With the help of SC School Counselors, PSSCA was able to present a check to the South Carolina Chapter of the Red Cross for $2,544. This money will go directly to those in South Carolina impacted by recent natural disasters.
From L to R: Current PSSCA President, Anna Duvall, Representative from the American Red Cross and PSSCA Executive Director Zan Tracy Pender
Congratulations to the 2019-2020 Elected Officers:
President-Elect - O'Tasha Morgan
Post-Secondary VP - LaWanda Felder
Middle VP - Lindsay Harmon
Application is due by March 31, 2019
Winners will be selected and notified by April 15, 2019
The Palmetto State School Counselor Association awards three high school seniors a $1,000.00 non-renewable scholarship to assist with post-secondary education costs.
Eligibility:
Must be a high school senior attending a public or private secondary school in the state of South Carolina.
Must be a permanent resident of the state of South Carolina.
Must plan to attend a post-secondary institution during the 2019-2020 school year.
Applicants must:
Submit an application.
Complete an essay of no more than 500 words about a school counselor who has made a difference in your academic, career, social, and/or emotional development. You may additionally include your career goals, post-secondary education plans, and an explanation for how the scholarship will help you.
Include an official copy of high school transcript.
Submit a letter of recommendation.
The Palmetto State School Counselor Association (PSSCA) is awarding mini-grants to South Carolina school counselors to provide programs and activities to enhance the delivery of a comprehensive school counseling program in South Carolina elementary, middle, and high schools. Our goal is to identify best practices by providing funding to enhance comprehensive school counseling programs in elementary, middle and high schools in South Carolina.
Mini-grants Overview of Funding
Mini-grants will be offered for SC School Counselors to provide funding for implementation of activities and programs mirroring the ASCA National Model Standards. Allowable expenses include presenter costs, incentives, curriculum materials, food, printing, and other related materials. Traveling, lodging, and any forms of technology are not allowable expenses.
● There is a maximum amount available of $500.00 to be awarded to a sole winner or school counseling department depending on the requested amounts and quality of applications.
● Proposals are due by March 31st at 11:59 p.m. to be awarded the following school year.
● Proposals will be reviewed by the PSSCA Awards Committee.
● Award recipients will be notified by April 30th and then funding will be distributed for use thereafter.
Mini-Grant Requirements
● Recipient must be a current member of PSSCA and a SC School Counselor.
● Recipient must complete all questions below and the Budget Worksheet
● Recipient must demonstrate the positive impact on his or her school counseling program
● Recipient must agree to write an article for thePSSCA Newsletter (ex. about grant or counseling program) or present a session at PSSCA conference.
● Consent to Release: Acceptance of PSSCA Mini-Grant funds constitutes permission to use winner’s name, school, city, state, and winning entry for promotional purposes. Contest entry constitutes permission to PSSCA website and social media without further compensation. Furthermore, entry constitutes permission to archive your winning entries indefinitely on any webpage on the PSSCA website.
How will the applications be scored?
PSSCA will define a scoring rubric for applications. Review will be based on specific criteria listed in this application and scored using the scoring rubric. Awards will be based on the four highest scoring applications. PSSCA may require revision of grant proposals and budget prior to approval, award, or release of funds. Decisions on funding and awarding of grants shall be final. Funding may be partial. If funded and you do not meet the requirements you will be asked to return the funds.
Please find the application below:
If you have any questions or issues with accessing the application,
please feel free to contact me at croddy@lexington1.net
The Palmetto State School Counselor Association is pleased to announce our 2019 School Counselor Advocate of the Year, Rob Rhodes.
Rhodes, the Director of School Counseling Services in Greenville County Schools has made significant contributions to the implementation and improvement of school counseling programs.
Supervising one of the largest districts in the state containing over 106 schools, overseeing close to 200 school counselors providing counseling services to over 75,000 students. Not only has this person removed testing coordination from school counselors across the district, Rhodes has also advocated for the student-to-counselor ratio decrease across the district in middle and high schools while continuing to push for the same in elementary schools. He has collaborated with local mental health agencies to provide a mental health counselor for every school over the next couple of years.
His co-workers state that Rhodes “leads with integrity, determination and compassion and recognizes the hard work our school counselors do each and every day.”
The purpose of the Advocate of the Year Award is to recognize persons who have demonstrated their beliefs in and support of school counseling programs that have had an impact on counselors and their students at the local, state, or national level.
The Palmetto State School Counselor Association (PSSCA) is a statewide nonprofit organization. PSSCA helps advance the profession of school counseling by assisting South Carolina school counselors with guiding their students toward academic achievement, career planning and social/emotional development in order to help today’s students become tomorrow’s productive, contributing members of society.
The Palmetto State School Counselor Association is pleased to announce our 2019 School Counselors of the Year, Deborah Blume, Elementary School Counselor and Overall School Counselor of the Year and Leigh Eubanks, Middle School Counselor of the Year
Blume, a school counselor at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering in Greenville School District is committed to finding and developing the best traits in everyone, creating a data driven and exemplary comprehensive program that not only serves students but also the parents, breaking the barriers between school, home and community. Having 24 years of experience in education, 12 years as a school counselor, and now serving 561 students as the only school counselor within the school, she “teaches the whole child”.
Eubanks, the Director of School Counseling and Advisement at Lexington Middle School in Lexington School District One has a passion for the profession and students that is unsurpassed. She embodies the best characteristics of the education and school counseling professions, demonstrating expertise in pedagogy, dedication to professional growth, and advocacy for students and the whole child.” Eubanks says, “being a school counselor has been one of the most rewarding things that I have done in my thirty years in education.
The purpose of the School Counselor of the Year Award is to recognize persons who have demonstrated their ability to provide leadership in executing a comprehensive school counseling program impacting students, the community and other stakeholders.
Midlands Region School Counselors
Save The Date: February 6, 2019, from 4:30pm-6:30pm
Come join your colleagues during National School Counseling Week for a PSSCA Regional Mixer at:
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
Located at: Columbiana Station, 148 Harbison Blvd, Columbia, SC 29212
For planning purposes, RSVP here only if you plan to attend.
Come relax and enjoy complimentary hors d'oeuvres from PSSCA. Thanks to our beverage sponsor, Rob Mendenall, President of The College Funding Center of SC, you may also enjoy one "spirited" beverage from the bar free! I hope to see you there!
Join other counselors from the Pee Dee Region for this informal networking opportunity and learn more about PSSCA!
Palmetto School Counselors Regional Meet Up
Friday, December 7, 2018
6:00 pm
Willie Sue's Restaurant
3355 Patriot Pkwy
Sumter, SC 29154
PSSCA will award a School Counselor Advocate of the Year Award. The nominator must be a member of PSSCA. Nominees may be district or building level administrators, school board members, legislators, or supervisors of school counseling services who have made significant contributions to the implementation and improvement of school counseling programs. The purpose of the Advocate of the Year Award is to recognize persons who have demonstrated their beliefs in and support of school counseling programs that have had an impact on counselors and their students at the local, state, or national level.
The deadline for completing all School Counselor Advocate of the Year nomination information is December 1, 2018.
http://pssca.schoolcounselorawards.org/scoy/other-awards
The School Counselor of the Year Award honors the best of the best - counselors who are running a top-notch, comprehensive school counseling program at either the elementary, middle or high school level.
Deadline to nominate is November 1st.
Applications are due December 1st.
http://pssca.schoolcounselorawards.org/scoy/nominate
Copyright © 2019 Palmetto State School Counselor Association
