President: Yolanda Price
Having served SDSCA in several roles over the years, most recently as Middle Level Vice President, Yolanda is the K-12 school counselor for the Hansen School District in Alexandria.

We thank them for their past service and look forward to their continued leadership and service to our association!

The latest issue of the PIC (Practical Ideas for Counselors) is here!

This month has a focus on self-care, an often overlooked but crucial (and highly ethical) dimension of the job. Besides information on self-care and its counterpart burn out, also included is:

• Information on this year's pre-conference workshop (April 19th in Pierre)
• How you can purchase several ASCA publications for a discounted price
• Details about SDCA's Emerging Leaders Program
• New faces in the School Counselor Spotlight
• And more!!!

Click the file below to read today.

Please see below regarding Sioux Chapter's Building Healthy Relationships Conference:

Building Health Relationships Conference: 

Building Understanding with Diverse Groups of People
June 7th & 8th, 2018


If you are interested in presenting at this year's BHR Workshop, we encourage you to submit a proposal!  Compensation will be offered to presenters.  Please see attachment for details.  Proposals are dueTuesday, March 27th and can be emailed to Rachael Anderson atRachael.Anderson@k12.sd.us . 

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SDSCA is pleased to present the latest issue of The PIC.

Highlights for this issue include:

• A brief recap of Day on the Hill
• ASCA's School Counselor of the Year Ceremony
• Celebrating National School Counseling Week
• Nominating colleagues for SDSCA and SDCA awards
• A SUPER-SIZED School Counselor Spotlight
• And more!!!

Click the file below to read it today.

SDSCA recognizes the importance of school counselors implementing and maintaining a comprehensive school counseling program in order to best serve their students and school community. To this end, we are happy to once again have several key ASCA publications available to purchase at a special price. 

This year, we plan to not only have these books at our table at the SDCA conference in Pierre (April 19th-21st), BUT are also offering pre-sale orders on titles so you can pick them up while at April's conference. Reserve your copies by filling out the order form below and mailing it WITH​ your payment to:

For more details about each book, please click the picture of the cover. SDSCA CANNOT guarantee any orders received after April 1st, 2018. You must present a photo ID when picking up your books in Pierre at the SDSCA table. For questions, please contact Jeff Heavlin at: jeffery.heavlin@k12.sd.us

ASCA National Model (3rd ed.)   Regular Price: $44.95  ASCA Member Price: $34.95
                                                                             SDSCA Price: $30.00

ASCA National Model Implementation Guide Regular Price: $44.95  ASCA Member Price: $34.95
                                                                             SDSCA Price: $30.00

Making Data Work                    Regular Price: $24.95  ASCA Member Price: $19.95
                                                                             SDSCA Price: $15.00

National School Counseling Week (NSCW) 2018 is almost here!

ASCA is once again sponsoring a photo (and new this year) video challenge to help you celebrate, advocate, and educate about the vital role school counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs play in the lives of students.

A day by day list of photo/video challenges are below, along with all the signage you need (click the images). SDSCA also invites you to celebrate. Tagging your photos or videos on Facebook (#SDSCA) or Twitter (@SDSCounselors) can earn you an entry to win one of two FREE registrations to the 2018 Counselor Connections workshop, taking place this fall. You can earn up to one entry per day, for a maximum of five entries for the week. You must be a member in good standing of SDSCA by February 2nd. Winners will be announced Monday February 12th. For complete details, read the January issue of The PIC by clicking here.

Good luck and enjoy sharing the great things you and your program bring to your school!

SDSCA is proud to honor outstanding school counselors and school counseling advocates each year.

​Please visit the Awards page to download the official nomination form and learn details. Two letters of support must accompany each nomination. All nominations are due to Julie Nelson by March 5th, 2018.

Thank you for helping us recognize our local superstars of school counseling!