A great opportunity for all Region 4 elementary counselors!

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELORS “Day of Sharing”

 Sponsored by: Capital District Counseling Association

It’s coming up soon....

please prepare an activity & think about specific ideas or concerns to share.

Friday, November 18, 2011

9:30 AM - 2:30 PM(Registration: 9AM-9:30 AM)

Tankard Taverne Rm.

Fort Wm. Henry Resort and Conference Center

48 Canada St.Lake George, NY

( between NYS I-87 @ Exits 21 and 22; ph.# 888-389-4554)

Break - coffee/tea/Danish/bagels/muffins/asst. juices

Plus, LUNCH @ Ft. Wm. Henry Resort: Tankard Taverne Rm.-

(* make choice below *)

PROGRAM:

Morning: Please select a topic area from those listed below and bring one “thing” related to the topic to share (i.e.- a book, an activity, a lesson plan,...) with 40 photocopies to distribute, if possible.

Afternoon: The membership at our Spring ’11 meeting felt it would be beneficial to make time in the p.m. to share ideas on a few contemporary issues effecting counselors (at our level, especially).  Therefore, time in the afternoon will be set aside to discuss two or three of the main concerns sent to me.

Please print and return the form below so that an exact number of members attending with lunch choice and topic areas can be obtained.

------------------------------------------------------

**By 10/28/11**

Return with a check for $30.00 (covers Breakfast Breakout, lunch, and new room change)

payable to: C.D.C.A.

ATTN: Mary Quinn

Shatekon Elementary

35 Maxwell Dr.

Clifton Park, NY 12065

or call (518) 881-0580 x48452

Name ___________________________  Phone _______________

School/Address  ________________________________________

 Topics

Family_____     Social Skills______     Substance Abuse Prevention______     Faculty____

New Students_____     Conflict Resolution_____     Parents______     Self-Concept______ 

     Curriculum Development_____           Careers_____     Special Ed._____     Loss______   

  Grants_____     Study Skills______      School Climate____     Personal Safety_____

Concern 

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

LUNCH CHOICE

(ALL w/ coffee/tea/decaf & dessert; Grat./tax will be included)

___Poached Pear and Grilled Chicken Salad W/blue cheese, baby greens, and walnut vinaigrette

___Caesar Salad with grilled chicken breast, garlic croutons, and Tuscan Caesar dressing

___Portabella Mushroom and and mozzarella sandwich W/French fries

ATTN: School Counseling Majors

GUIDANCE EXPO 2011 October 17, 2011 Westchester County Center White Plains, NY

The Guidance Expo is literally an exposition of guidance and counseling ideas and activities. It features a rich menu of over 40 professional seminars regarding issues and concerns that affect the elementary, middle, high school and college admission counselors. In addition, it brings together a large variety of exhibitors, consultants, model programs, exhibits of computer software, guidance books, materials and products, community agencies and college representatives. It is sponsored by the Westchester Putnam College Conferences, Inc. in affiliation with the New York State School Counselor Association (NYSSCA).  It is offered free. Pre-registration online is required. For our complete program, directions, and registration information, please click on the: GUIDANCE EXPO WEBSITE

Peace First is hiring a talented curriculum leader

Peace First

Content and Curriculum Specialist

Background:

Across almost two decades of work in three cities, Peace First has been teaching young people the critical skills of conflict resolution and civic engagement through our innovative social-emotional learning curriculum. Our program receives consistent and positive results, from which we have developed a powerful network of deeply committed stakeholders, a strong understanding of our impact, and a rich array of content for teaching peace  In the next year, we will launch a highly visible national initiative to celebrate young people who are creating lasting change in their communities: The Peace First Prize.  We will leverage this opportunity to scale our program and create a national movement around youth peacemaking.

About Peace First Institute: 

The Peace First Institute leads the design, development, and implementation of our program through technical assistance, product development, quality assurance and evaluation.  The Peace First program is composed of three core components: 1) curriculum and resources for teaching peacemaking skills to young people 2) strategies and frameworks for adults to lead institutional “climate change” to create safe and effective school and community environments for young people and 3) effective social messaging to shift public perception about young people as problem-solvers and celebrate youth peacemaking as a vehicle for positive change through the Peace First Prize. The emerging scale strategy involves broadening the ways in which Peace First delivers these program components through three principal channels:

• Continued implementation and measurement of our program through intensive school partnerships in our directly-managed Regional Innovation Centers that serve as model demonstration sites and sources of evaluation for program success;
• Digitized tools and resources for teaching peace made widely available to educators through an online platform and supported with training and technical assistance services;
• Partnerships with in-school and out-of-school youth-serving organizations to adopt and implement the Peace First curricula and climate strategies.

Peace First is seeking a Content and Curriculum Specialist to help us translate 19 years of diverse content into accessible and usable tools, products, and materials for our core group of users (current teachers) and a growing national audience. The Content and Curriculum Specialist will serve as the lead writer, content specialist, and facilitator of a comprehensive overhaul of our curriculum content and design. She/he will serve as lead facilitator of a collaborative and iterative curriculum revision process with multiple stakeholders –graphic designers, instructional designers, PFI staff, national and local stakeholders and field writers. The Content and Curriculum Specialist will support all aspects of this project with a specific focus on: aligning revision to Peace First’s theory and values; ensuring a consistent “voice” and set of principles throughout all materials; and streamlining content through individual and collaborative writing and editing.  In addition to experience with social emotional learning, this individual must have experience with the use of digital platforms to deliver content and with instructional design.  The content specialist will be part of the Peace First Institute and will report to the National Director of Training and Instruction.

Responsibilities Include:

• Function as a lead writer, content specialist and facilitator for the process of curriculum rewriting and translation from paper to a interactive digital platform;
• Function as lead writer and final editor for the revision of our existing curriculum and tool creation;
• Manage extensive review and integration of externally produced content and resources;
• Oversee field tests of curricula and tools;
• Provide additional project management for a subset of an ongoing process of reviewing and analyzing 19 years of content for revision including school culture toolkits for adult educators;
• Serve as lead subject matter expert in the area of social emotional learning and civic engagement and work in partnership with PFI to build the organization’s collective knowledge and understanding of our core products and resources and to support our external visibility and work with external partnerships;
• Work with VISTA team to build our knowledge resources, launching Peace First’s efforts to build a knowledge bank and resource centers that houses our content as well as other’s;
• Partner with National Director of Instruction and Training to build a set of offerings that translates our written tools and resources into dynamic trainings;
• Research and build innovations in the areas of delivering SEL curriculum through an interactive platform.

Desired Skills and Qualifications:

• Organizational Fit:  Passion for Peace First’s peacemaking mission and an ability to thrive in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial organization is a must. This involves flexibility, creativity, ability to take initiative, and problem solving while maintaining a sense of perspective and balance. 

• Content Experience:  Extensive experience teaching and translating social emotional learning in school-based or similar settings; pedagogical background in experiential learning methods, community service learning, child development, conflict resolution and mediation, as well as constructivist education practices.  Classroom and school-based experience required.
• Curriculum Design and Writing: Experience designing and writing curriculum, specifically using technology / interactive platforms; knowledge of instructional design principles; excellent written skills and comfort with editing other people’s writing;

·         Project Management:  Proven success as a project manager of processes that involve multiple stakeholders; strong facilitator of group processes; candidate is highly organized and able to run team meetings as well as to create schedules and plans for others, able to prioritize and multi-task to meet deadlines; possesses strong analytical skills in using data (quantitative and qualitative) to drive short- and long-term course corrections.

·         Communication:  Can effectively communicate with colleagues across distance and hierarchy. Excellent written communication and ability to be persuasive.  Ability to synthesize and drive.

·         Cultural Competence: This person must be culturally competent: eager to learn, open to diversity, a good listener, and capable of working well with people from different backgrounds.

·         Education: Bachelor’s degree required, master’s preferred

Compensation and Benefits: Peace First offers a competitive salary commensurate to experience with a generous benefits package.  Peace First is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, cultural heritage, ancestry, political belief, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability or veteran status.

If interested, please submit resume, cover letter, and writing sample to talent@peacefirst.org.

To find out more about Peace First visit: http://www.peacefirst.org/site/

NYSSCA Conference Volunteers Needed

Interested in being a volunteer at the NYSSCA Conference?

The New York State School Counselor Association's annual conference is October 28 and 29, 2011 in Rochester, NY. They are looking for graduate students in the counseling department who would like to volunteer for both Friday and Saturday.  In return you will receive a reduced registration fee and also be able to network with other graduate students and counseling professionals.

Registration form can be downloaded at www.nyssca.org

If you are interested or have any questions please email Joan Cawley (NYSSCA Conference Volunteer Coordinator) at jcawley@nscsd.org

More from Joan Cawley: It will be at the Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside. Students can download the hotel registration form off the nyssca website -www.nyssca.org. The volunteers will have to pay a reduced registration fee of $110.00. The conference registration form can also be downloaded off the nyssca website.

International Offering Spring 2012

Study Tour to the Netherlands

January 2012

Dr. Richard Pulice, Professor and Chair of the Social Work Department and Director of the Institute for Community Research and Training at the College of Saint Rose will again be offering a study tour to the Netherlands. Dr. Pulice has consulted and taught in Holland for over 15 years and he and his colleagues have always offered students a true Dutch experience.  Designed as a 1- 3 credit undergraduate or 4 credit graduate elective, this year’s trip focuses on services for persons with a mental illness. The Netherlands has long been an innovator in mental health care. We will be based in Utrecht in the center of the country; the course will visit several cities and towns including Amsterdam. Based on the travel schedule leisure time is available on the weekends.

Approximate travel dates – January 6– 15, 2012 (departing from Newark / Liberty International Airport ) , Estimated costs - $2600 including airfare, hotels, ground transportation in Holland and some meals.

For College of Saint Rose students this can be part of your spring courses, for other please check with your College regarding cross registration requirements.

INFORMATION – contact Dr. Pulice at pulicer@strose.edu or call 518-454-5251.

Deadline for registration and a required deposit of $250.00 for this course is October 1, 2011.