Section 504/ADAA 2008 Workshop for Public Schools

Heartland AEA will be hosting a Section 504/ADAA 2008 workshop for public school districts on March 21, 2011 in Johnston. The session will combine the legal interpretation of Section 504/ADAA 2008 with practical application that outlines implementation steps. Participants will also be introduced to a variety of AEA resources designed to support districts as they implement Section 504. District administrators, guidance counselors, school nurses and others who routinely identify or evaluate students for 504 eligibility are greatly encouraged to attend. Participants can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog using Activity Number DL005992111101.

Section 504/ADAA 2008 Workshop for Public Schools

Heartland AEA will be hosting a Section 504/ADAA 2008 workshop for public school districts on March 21, 2011 at the Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive). The session, which will be held from 1:00-3:30 p.m., will combine the legal interpretation of Section 504/ADAA 2008 with practical application that outlines implementation steps. Participants will also be introduced to a variety of AEA resources designed to support districts as they implement Section 504.

District administrators, guidance counselors, school nurses and others who routinely identify or evaluate students for 504 eligibility are greatly encouraged to attend. Participants can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog. The activity number for this professional development opportunity is DL005992111101.

National School Counseling Week, Feb. 7–11, 2011

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from February 7-11, 2011, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. For more information and ideas on how to celebrate your counseling staff during National School Counseling Week, please visit the ASCA’s website at http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl=127&contentid=271

School Counseling Program Refinement, Jan. 17 and Feb. 18

K-12 school counseling programs in the state of Iowa are required to be articulated and sequential. They are also required to be comprehensive in scope, preventive in design, developmental in nature, driven by data and integral to the school district's curricula and instructional program. This two-day, one-credit course is designed to assist teams of school counselors to analyze their current programming, determine gaps and create plans to fill those gaps. Register through the Heartland AEA Professional Development Catalog. The activity number is CN005392111101.

DE and SAI co-sponsored Principal-Counselor workshop, April 5 & 6

Dr. Peggy Hines, Education Trust Director of Transforming School Counseling, will be the speaker for Maximizing the Principal-Counselor Relationship to Increase Student Achievement. Teams of school counselors and their principals will examine the level of congruity regarding each others' roles in increasing student achievement, identify best practices based on the ASCA standards and successfully redesigned districts/buildings and develop a team action plan. The April 5 workshop is reserved for elementary/K-12 principal-counselor teams, and the April 6 workshop is reserved for secondary school principal-counselor teams. The location of both workshops is the Courtyard Marriott in Ankeny (2405 SE Creekview Drive).

A grant was secured to allow the first 150 principal-counselor teams to attend the workshop free of charge. There are still some of these spaces available. Otherwise, registration is $80 for administrators and school counselors who are SAI members; $136 for non-members. Registration includes two books, materials and lunch and can be done through the SAI website.

School Counseling Program Refinement

Does your district K-12 school counseling program need a little polish? If so, this two-day "mini-academy" is for you! We will review the state required components of a K-12 articulated, sequential school counseling program, identify gaps and work on closing those gaps. Participants are encouraged to come in K-12 teams with representation from each level. Ideally, all counselors in the district would participate. Please register through the Heartland Professional Development Catalog at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH. The activity number is CN005392111101.

Contact Sue Schirmer at sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us if you have any questions.

Kirkwood Community College to host Distance Credentialed Counselor Training, Nov. 5-6

As distance methods have grown in popularity, the need for standards of practice and specialized counselor training has also grown. To address these issues, Kirkwood Community College will host a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC) Training Workshop on November 5-6, 2010. ReadyMinds and the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) will facilitate the training.

Please encourage your district/school counselors to attend. Click here for an informative flyer about the training. Learn more about ReadyMinds and the DCC program at can be found at http://www.readyminds.com/training/dcc_cert.asp.

Iowa School Counselor Association Counselor of the Year Nominations

At the annual ISCA conference, elected counselors are recognized with Counselor of the Year awards at each of four levels – elementary, middle school/Jr. high, high school and multilevel. Counselors are typically nominated by their peers or administrators. If you work with a counselor who you feel is exemplary and deserving of this recognition, please consider nominating him/her for this honor.

To nominate a school counselor, write a letter of recommendation and include the award category (elementary; middle school/junior high; high school or multilevel). Also include a statement describing the program, activity and/or contribution demonstrating the individual‘s worthiness to receive this award.

Nominations can be mailed to:
Sue Farran
Prairie Point Middle School and 9th Grade Academy
401 76th Ave. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

You could also fax your nomination to Sue Farran at (319) 848-5515.

The deadline for all nominations is October 18, 2010

Preparing Your School Counseling Services to be Site Visit Ready

On September 24, an ICN was held for schools across Iowa to prepare for a K-12 School Counseling site visit. The document review checklist with suggested artifacts for these programs can be found at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/prodev/counseling/.

For questions concerning School Counseling, please contact Sue Schirmer at (515) 270-0405 or (800) 255-0405 extension 14379 or sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us.