LSSSCA Conference | November 15-17, 2026 | Dallas, TX
We look forward to seeing you next year!
Lead Presenter: Alma Dominguez-Barrios
This session highlights a scalable approach to implementing Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) across secondary campuses. Participants will explore three strategies: a shared monthly advisory schedule, structured lunch bunch initiatives to promote connection, and Tier 1 SEL supports that create safe, supportive spaces. Attendees will leave with practical tools, sample schedules, and strategies adaptable to their campuses.
Lead Presenter: Myra Ortega
Walk away with ready made lesson plans for some required lesson topics in the Texas Model. Let UTEP’s School Counseling Practicum students show off their innovative ideas and walk away with a fully prepared lesson plan!
Lead Presenter: Monica Dominguez
Ready to take your school counseling program to the next level? This interactive session will guide you through the SCOY and Lone Star Award process, breaking down each component into manageable and achievable steps. Attendees will explore the requirements for recognition and learn strategies for documenting and showcasing their comprehensive school counseling program. Participants will leave with practical tools, resources, and an action plan to help their programs shine.
Lead Presenter: Sarah Thrash
School counselors often balance scheduling, mental health support, and countless “other duties as assigned,” leaving limited time for CCMR conversations. This session focuses on working smarter, not harder, through scalable CCMR systems and ready-to-use resources. Participants will explore grade-level guides, scholarship toolkits, college application one-pagers, military enlistment resources, and practical strategies that save time while increasing student and family support.
Lead Presenter: LaShanda Lewis
Maximize your school counseling program today. Forming a School Counseling Advisory Council is a vital, professional move that aligns with the ASCA National Model. It fosters collaboration and collects crucial feedback from parents, teachers, and the community. This partnership ensures your data-driven program is accountable and matched to student needs. You will learn the benefits, receive practical tips, and see a sample agenda for launching your council.
Lead Presenter: Jim Walters
Research shows that father and father-figure presence on campus improves academic outcomes, reduces behavioral challenges, and strengthens school safety — yet most schools still struggle to recruit and retain male volunteers. In this interactive, discussion-driven session, WATCH D.O.G.S.® National Director Jim Walters shares a proven, step-by-step framework for getting more fathers through the door, keeping them engaged all year long, and building a campus culture where every student thrives.
Lead Presenter: Erin Horne
Normangee ISD will share how understanding the whole child supports student academic success through a holistic approach. Participants will learn how Student Success Meetings help identify student needs and develop individualized intervention plans, while exploring the partnership between the school counselor and PE teacher to deliver weekly character lessons with real-time application through engaging PE activities.
Lead Presenter: Hans Magleby
School counselors are often asked to support students who are overwhelmed, disengaged, unmotivated, or struggling with behavior—but finding strategies that are both meaningful and easy to implement can be a challenge. This session will share practical, relationship-centered strategies for teaching resilience, emotional regulation, decision-making, motivation, and more. Participants will explore tools they can use in classrooms, small groups, one-on-one counseling, and teacher collaboration.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Lerner
Solution Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC) is an excellent modality to support students with short-term individual counseling in the school setting. It is an effective tier 2 intervention that fits perfectly within the role and scope of the school counselor. This program provides counselors with a blueprint for planning, facilitating, and ending 4 SFBC sessions. Participants in this program will learn various strategies and activities that they can use in their own individual counseling sessions.
Lead Presenter: Michelle Rollins
Play is the natural language of elementary students. Traditional talk therapy can fall short, but play-based approaches help young students grow emotionally and glow with resilience. This session covers play therapy tenets, budget-friendly office setups, and practical tools like sand trays, drawing, and creative interventions. Walk away with tangible, multi-sensory strategies to elevate your comprehensive school counseling program!
Lead Presenter: Alicia Rowland
Glow and Grow: Wellness for Us invites school counselors to reflect, recharge, and reconnect. This session offers interactive strategies for individual and team self-care, helping counselors strengthen resilience, support one another, and sustain the heart of their work while continuing to show up for students.
Lead Presenter: Monica Lyon
Adolescents often experience complex emotions that are difficult to articulate verbally. This interactive session introduces a movement-based approach designed to help youth develop emotional awareness, expression, and self-regulation through mindful body movement. Drawing from principles of Dance/Movement Therapy, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral concepts, and polyvagal-informed regulation strategies, participants will experience practical, school-based activities that promote emotional intelligence.
Lead Presenter: Lauryn Rutherford
Counselors will learn how to approach guidance in a way that enhances collaboration with staff by using feedback through needs-assessments to plan and deliver high-quality, engaging guidance lessons.
Lead Presenter: Teresa Howard
Art and school counseling go hand in hand. Explore different ways to integrate art into your guidance lessons, small groups, and even individual counseling sessions. We will dig into different ideas from counselors like Daniel Alvarez in this hands-on experience. Get ready to be creative!
Lead Presenter: Kathleen Points
The thought of starting campus Lunch Bunch groups on campus can seem overwhelming to counselors. How can you fit it all in and make it meaningful to students? How can you get buy in from administrators who might want you to do lunch duty at that time? I have research-based motivation for the busy counselor along with starter tips and ready-made lessons to make Lunch Bunch the best part of a counselor’s day!
Lead Presenter: Miranda Galvan
The social/emotional needs of a classroom are great, AND educators are still human. In this session, we will discuss initiating professional development focused on educator emotional regulation, review presentation elements most beneficial to educators, and examine how to foster mental wellness within your school community as school counselors.
Lead Presenter: Eboni Simmons
This session introduces the RESET Framework, a practical, trauma-informed approach to support student regulation, behavior, and counselor wellness. Participants will learn strategies to recognize dysregulation, implement in-the-moment supports, and establish routines that improve student outcomes while reducing burnout. Designed for school counselors, this session provides tools that can be applied immediately in real-world school settings.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Lerner
Solution Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC) is an excellent modality to support students with short-term individual counseling in the school setting. It is an effective tier 2 intervention that fits perfectly within the role and scope of the school counselor. This program provides counselors with a blueprint for planning, facilitating, and ending 4 SFBC sessions. Participants in this program will learn various strategies and activities that they can use in their own individual counseling sessions.
Lead Presenter: Zoraya Holmes
This interactive session will provide school counselors with practical strategies and best practices for increasing inclusion and participation across guidance lessons, small groups, and schoolwide counseling activities. Participants will explore ways to remove barriers to access, increase student voice, implement culturally responsive counseling practices, and create meaningful opportunities for engagement for all students.
Lead Presenter: Jared Gavin
When a student or staff member dies, schools must respond with both urgency and care. This session presents a comprehensive framework for school grief and crisis response covering notification protocols, crisis team structure, student triage, grief support groups, and staff wellness. Attendees will leave with practical tools and strategies ready for immediate implementation.
Lead Presenter: Denise Toro
Conflict doesn’t have to derail your day. With the right rhythm and framework, conversations can become calmer, clearer, and more collaborative. In this engaging session, participants will learn the A.R.T. approach—Awareness, Reflection, and Tools—paired with the M.I.C. Check: Mindfulness, Integration, and Confidence. Through movement, visuals, and hands-on practice, counselors will gain practical strategies to navigate difficult conversations with confidence.
Lead Presenter: Sheri Dominique
Step into Counselor’s Kitchen: Where We Prep to Glow and Cook to Grow, a lively session designed to spice up your school counseling program with powerful social and emotional learning (SEL) strategies! We will be serving up recipes for creating a club that will promote teamwork, self-expression, and well-being. Come hungry for inspiration and leave ready to build your own school club that involves blending culinary creativity with social and emotional benefits.
Lead Presenter: Rosie Mendez
Students will have the tools to think and plan beyond High School Graduation with a diploma on hand and a career to follow. Students are coached and start developing the necessary tools they need to ensure their success and become not only graduates but productive individuals. Once students identify the field that they want to pursue, they are provided with the resources to obtain that goal. Mentoring, tutoring, and identified social and emotional needs are accomplished. No barriers to success.
Lead Presenter: Amber Johnson
Being a New Counselor or at a New campus can be overwhelming. In this session we will discuss G.R.A.C.E as a New Counselor (Graduate student, new to position or campus) and strategies/tools to support you, your program, and your campus. We will discuss Getting to know your campus and needs, Resources, Advocacy, Collaboration with stakeholders, and Evaluation. In all we will discuss giving yourself GRACE as you build your program.
Lead Presenter: Heather Gonzales
Helping Young Hearts Heal- Practical Grief Supports for Young Students provides counselors and educators with age-appropriate strategies to help young students cope with grief, build resilience, express emotions, and develop healthy coping skills through practical interventions and supportive school-based practices. It will explore resources and supports available to educators and grieving families.
Lead Presenter: Ashley Martin
This dynamic session uses the School Counseling Pyramid for Comprehensive and Direct Services to share practical, research-based strategies for supporting the social/emotional growth of diverse early learners. Explore engaging Tier I–II counseling strategies and Tier III–IV collaborated counseling and behavior supports within an MTSS framework. Participants will leave with ready-to-use SEL activities, emotional regulation tools, collaboration ideas, video examples, and data management handouts.
Lead Presenter: Amber McDuffie
Building relationships comes second nature to counselors–especially at the beginning of the school year. But what happens when the year progresses and the relationships that seemed so effortless in the beginning, take more effort to be maintained? Come, grab a seat, and let’s learn together how to build AND maintain relationships! Perfect for new counselors (any and all are welcomed!)
Lead Presenter: Anjelica Hayter
Too Busy for Restorative Practices? Think Again. School counselors juggle countless responsibilities, making restorative work difficult to prioritize. Learn practical strategies for weaving restorative conversations into daily routines, maximizing campus supports, and implementing effective interventions despite limited time. Discover how investing in relationships can reduce crises, strengthen student connections, and create a more proactive counseling program.
Lead Presenter: Myra Ortega
Let’s be real—you’re juggling a million things, and writing lesson plans for required content is probably at the bottom of your “wish I had time for this” list. Our UTEP Practicum students have been hard at work creating engaging, classroom-ready lessons so you don’t have to start from scratch. Think of it as your teaching shortcut—with quality, creativity, and intention already built in. Join us, grab a few ready-to-use lessons, and walk away with one less thing to do.
”Lead Presenter: Kristi Massey
Task initiation and “messy folders” aren’t motivation issues—they are Executive Function (EF) challenges. Join this interactive session to demystify the “EF brain” and move beyond basic organization. We’ll explore how to build environmental scaffolds that support student independence. Participants will gain a toolkit of strategies to help students manage time and materials, ensuring academic potential isn’t sidelined by executive weakness.
Dyann Wilson:
Discover how AI can help school counselors make sense of student data and strengthen decision-making. In this session, participants will learn how to use simple AI tools to analyze trends in academics, attendance, and social-emotional data, turning insights into actionable strategies. Walk away with practical ways to enhance needs assessments, set meaningful goals, and confidently use data to drive your comprehensive counseling program.
John Burnett:
Learn how to use AI as your everyday assistant to save time and reduce workload. This session explores practical, beginner-friendly tools that support lesson planning, parent communication, student interventions, and program organization. Participants will gain ready-to-use strategies and templates that streamline daily tasks, allowing counselors to focus more on direct student support and less on time-consuming paperwork.
Nwakae Oriji:
This session gives counselors a clear August–May guide for building and sustaining a comprehensive program. Participants learn exactly what to prioritize each month, how to pace their work, and how to naturally align their actions with TSCESS expectations. Attendees leave with a printable roadmap, monthly guidance, and a renewed sense of direction and confidence.
Lead Presenter: Cristina Nunez
Through leadership, advocacy, innovative practices, and a direct focus on equitable outcomes, school counselors serve student success. Engage in an interactive Q&A presentation with the 2026 LSSSCA School Counselor of the Year, Diana Aguirre and finalists to learn more about their school counseling programs, their journeys to develop student-focused programs, and best practices. SCOY Finalists: Amber McDuffie, Erin Horne, Dr. Valerie Paredes, and Brooke Scoggins.
Lead Presenter: Erin Gutierrez
School counselors give so much of themselves each day, often placing their own sustainability last. This session invites participants to reimagine boundaries not as barriers, but as protective practices that support both counselor well-being and student success. Using Blue Zones principles, participants will explore small shifts in routines, environment, and role clarity that restore energy and purpose, leaving with an actionable plan to create a more sustainable counseling practice.
Lead Presenter: Ashley Warren
Learn how brain science can transform the way school counselors teach emotional regulation and executive functioning skills. This session provides practical Tier 2 strategies, engaging activities, and simple explanations of how the brain responds to stress, focus, and decision-making. Participants will leave with ready-to-use ideas for classroom lessons, small groups, and individual counseling.
Lead Presenter: Alma Dominguez-Barrios
This session highlights a scalable approach to implementing Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) across secondary campuses. Participants will explore three strategies: a shared monthly advisory schedule, structured lunch bunch initiatives to promote connection, and Tier 1 SEL supports that create safe, supportive spaces. Attendees will leave with practical tools, sample schedules, and strategies adaptable to their campuses.
Lead Presenter: Mynda Rivera
Looking to elevate your small group counseling program? This interactive session provides school counselors with practical strategies for designing and facilitating effective small groups for students at every developmental stage from early childhood through high school. Learn how to identify student needs, group students effectively, and implement engaging, age-appropriate activities. Explore tips for managing group dynamics, tracking progress, and ensuring meaningful outcomes.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Duer
This session dives into an uncomfortable truth: for many of us, stress isn’t just something we manage, it’s something we actively choose. Grounded in trauma-informed practice and neuroscience, this session uncovers the missing piece of stress management: why your nervous system may actually crave urgency and overcommitment. Participants will learn how trauma and chronic stress can wire the brain and body to crave chaos and how to break this cycle. This won’t be just another self-care strategy.
Lead Presenter: Jennifer Moore
Executive Functions (EFs) are the brain’s management skills for self-control, planning, and focus. This presentation provides a clear understanding of EFs and how deficits impact success in daily life, work, and school. Attendees will gain practical, evidence-based strategies to strengthen student EFs in through multiple delivery components from the Texas Model to help students improve focus and master self-regulation to achieve goals more effectively.
Lead Presenter: Sherrie Smith
School counselors spend their days helping students and staff grow—but who helps counselors recharge? This interactive session explores burnout prevention, compassion fatigue, and practical wellness strategies so the leader in you can glow. Participants will leave with brain-based tools, reflection activities, and a personalized plan to restore, refocus, and renew so they can continue helping students and staff thrive.
Lead Presenter: Amanda Schmidt
School counselors can support student mental health through innovative, evidence-based practices such as how animal-assisted interventions help students “glow” emotionally while fostering “growth” in coping, resilience, and connection. Participants will learn practical ways to incorporate therapy dogs, including partnerships with certified organizations, to deliver responsive services during crises, high-stress periods, and ongoing social/emotional development aligned with ASCA standards.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Lerner
Solution Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC) is an excellent modality to support students with short-term individual counseling in the school setting. It is an effective tier 2 intervention that fits perfectly within the role and scope of the school counselor. This program provides counselors with a blueprint for planning, facilitating, and ending 4 SFBC sessions. Participants in this program will learn various strategies and activities that they can use in their own individual counseling sessions.
Lead Presenter: Jenipher Janek
The October 15th TEA selection window requires chosen districts to submit 80/20 documentation by November 15th each year. This session features ESC Region 12’s Jeni Janek, who shares expert experience guiding schools through TEA submissions with integrity. Using Countsel—the app built according to the Texas Model—you’ll learn to track time in real-time and generate audit-ready reports with one click. Stop the scramble and start tracking efficiently with Jeni Janek and the precision of Countsel.
Lead Presenter: Brooke Scoggins
Graduation and CCMR do not follow a one-size-fits-all model. Learn how this large high school’s counselor-administrator collaboration with teachers, parents, students and district staff to get to 99% of 2026 Seniors earning at least one CCMR indicator. We will share how our comprehensive counseling program supported our CIP and DIP goals and every decision was student centered for their success after graduation. Tips, Tools and immediate takeaways for your program.
Lead Presenter: Summer Martin
Data shows what is happening; advocacy explains why it matters. Learn how to use academic, attendance, behavior, transcript, and program data to identify student needs, uncover root causes, and drive meaningful change. Through real-world examples and the See It, Strengthen It, Share It, Scale It framework, participants will gain practical strategies to strengthen school counseling programs, support student success, and create sustainable systems that help all learners thrive.
Lead Presenter: Janis Roberson
Adept school counselors recognize that their power comes from being intentional; they navigate challenges efficiently and seize opportunities to make each interaction with their students count. When demands extend beyond counseling duties, how can one glow through periods of growth? This session will share data-driven strategies to enhance the effectiveness of school counselors, including ideas for guidance lessons and informal assessments to support students.
Lead Presenter: Bernell Elzey
Black youth are often misdiagnosed with ADHD and ODD, leading to exclusionary discipline and increased risk of involvement in the school-to-prison pipeline. This session supports school counselors in growing their awareness of bias and strengthening culturally responsive practices. Participants will learn to address misdiagnosis, implement supportive interventions, and advocate for equitable systems that help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Lead Presenter: Angela Reid Matlock
When student behavior becomes challenging, we often focus on changing the student instead of examining the systems surrounding them. This session explores behavior through behavior science, MTSS, trauma-informed practice, prevention, and data. Participants will learn practical strategies for examining environments, adult responses, skill deficits, and communication needs while strengthening prevention, teaching replacement behaviors, and creating systems educators can realistically sustain.
Lead Presenter: Jane Kim
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping education, yet many schools lack clear guidance for responsible implementation. This session explores how AI and engagement-driven technologies affect student development, mental health, relationships, and equity in schools. Drawing from research, developmental psychology, and lessons from rapid digital adoption during COVID, participants will gain practical frameworks to help schools approach AI with greater clarity, balance, and confidence.
Lead Presenter: Erin Gutierrez
This presentation uses Stranger Things as a framework to explore school counseling concepts, including trauma, student behavior, and family dynamics. It highlights how unresolved trauma (“the Upside Down”) impacts students and counselors, emphasizing connection, self-awareness, and support systems as key to preventing emotional crisis and promoting student well-being.
Lead Presenter: Michelle Calhoun
Today’s educators carry increasing emotional demands while supporting students through academic, behavioral, and mental health challenges. This session explores the impact of educator stress, compassion fatigue, and school climate on overall well-being. Participants will learn practical strategies to strengthen resilience, improve workplace culture, support staff wellness, and create healthier, more supportive learning environments for both students and educators.
Lead Presenter: Bridget Dooley
Chronic absenteeism is more than an attendance issue. It is a key predictor of academic achievement, graduation, and postsecondary success. This interactive session explores how educators can combat absenteeism by strengthening students’ social-emotional competencies (SEC), belonging, and future readiness. Participants will learn how SEC can signal attendance risk and protect against disengagement, while gaining practical strategies to build resilience, decision-making, and sustained engagement.
Lead Presenter: Danette Jewell
Looking for resources and activities to incorporate with your elementary small group lessons? Join us as we model a variety of activities and resources to make your Tier 2 instruction engaging and meaningful for students. We will emphasize methods for fostering connections as we share practical ideas. You will leave with ideas and resources to take back to your school and use immediately!
Lead Presenter: Kamilah Antoine
Conflict is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to disrupt learning or relationships. In this interactive session, school counselors will experience a Harmony conflict resolution lesson as students would and explore strategies for regulating emotions, communicating effectively, and repairing relationships.
Lead Presenter: Kiala Albright
From recognizing when a student may need additional mental health support to navigating what comes next, this session provides school counselors with a practical roadmap. Through a realistic student case study, participants will explore the continuum of care, strategies for navigating family conversations, addressing barriers to treatment, and collaborating with students, families, school teams, and providers to coordinate appropriate support.
Lead Presenter: Alani Staples
School counselors are doing meaningful work every day while navigating competing demands and expectations. But how do you know what students need, what is working, and where to focus next? This session explores practical ways to use data to connect student needs with intentional action and evidence of change. Participants will gain strategies to make informed decisions, strengthen advocacy, and show how school counseling contributes to meaningful outcomes for students.
Lead Presenter: Heather Gonzales
Career Ready Starts Today introduces engaging, developmentally appropriate strategies for elementary school career exploration. This session highlights career days, job exploration activities, career-focused lessons, and interactive dress-up days that build career awareness, goal setting, and future readiness skills in young learners. Participants will leave with practical ideas to promote college and career readiness through fun, hands-on counseling activities for elementary students.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Lerner
Student crisis prevention is a critical function of school counseling programs. This training equips counselors with clear, proactive guidance for crisis prevention, emphasizing early identification, intentional planning, and targeted intervention. Participants will explore evidence-based strategies to embed prevention into guidance lessons, small groups, and campus systems. By strengthening preventative practices, counselors can create safer school environments that support student well-being.
Lead Presenter: Linda Tyree
Are you prepared to support your school or district when a crisis occurs? It’s not a matter of IF schools will face the death or serious injury of a student or staff member, but WHEN. What if that crisis involves multiple students or staff like an act of violence or natural disaster? Explore how decisions can support psychological healing during recovery and delve into evidence-based strategies that can minimize the traumatic impact on students and staff following a crisis event.
Lead Presenter: Dyann Wilson
Discover how Google Gemini can give you valuable time back! This hands-on session offers a practical, step-by-step introduction to Gemini, highlighting essential prompt engineering techniques for reliable results. Learn to seamlessly integrate AI into your daily workflow to draft communications, streamline planning, and organize resources. You’ll leave with actionable strategies to simplify your workload and reclaim time for what matters most in your classroom.
Lead Presenter: Sarah Thrash
School counselors often balance scheduling, mental health support, and countless “other duties as assigned,” leaving limited time for CCMR conversations. This session focuses on working smarter, not harder, through scalable CCMR systems and ready-to-use resources. Participants will explore grade-level guides, scholarship toolkits, college application one-pagers, military enlistment resources, and practical strategies that save time while increasing student and family support.
Lead Presenter: Rebecca Ponder
Discover practical, engaging, and realistic ways to “glow up” your middle school college and career readiness program! This session will highlight easy-to-implement CCR activities, leadership opportunities, career exploration ideas, and systems that help students grow in confidence, purpose, and future readiness. Walk away with meaningful strategies you can immediately use on your campus to help students shine now and in the future.
Lead Presenter: Angelica Bailon
The death of a loved one can significantly impact a student’s emotional well-being & their ability to thrive academically. During such difficult times, it is critical that students know they are not alone. Through our Grief Care Kit initiative, we created meaningful tools and resources to provide support including: a series of grief circles, education regarding regulation strategies and other ways to support students and families as they move through one of the most difficult times in their lives.
Lead Presenter: Juliana Kroft
Glow up your counseling game with free tools from google suite! Learn how to use google sites, drawings, forms, and more to up engagement, streamline referrals, and gamify your guidance. By the end of this training, you will have the tools to create your own, interactive counseling site.
Lead Presenter: Kathleen Points
The thought of starting campus Lunch Bunch groups on campus can seem overwhelming to counselors. How can you fit it all in and make it meaningful to students? How can you get buy in from administrators who might want you to do lunch duty at that time? I have research-based motivation for the busy counselor along with starter tips and ready-made lessons to make Lunch Bunch the best part of a counselor’s day!
Lead Presenter: Eboni Simmons
This session introduces the RESET Framework, a practical, trauma-informed approach to support student regulation, behavior, and counselor wellness. Participants will learn strategies to recognize dysregulation, implement in-the-moment supports, and establish routines that improve student outcomes while reducing burnout. Designed for school counselors, this session provides tools that can be applied immediately in real-world school settings.
Lead Presenter: Summer Martin
School counselors face growing challenges as budget cuts, staffing reductions, and increasing student needs impact their work. This session provides practical strategies for leading through uncertainty, documenting program impact, developing counselor leadership, and sustaining student support services. Participants will gain tools to advocate effectively, build resilience, and maintain hope while continuing to serve students and strengthen school counseling programs.
Lead Presenter: LaTrenda Watson
Step into a thoughtful conversation around student well-being. Discover how the Texas Statewide Plan for Student Mental Health is strengthening schools through collaboration, practical strategies, and meaningful impact. Join us to learn, share, and gain insights as we work together to support students across Texas.
Lead Presenter: Lauren Discher
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will showcase how My Texas Future and Direct Admissions are improving college and career exploration for middle and high school students. My Texas Future offers career exploration, program comparisons, and student-friendly content. The session will also highlight Direct Admissions, Texas’s statewide initiative supporting seamless college enrollment, along with updates on new features, graduation requirements, and classroom integration strategies.
Lead Presenter: Celeste Graham
This session explores how schools can move beyond compliance-driven special education practices to create transformative systems that prepare students with disabilities for meaningful postsecondary success. Grounded in the interconnected pillars of advocacy, academics, and outreach, this session will provide participants with actionable strategies to strengthen transition planning and college and career readiness outcomes.
Lead Presenter: Dyann Wilson
Go beyond traditional displays and explore creative ways to celebrate student and staff success with digital shout-outs. This session highlights how tools like Canva, Adobe Express, and Google Sites can be used to recognize achievements, boost morale, and build community. You’ll leave with practical ideas and templates to create engaging, shareable celebrations that spotlight the great things happening on your campus.
Lead Presenter: Monica Lyon
Adolescents often experience complex emotions that are difficult to articulate verbally. This interactive session introduces a movement-based approach designed to help youth develop emotional awareness, expression, and self-regulation through mindful body movement. Drawing from principles of Dance/Movement Therapy, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral concepts, and polyvagal-informed regulation strategies, participants will experience practical, school-based activities that promote emotional intelligence.
Lead Presenter: Lauryn Rutherford
Counselors will learn how to approach guidance in a way that enhances collaboration with staff by using feedback through needs-assessments to plan and deliver high-quality, engaging guidance lessons.
Lead Presenter: Teresa Howard
Art and school counseling go hand in hand. Explore different ways to integrate art into your guidance lessons, small groups, and even individual counseling sessions. We will dig into different ideas from counselors like Daniel Alvarez in this hands-on experience. Get ready to be creative!
Lead Presenter: Robin Fishman
The hardest calls rarely come with a clean answer. A student asks you to keep a secret. A parent wants to know. The law points one way and your instincts point another. This session looks at where the law sets the floor and ethics reach higher, why worn-down counselors make riskier calls, and what standard of care really means when something goes wrong. You will leave with the Pause, Consult, Act, Reflect model and a reminder that you were never meant to navigate these moments alone.
Lead Presenter: Miranda Galvan
The social/emotional needs of a classroom are great, AND educators are still human. In this session, we will discuss initiating professional development focused on educator emotional regulation, review presentation elements most beneficial to educators, and examine how to foster mental wellness within your school community as school counselors.
Lead Presenter: Zoraya Holmes
This interactive session will provide school counselors with practical strategies and best practices for increasing inclusion and participation across guidance lessons, small groups, and schoolwide counseling activities. Participants will explore ways to remove barriers to access, increase student voice, implement culturally responsive counseling practices, and create meaningful opportunities for engagement for all students.
Lead Presenter: Stacy Owens
Want to make your counseling lessons on stress and anxiety more engaging and effective? Discover fun, trauma-informed strategies using music, movement, mindfulness, and hands-on activities to help students build coping skills and emotional regulation. Grounded in TBRI and creative counseling practices, this interactive session will provide ready-to-use ideas for counselors working with students in grades 1–12.
Lead Presenter: Jared Gavin
When a student or staff member dies, schools must respond with both urgency and care. This session presents a comprehensive framework for school grief and crisis response covering notification protocols, crisis team structure, student triage, grief support groups, and staff wellness. Attendees will leave with practical tools and strategies ready for immediate implementation.
Lead Presenter: Karina Garcia
Academic counseling with a purpose equips school counselors to move beyond course selection and graduation checklists toward intentional, student-centered guidance. This approach focuses on helping students define clear educational, career, and personal goals while deepening their understanding of their strengths, interests, and long-term aspirations. When counseling is purposeful and strategic, students make informed decisions and remain engaged throughout their academic journey.
Lead Presenter: Michelle Calhoun
School counselors are often among the first professionals to recognize concerning student behaviors and emotional distress. This session explores the counselor’s role in behavioral threat assessment, crisis response, and prevention efforts within K–12 schools. Participants will gain practical strategies for identifying concerns, supporting multidisciplinary teams, strengthening interventions, and increasing preparedness while maintaining trauma-informed, student-centered practices.
Lead Presenter: Bernell Elzey
Black youth are often misdiagnosed with ADHD and ODD, leading to exclusionary discipline and increased risk of involvement in the school-to-prison pipeline. This session supports school counselors in growing their awareness of bias and strengthening culturally responsive practices. Participants will learn to address misdiagnosis, implement supportive interventions, and advocate for equitable systems that help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Lead Presenter: Jessie Gilliland
This presentation highlights how to design and implement a meaningful, engaging elementary career fair that sparks curiosity and builds early career awareness. The session will walk through practical steps for planning a successful event, including integrating Career and Technical Education pathways, recruiting community partners, and creating interactive, age-appropriate experiences. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use ideas, resources, and strategies.
Lead Presenter: Linda Metcalf
No matter who walks into your office or what problem they bring, you are one conversation away from making a difference.
This fast-paced, practical session shows how the Solution-Focused approach can be used with students, teachers, parents, and teams across your school. Learn how to shift from problem talk to solution talk by asking questions that create change, even in high-stress moments. You’ll leave with ready-to-use language, adaptable strategies, and excitement.
Lead Presenter: Coby Dycus
Elementary students thrive when physical health and mental health are taught in connection. This interactive session brings together school counseling and physical education to explore how co‑teaching can strengthen both academic and wellness outcomes. Participants will learn how to design and deliver lessons that simultaneously address Physical Education TEKS and the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs Standards for guidance curriculum.
Lead Presenter: Ana Pereira-Murphy
This session examines therapy dogs as a school social work intervention to support student mental health, engagement, and emotional regulation. Participants will learn practical strategies for implementation across individual and group settings. Emphasis is placed on developing clear policies to ensure safety for students, handlers, and therapy dogs, including consent, risk management, and animal welfare.
Lead Presenter: Schavonda Burton-Johnson
T-SCESS can help manage the demands in the workplace & allow you to reduce your levels of stress. This presentation will help mental health professionals to pinpoint personal or professional needs and stressors, protect their mental health and create positive working relationships by incorporating T-SCESS. They will also be encouraged to engage in simple strategies to create work/life balance.
Lead Presenter: Rebekah dePeo-Christner
This engaging, high-impact session helps educators decode challenging student behaviors through a trauma-informed lens. Participants will uncover how trauma and chronic stress shape the developing brain, often showing up as dysregulation, withdrawal, or defiance that can easily be misunderstood. The session reveals how connection and regulation unlock learning and offers practical, easy-to-use strategies to build trust and de-escalate behavior in the moment.
Lead Presenter: Krystel Santiago
School Counselors balance student support, SEL lessons, parent communication, documentation, data, and campus responsibilities while often feeling overwhelmed and short on time. This practical session will show counselors how to use AI ethically and responsibly to streamline repetitive tasks, improve organization, support counseling program implementation, and save time while maintaining meaningful student connections.
Lead Presenter: Christina Shaw
Starting at a new school can feel overwhelming, isolating, and emotionally dysregulating for students, especially those managing stress, transitions, or loss. This session equips school counselors with a relationship-centered, trauma-informed framework for creating intentional systems that support new students socially, emotionally, and academically. Participants will learn how to move beyond traditional orientation practices and instead build counseling-driven structures that promote belonging.
Lead Presenter: Robin Terry
Are your students truly available to learn? Are hidden barriers dimming their potential? To glow with success, a school must first ensure its students are primed to grow academically. This session provides a comprehensive deep dive into the Student Support Framework (SSF) vetted by TEA, illuminating the essential actions required to move students from “present” to “ready.” We will explore how to brighten student outcomes by applying the nine SSF levers.
Lead Presenter: Amanda McDonald
In this high-energy session, we will explore simple, school-wide strategies to introduce college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) at the elementary level all while getting students excited about their future “glow.” You will leave with practical, plug-and-play projects that you can implement immediately to spark curiosity, build awareness, and cultivate a vibrant culture of future readiness on your campus.
Lead Presenter: Maggie Alexander
Do you ever wonder how to grow your Guidance at a larger school? Do you feel like you’re not reaching enough students or don’t know how to reach more students effectively? This session will give you practical tools and ideas for how to grow your Guidance for both college and career readiness as well as overall student wellness. In addition the presentation will outline how to reach parents/stakeholders in a more effective way. Come Grow your Guidance with us this year!
Lead Presenter: Kim Wright
AI isn’t coming for your job, it’s coming for your to-do list. In this session, Uplift Education leaders share how they are reimagining the counselor role in an era of intelligent automation. Learn how AI-enabled workflows can reduce administrative burden, surface student needs faster, and create more space for empathy, advocacy, and real student connection. Walk away with practical strategies and a district-level framework for approaching AI in CCMR work with both innovation and care.
Lead Presenter: Ashley Luhrs
When crisis disrupts a school community, what happens next matters. School counselors play a critical role in both immediate response and long-term recovery. Grounded in real experience, this session shows how one high school counseling team moved from reactive crisis response to proactive, campus-wide leadership through visibility, collaboration, and data-driven systems, offering a practical framework to rebuild connection, safety, and culture.
Lead Presenter: Sandra Benavidez
Becoming a globally competent professional school counselor begins with knowledge. Learn best practices that ensure you are equipped to support the cultural, wellbeing, and academic needs of global students. Global students can be newcomers, foreign exchange, or even US born students who are impacted by mixed status families. Professional school counselors are advocates for all students. Come learn something new to level up your global competency!
Lead Presenter: Denise Toro
Led by “The Rapping School Counselor,” this interactive session blends rhythm, movement, music, and neuroscience into practical, evidence-based strategies that help stressed brains grow and find their flow. Participants will experience tapping, beat-based regulation routines, movement resets, and music-infused counseling tools they can immediately use in classrooms, small groups, and responsive services to strengthen student regulation, resilience, focus, connection, and readiness to learn.
Lead Presenter: Patrice Gray
Learning isn’t always easy! In fact, struggle and stepping outside our comfort zones are when we learn the most. However, when things get tough, it’s natural for students to retreat, fear failure, shut down, and miss the growth that comes through productive struggle. Let’s explore how students can reframe frustration into opportunities for learning and achieve their ultimate “glow up!” Gain tools to help students embrace challenges and support teachers in creating a safe-to-fail culture.
Dyann Wilson:
Discover how AI can help school counselors make sense of student data and strengthen decision-making. In this session, participants will learn how to use simple AI tools to analyze trends in academics, attendance, and social-emotional data, turning insights into actionable strategies. Walk away with practical ways to enhance needs assessments, set meaningful goals, and confidently use data to drive your comprehensive counseling program.
John Burnett:
Learn how to use AI as your everyday assistant to save time and reduce workload. This session explores practical, beginner-friendly tools that support lesson planning, parent communication, student interventions, and program organization. Participants will gain ready-to-use strategies and templates that streamline daily tasks, allowing counselors to focus more on direct student support and less on time-consuming paperwork.
Nwakae Oriji:
This session gives counselors a clear August–May guide for building and sustaining a comprehensive program. Participants learn exactly what to prioritize each month, how to pace their work, and how to naturally align their actions with TSCESS expectations. Attendees leave with a printable roadmap, monthly guidance, and a renewed sense of direction and confidence.
📧 lsssca@ncyi.org
📞 866.318.6294
National Center for Youth Issues
ATTN: LSSSCA
P.O. Box 22185
Chattanooga, TN 37422-2185
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All intellectual property rights in and to the Lone Star State School Counselor Association (LSSSCA) Annual Conference (“the Event”), the content and all materials distributed at or in connection with the Event are owned by LSSSCA and/or the Event sponsors or speakers presenting at the Event. You may not use or reproduce or allow anyone to use or reproduce any trademarks or other trade names appearing at the Event, in any Event content and/or in any materials distributed at or in connection with the Event for any reason without the prior written permission of LSSSCA or the presenting speaker.
