Utah School Counselor Association

Dear School Counselors

Welcome to the Utah School Counselor Association website. It is a privilege and an honor to serve as your president for the 2009-2010 school year.

We are working hard to update and enhance this website, in order to provide you with the most useful, up-to-date information about news, events, legislation, and issues that impact education and school counselors. Please visit often. We welcome your comments about anything you see, or would like to see, on the site. USCA supports school counselors in so many ways, and we will continue to add new information throughout the school year.

If you are not yet a member of USCA, now is the time to become one or to renew your membership. In these times of change and uncertainty, we need to come together as professionals, and USCA needs the support of its members in order to continue offering the services, support and advocacy that have been of such great benefit over the years. Staying in touch with your state association will keep you up to date on opportunities to learn, grow, and advocate for your students and your profession.

Our mission statement for Utah School Counseling Association is to promote excellence in the profession of school counseling. Our vision statement is torepresents the profession of school counseling. We express an united and single voice for school counseling in the State of Utah. USCA believes that guidance and counseling must be an integral part of every student's educational experience. The goals of the Utah School Counselor Association are: 1) Advocate for the profession of school counseling, 2) Provide professional counselor development, 3) Provide bold and visionary leadership, 4) Provide organized support for the association. My goal as president is to represent USCA is a positive way and to fulfill the mission statement, vision statement and goals of USCA.

I have been thinking of the many activities that we as school counselors do in schools across the state. The commonality we all have amongst us is we affect student achievement. As counselors we work towards building bridges to fill gaps that lead to the goal of school improvement through student success. As you work to serve the Academic/Learning, Life/Career, Multicultural/Global Citizenship, Personal/Social Developmental needs of the students of Utah, you greatly impact student achievement. You are a very important member of educational professionals that connects students to achieving their potential. As professional school counselors, you connect students to success by breaking down artificial barriers.

It is up to school counselors, with the help of other school personnel, to not only make a difference in schools, but we must also be able to document the differences we have made. School counselors must ask for the help of our colleagues in the schools (teachers, administrators and other school support personnel) to join forces to take advantage of this opportunity to help students improve their chances of being successful. Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between those individuals who are successful in life and their academic grades in school, their test scores, and being actively involvement in school activities. School counselors must incorporate whatever preventive measures are needed for school improvement. Early interventions and the immediate application of creative solutions should be the actions of school counselors as well as data projects for eliminating barriers as you work towards student achievement.

As president of USCA, I challenge you to keep relevant data and to complete consequential data projects. These data projects are essential in securing our positions in schools.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as president in the coming year. I look forward to working with you and hearing from you (ljensen@murrayschools.org). I wish you all the best for a wonderful and fulfilling school year.

On another note, on behalf of President-Elect Cathy Hansen and her Conference Team, I would personally like to invite each of you to attend the Annual Conference in Sandy at SLCC-Larry H Miller Conference Center on November 13, 2009. We are excited to return to this location and look for next year’s conference is the southern part of the state.

Sincerely,

Lillian Tsosie-Jensen, USCA President 2009-2010