SDSCA
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It’s the (Al)most Wonderful Time of the Year…Legislative Session.
By: Ashley Seeklander, Government Relations Chair
January 10, 2023, at 1:00pm (12:00pm mountain time), will mark the beginning of the 98th South Dakota Legislative Session with Governor Noem’s State of the State Address. This session is expected to be riddled with topics from education to infrastructure to the Medicaid expansion passed in November and much more.
SDSCA and SDCA will once again be providing you the opportunity to try out your legislative ‘sea legs’ with educational and advocacy opportunities. If you are interested in learning more about grassroots advocacy on January 6th, SDCA is hosting a webinar at noon. In this webinar, we will review the process of legislation in South Dakota, walk you through the Legislative Site, and share ways to connect with your elected representatives. Members of the House and Senate have that position because they were elected by the people of SD, and therefore, serve the people of their community. We will review how bills are put forth and how they move forward through the process. We will discuss local cracker barrels and the rules that are in place for those events, as well as ways to reach out to your elected officers 1:1. We will also be joined by Senate Minority Leader, Reynold Nesiba, as he shared his own thoughts on best practices when working with legislators. This webinar will help you to advocate for yourself and your clients as well as be a great training for SDCA's Day on the Hill event!
Speaking of Day on the Hill, I also encourage you to attend SD Day on the Hill on Friday, February 3. This event will give you the opportunity to learn about issues and legislation affecting our profession, clients and students, and what YOU can do and become a better leader and advocate for our profession. On February 2nd, we meet with our legislative monitor, Dianna Miller, for an in-person update on legislative session. Reserve your spot by January 20th, with Rebecca Christiansen, SDCA Executive Director, sdca.counseling@gmail.com.
Every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) during legislative session SDSCA members will get an e-mail with an overview of the prior week’s happenings and anything upcoming that may impact school counseling, education, and mental health counseling. This information is graciously compiled by our legislative monitor, Dianna Miller. If you ever have a question or need a clarification from these weekly correspondences please let me know and I will be happy to help.
Please remember that the individuals elected are there to represent YOU! Understanding the how and the why behind the legislative process is vitally important and helps you to be a well-informed citizen. One of the most important things I have learned as the Government Relations Chair is that democracies require a well-informed public. I hope to see you taking advantage of these wonderful opportunities.
By: Ashley Seeklander, Government Relations Chair
Lincoln Elementary School Counselor- Aberdeen
Several years ago, I found a 25-gallon tote of LEGOS on Facebook Marketplace for $50. Let me tell you- this was the best $50 I have ever spent to enhance the school counseling program. My students loved the LEGOS and had an absolute blast building while we met for individual counseling. It really helped some of my students open up and talk about their feelings and promoted some great social skills opportunities in small groups. Someone (who is an absolute genius) suggested that I look into the book, Brick-Based Counseling, by Derek Tulluck, M.Ed., NBCT. I 100% recommend adding this book to your Amazon cart, pressing purchase, and then *patiently* wait for UPS to deliver it!
My favorite classroom lesson, Rising from the Odds, comes from this book. This lesson deals with perseverance and the emotions involved with failure and setbacks. I will give you the “cliff notes” version of this lesson but seriously, GO BUY THE BOOK!!!
Here’s what you need to make this your favorite lesson:
1. Materials: LEGOS, timer, and a game dice for each student.
2. Have your class create a working definition of perseverance or you could show the “Famous Failure” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLanU3oMQU).
3. Allow each student to begin building with the LEGOS. They can even set a goal as to how many LEGOS they want to use in their creation.
4. Every 30 seconds have a timer go off to indicate that they need to stop building. After the timer goes off have the student roll the game dice to decide how many LEGOS the student’s need to remove from their creation. (Example: if the student rolls a 6, they remove 6 LEGOS). For older students you can give them two dice to roll and younger students can use just one dice.
5. Lead a discussion on the emotions they felt as they created and then rolled their dice. Having the ‘set-back’ of removing LEGO pieces represents how nothing comes easily in life. There are going to be times where we take one step forward and two steps back. The book has great discussion questions to use to facilitate the processing aspect of this lesson.
I hope you find this lesson (and the book) as engaging and beneficial as I have! Enjoy!
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS
The Use of Data for Student Success Workshops
Due to popular demand from last year, the Use of Data for Student Success workshops will be offered again, featured in June and October 2023. The two-day workshop covers how to transform a school counseling program to positively impact ALL students and features presenter Dr. Julie Hartline, co-author of The Use of Data in School Counseling: Hatching Results (And So Much More) for Students, Programs, and the Profession. Administrators and school counselors are invited to attend. As supplies last, registered participants who attend the workshop will receive a copy of the text. See the attached flyer for more information. Questions? Contact Andrea Albrecht.