American School Counselors Conference 2024

Good grief!  I can't believe that I been away from my blog for four months.  A lot has been going on both personally and professionally (that is a discussion for another day), but I wanted to touch base with you amazing school counselors as we end the first half of 2024 (how did that happen?).  If you work in a school, I hope you had a good, or at least tolerable year.  On side note, I ended my final workday as an independent school counselor this past week and I am looking at trying something different next year (it's a little scary!).

So, as we get closer to the 4th of July🎆, we are getting closer to the ASCA Conference.  Fortunately, my proposal was accepted this year and I will be speaking with a lot of other amazing presenters.  Whether you are going for the first time or fifth time, the ASCA Conference is a great way to connect with other school counselors across the world.  So, if you are going, please stop in my session on peer helping or at least stop by our exhibit booth. We will have a lot of great resources and information for starting a peer program.  

About Our Presentation 

If you are interested in starting or enhancing your peer program, please come to our session on Developing Trauma-Informed Peer Helpers scheduled for July 14th @ 9 AM📅.  Okay, we are up against a lot of heavy hitters during that time, so we get it if you can't make it.  Anyway, reach out if you want more information or watch it on the Virtual ASCA Conference (more on this later)!!  

We will be speaking on trauma informed peer programming and how you can do this in your school!

Not Able to Attend #ASCA24?

Let's face it, we can't always to go to ASCA every year -- ranging from lack of monetary resources to family obligations.  However, the good news is that you can still attend ASCA while not physically attending ASCA.  

1.  The first option is to purchase and attend the Virtual ASCA Conference. The great news is that you can download the virtual sessions and have access until October, 2024. Even if you can attend the conference, you may miss some sessions that you wished you could attend.  Oh, shameless promotion here -  my session is part of the virtual session!

2.  Another option is to follow the conference on social media.  Sometimes, a group of school counselors may even host a chat on X (former Twitter) featuring great insights from those attending the conference.  In fact, you can go back through and see the chats from past years. Check them out!

Now, I would like to take the time to explore this year's ASCA Conference in Kansas City and give those of you who are attending for the first time some tips that I have gleaned over the years.  

Eight Tips for Attending #ASCA24

ASCA is one of the biggest school counseling events of the year!  If this is your first time attending, or you have not attended in a while, I would like to share some tips for getting the most out of the conference experience.  

My first tip for attending ASCA is to download the ASCA24 App.  From this app, you will be able to claim CEUs, set up your agenda, set up a personal profile, see a list of exhibitors, and interact with others. So, make sure you do that do that next week.

Okay, you cannot miss the opening session.  When you walk into the main conference venue, you will be greeted by happy tunes and excited school counselors welcoming you into the main session.  Make sure you find your state "peeps" (Georgia never disappoints me) and cheer each other on.  After the session begins, you will be entertained by the ASCA staff and hear from some amazing keynote speakers.  Last year we heard Henry Winkler, the Fonz!

Okay, tip number three is pretty important -- don't forget to bring a sweater to your sessions.  I know it is summer and 100 degrees on the outside, but those rooms are COLD!  If you forget, you can get pretty miserable and looking for a hot cup of coffee!

Honestly, I forget to do this, but I appreciate people who do...bring your business cards.  Now, I am realistic enough to know that many schools will not pay for their counselors to have cards (my school included), but this may be worth the investment.  You definitely want to connect with other counselors and having a card is the quickest way to connect.

Okay, if you are a heavy packer, you may want to leave a few things at home.  It is important to leave some room in your suitcase for all the swag, materials, resources, books, and stuff you will be tempted to get at the conference.  If you just cannot make room in your suitcase, you can always box it up and mail it to your home. 

Make sure you save some time to go into the exhibit halls.  There are so many great exhibitors and they work really hard to be there (I can speak from personal experience).  You will be able to get books, manuals, t-shirts, swag, and so many great freebies!  I know we will have freebies at our booth!!

I would love to say that you will be able to attend every session that you choose in the conference program, but they fill up very fast.  So, if you do not want to stand up in the back or be shut out, make sure you choose a back up session or two. 

When I was not able to attend ASCA, I loved seeing posts from other school counselors attending sessions.  My suggestion is to share those pearls of wisdom, quotes, or golden nuggets on your social media accounts using the hashtag #ASCA24 and #NotAtASCA24.  Here is the full schedule for you to download - ASCA24 Full Conference Schedule.

I hope you enjoy the ASCA Conference, either in KC or at home.  If you cannot make it this year, there is always next year.  #ASCA25 will be in Long Beach, California.  Hope to see you in KC!!