Blog entries from sbultsma

All School Districts to Have Anti-Bullying Policies

Shawn Bultsma — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:13:26 +0100

I received the following email that I would like to share with the greater public community. The announcement of Matt's Safe School Law brings to fruition the work of many child and student advocates who would like to bring an end to bullying as documented in my blog from March 2, 2011 and told in a summary that I provided in the Fall 2008 issue of Colleagues magazine (pp. 8-9).

The announcement of signing Matt's Read More...

Michigan Department of Civil Rights Hosts Bullying Hearing

Shawn Bultsma — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:35:32 +0100

Yesterday (March 1, 2011) I had the opportunity to attend a hearing on bullying sponsored by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The public was invited to share testimony about their experiences with bullying as the MCRC deliberates how they should respond to bullying in our community throughout Michigan.

For the record, the public hearing portion of the session did not paint school counselors in a very positive light as my testimony below revealRead More...

A Sucker for a Good Story

Shawn Bultsma — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:29:04 +0100

So, I came across a great story shared by American School Counselor Association (ASCA)president, Brain Law and thought I needed to pass it along! I knew that this was the case when I spent ten minutes writing the following response as a comment to Brian's blog titled Through the Eyes of a Tree that was posted on the ASCA Scene (a free social network blog for school counselors): &Read More...

Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership

Shawn Bultsma — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:22:44 +0100

If you are a school counselor or other school professional looking to establish how your students are different as a result of your work with them, the Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership (CESCaL) is for you! This resource has been provided by counselor educator and national presenter, Trish Hatch.

The mission provided at this resource site states:

The Center’s mission is to promote excellence in the field of school couRead More...

Public Agenda Report

Shawn Bultsma — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:08:47 +0100

In case you haven't heard:

Last spring a report commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published by the Public Agenda elevated the concern that students are not getting the support they need when it comes to choosing a college or career or getting financial aid for college. The report, titled Can I Get a Little Advice Here?, detailed the findings from telephone interviews that were conducted from May 7 – June 24, 2009, with 614 young adults aged Read More...

Finding Comfort in the Courage to be Imperfect

Shawn Bultsma — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:18:51 +0100

I hope you are not alarmed when I tell you that I have a little voice in my head that takes pleasure in taunting me with the notion that I really have no idea what I am doing...that I am some kind of impostor in the various roles that I take on...and that it will not be long before everyone around me finds me out.This school counseling blog hit home with me as it relates to keeping this voice in check.

So I share it with you at the beginning of this new school year: https://schoolcounRead More...

School Counselor - Principal Relationship

Shawn Bultsma — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:04:26 +0100

I have been blessed in my ten years of experience as a school counselor to work alongside two principals who both understood the importance of a collaborative partnership between school counselors and principals. What I appreciated most about our relationship was that each principal, one at the middle school level and one at the high school level, had a high level of respect for my position and training as a school counselor.

Both confessed that their knowledge of the role of schooRead More...

Join the ASCA SCENE

Shawn Bultsma — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:29:36 +0100

If you are a school counselor and not signed up for the ASCA SCENE, you are missing out! This networking site is a professional meeting place for school counseling professionals to share and learn from each other. Get answers to your school counseling questions, share your lesson plans and best practices, become the best school counselor you can be.

Are School Counselors Really Counselors?

Shawn Bultsma — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:03:42 +0100

This was the question most recently asked by a member of the CESNET listserv: Are school counselors really counselors?

The following response was posted by another member:

As a school counselor I can say with certainty that yes in fact school counseling is counseling. We mix career counseling, solution focused techniques, family interventions, suicide assessments, and behavior modification plans. Pop culture media has not helped the view of the school counRead More...

Deans instead of School Counselors?

Shawn Bultsma — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:28:27 +0100

I subscribe to a listserv for counselor educators and supervisors called CESNET and this thread came up posted by Wes Irwin:

I was surprised to learn that the school district that I recently moved into, Mounds View School District, MN has replaced school counselors with "Deans." If you are interested you can read more about this on their website via a link to their electronic newsletter http://www.moundsviewschools.org/ from the Spring of 2010.&nbsRead More...

School Counselor Glee

Shawn Bultsma — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:27:27 +0100

If there is one thing that the recent FOX television program got right, it is the gender and age of the school counselor on Glee.

With Wednesday night class, I have seen about 15 minutes of three different episodes of this new program. As I was watching the glee club teacher and another character (Emma Pillsbury) hook up last night, my daughter informed me that she was the school counselor.

Yep, you fans of Glee could have saved me the surprise by cluing me in weeks Read More...

School Counselor Identity

Shawn Bultsma — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:41:41 +0100

A current debate is raging in professional counseling associations surrounding the issue of professional identity of counselors.

The American Counseling Association (ACA) is working on 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling (click here for more information on the 20/20 Vision). If you review the vision that is presented in the hyperlink, you will notice that the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), a division of ACA, is one of three groups that have not sRead More...

School Counseling Conference

Shawn Bultsma — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:48:46 +0100

The Association of Michigan School Counselors (AMSC) and the Michigan School Counselor Association (MSCA) are hosting a joint spring conference on April 27, 2009 at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The theme of this conference is School Counselors Collaborating for Change.