Counselors Train To Be Effective Advocates for
Their Students and Schools
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Peggy Cain (second from left), school counselor, Andover (Mass.) High School, and
College Board trustee |
The College Board is sponsoring training for counselors in the New England Region to help them be more effective advocates for their students, their schools and their profession while working with local, state and federal leaders.
The College Board has partnered with the Massachusetts School Counselor Association and the New England Association for College Admission Counseling to organize a workshop on Nov. 18 in Worcester, Mass., and a legislative action day Feb. 4 at the Massachusetts State House. The Rhode Island School Counselor Association is organizing a similar session scheduled for Nov. 19.
These events follow a workshop held in May that featured training from Lori Fresina of M+R Strategic Services to help counselors consider ways to be involved in legislation that affects students and schools.
“Counselors need a place at the table as these discussions go on,” said Peggy Cain, a counselor at Andover High School and a College Board Trustee. “M+R provided a great framework to help counselors tell their stories in a way that highlights our role and helps us be a voice for all students.”
The workshops this fall will build on that training and reach others in the region, said Pat Nailor, past president of the Rhode Island School Counselor Association and chair of the professional development committee.
Brad MacGowan, a counselor at Newton North High School, and Jon Westover, senior associate director of freshman admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who lead government relations for MASCA and NEACAC, respectively, helped set the agenda for the November meeting and have invited members of their organizations. The workshop will be led by Carey Dimmitt of UMass Amherst and the Center for School Counseling Outcome Research, and Lori Fresina of M+R
Strategic Services.
Many of these counselors hope to speak in February with influential legislators and policymakers about counselors’ role in education. These events may provide a model for expanding advocacy training in other regions, said Arthur Doyle, vice president of the College Board’s New England Region.
Bob Bardwell, president of NEACAC, said he hopes the workshops will help counselors be more proactive and effective in their efforts to influence education policy.
“This can help counselors be more prominent on the radar so that we can be consulted on issues, rather than being told what has happened,” he said.
