March 15-17, 2026
Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center
Framingham, MA
We hope to see you next year!
Lead Presenter: Amanda Berg
It is never too early to teach and learn about antiracism. Utilizing excerpts from Little Learners, Big Hearts and Advancing Empathy and Equity in Early Childhood Education, participants will learn ways to further antibias conversations through children’s literature, cultural practices, and family engagement. A framework for differentiated staffing supports and mindful compassionate practices are included through our tiered system.
Lead Presenter: Bethany Nichols
Discover how comprehensive Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) can strengthen school-based mental and behavioral health services. This session offers strategies to enhance coordination between school and community agencies, empowering mental health professionals to improve student outcomes. Engage in hands-on activities, discussions, and problem-solving exercises to reflect on current systems and identify actionable steps for improvement.
Lead Presenter: Danielle Duarte
Teaching school counseling lessons is an essential part of comprehensive school counseling programs, supporting students’ academic, social-emotional, and postsecondary development. Creating engaging lessons ensures all students develop attitudes, knowledge, and skills to support their success. This interactive session will teach participants ways to plan, implement, and evaluate counseling lessons while using a variety of student engagement strategies. Attendees will learn and practice different active participation techniques and will leave with a plan to incorporate strategies into future lessons.
Lead Presenter: Lisa Harney
This session will provide information about the new policy that ensures all middle school students are made aware of, and gain exposure to, all high school options in their district and regionally especially career technical education (CTE) and agriculture schools. We will also demonstrate how MyCAP is a vehicle for ensuring full implementation of the policy.
Lead Presenter: Tim Poynton
Massachusetts and many parts of the country are experiencing a school counselor shortage. MASCA’s Research and Evaluation committee conducted a study to understand the pathways MASCA members pursued to become school counselors to identify actions to take to address the shortage. If you are interested in understanding and contributing to supporting the next generation of school counselors in Massachusetts, this session is for you!
Lead Presenter: Jennifer Bullard
This session will highlight some of the challenges that EL students may face in planning for their future following high school. Strategies will be offered to help mitigate those challenges at all stages of the process. Particular areas of focus will include building background and vocabulary to support understanding of college in the U.S., financial considerations, and supports and resources for a variety of pathways.
Lead Presenter: Atalay Kesli
Learn how one school redesigned the college prep timeline by launching a College Track class in junior year. Students explore admissions myths, build application materials, and apply early, with higher acceptances and aid, especially for first-gen and low-income students. Walk away with a ready-to-replicate framework that promotes equity through early, guided support.
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Lead Presenter: Melinda Cripps
LGBTQ+ students are more visible than ever—yet many still feel invisible where it matters most. This session moves beyond rainbow flags to explore the micro-moments that truly create belonging. Learn practical responses, navigate complex dilemmas, and discover how ONE supportive counselor can change everything. Walk away with tools you can use Monday morning.
Lead Presenter: Jennifer Bentno-Pinyoun
Effectively integrating MyCAP with Work-Based Learning programs allows students to gain valuable real-world experiences, schools to enhance career development opportunities, and employers to build skilled workers. This session explores the connection and practical strategies for developing and implementing a WBL program, highlighting best practices in student preparation and employer engagement, and aligning classroom learning with real-world experiences.
Lead Presenter: Juliette Coatsworth
Advocating for students comes naturally; advocating for ourselves is harder. In this session, connect with state and MTA leaders to learn practical tips, strengthen your advocacy skills, and build relationships that elevate counselor voices in the policy process, aligned with MASCA Program Audit Tool Objective 5.1.
Lead Presenter: Amanda Chung
Improving school mental health starts with understanding the existing system. In this session, participants will explore practical needs assessment tools developed by Thriving Minds to evaluate staffing, use of evidence-based practices, and MTSS structures. Participants will engage with each needs assessment tool to learn how to identify system strengths and gaps, select the right tool for their context, and use results to drive improvement.
Lead Presenter: Deborah Hempel
As school counselors, we often find ourselves having challenging conversations with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators. In this session, we will share examples of difficult conversations we have encountered, identify what makes a conversation challenging, and discuss strategies and language to use in order to navigate these situations effectively and with more confidence.
Lead Presenter: Luz Mederos-Dorleans
School counselors give so much of themselves to support students—but sustaining that work can be challenging. This session creates space to reflect, share, and build strategies for supporting one another, practicing self-care, and preventing burnout. Participants will leave with practical tools, renewed energy, and a stronger sense of community to sustain them in the profession.
Lead Presenter: Christine Scafidi
Do you use the ASCA/MA Model? Is your district using MyCAP? How can we build a comprehensive school counseling curriculum, grades 7-12, that culminates in a Senior Project, a Quarter 4 Internship experience, that utilizes all of the lessons we have shared with them. This presentation will share how you can work with your counterparts in middle and high schools to build a curriculum that leads to this incredible final experience.
Lead Presenter: Melinda Cripps
Ever lost sleep over an ethical decision? This interactive session tackles real dilemmas in the gray zone—demanding parents, social media concerns, confidentiality crises, and dual relationships. Through rapid scenarios and audience participation, you’ll gain practical tools for when ethics codes don’t provide clear answers. No lectures, just honest conversation about navigating ethical minefields with integrity intact.
Lead Presenter: Jennifer Bentno-Pinyoun
Effectively integrating MyCAP with Work-Based Learning programs allows students to gain valuable real-world experiences, schools to enhance career development opportunities, and employers to build skilled workers. This session explores the connection and practical strategies for developing and implementing a WBL program, highlighting best practices in student preparation and employer engagement, and aligning classroom learning with real-world experiences.
Lead Presenter: Lisa Harney
An early childhood/elementary component of the Department’s MyCAP model has been designed that identifies the foundational learning, the learning environments, and the experiences and activities that will support our youngest students to make connections between their academic, social-emotional learning and early concepts of community, jobs, personal strengths and interests. Join us to hear more about it from DESE and school district leaders.
Lead Presenter: Andrea Encarnacao Martin
Join a diverse panel of distinguished school counseling leaders as they share the full picture: their greatest successes, toughest challenges, and hard-won wisdom. This essential discussion validates your journey, with a special focus on affirming the experiences of counselors of color. Recharge your passion! Come listen, learn, and leave feeling valued, affirmed, and deeply inspired.
Lead Presenter: Bob Bardwell
Are you a MASCA member and wonder what we do for our members? Ever thought about getting involved, but don’t know how? In this session, you will hear from MASCA leaders who will discuss why MASCA membership is so valuable, especially now, the advantages of membership, and how to get involved, either locally or at the state level. Come learn what we do and how to take advantage of the numerous member benefits.
Lead Presenter: Yiting Yin
There is a need for school-based strategies that equip youth to regulate their digital media use. Using our evidence-based programs, this session gives counselors practices and educational content for approaching media literacy, creating interventions, and community partnerships. Grounded in youth perspectives, participants will learn how to build a resource ecosystem that supports students’ digital wellness, self-regulation, and school success.
Lead Presenter: Paul Harris
How has our understanding of neurodivergence developed over the last 10 years? What are the unique experiences of Black people when it comes to identification, diagnosis, and educational support of neurodivergent needs? The neurotypical norms on which schools often function can exacerbate the harm, shame, and frustration experienced by neurodivergent students and families in general, and Black students in particular. The session will detail strengths-based, practical steps to empower Black neurodivergent students and families and the systems that serve them.
Lead Presenter: Madison Tyler
Proactive work? No way! We were able to drastically reduce the amount of walk-in counseling sessions done in favor of RTI group counseling. Using school-wide social/emotional screener data, we developed targeted, skills-based groups, delivering wider access to skill development in our school population. This session will discuss how to implement your own “grab and go” groups by giving attendees a toolkit of group activities and interventions.
Lead Presenter: Tama Lang
This session will explore best practices in developing and implementing crisis response protocols within school districts, emphasizing coordinated communication, safety, and support. Participants will also learn how to establish and facilitate peer grief support groups, providing students with a safe space to process loss, build resilience, and foster healing through connection with their peers.
Lead Presenter: Christine Soverow
Stepping into a new counseling role can feel overwhelming—new systems, expectations, and faces. Many early-career counselors feel self-doubt or wonder, “Do I really belong here?” In this session, we’ll break down the Imposter Cycle and share practical, research-informed strategies to stop self-doubt. Walk away with tools to reframe self-talk, assess strengths, and build lasting professional confidence.
Lead Presenter: Beth Corkum
Research shows that just one accessible, boundaried, and caring adult can change the trajectory of a child’s life. Yet school counselors are often stretched thin and under pressure to be all things to all students. This session centers on how to lead with intentional relationships (using the 3 P’s) and grounded systems (using ABCS), supporting every school counselor in showing up as their best self—while ensuring every student has a pathway to success.
Lead Presenter: Christine Shaw
This presentation will focus on one case study of a school shooting event with a focus on school personnel roles and responsibilities for both prevention and crisis intervention. As a group, we will discuss the application of ethical (and legal) guidelines that may have been able to prevent this horrific event. NOTE – this is a true case and caution is advised as we will view actual documents from the event presented in court.
Lead Presenter: V. Scott Solberg
The Individualized Career Plan (ICP) Workbook and Handbook offer a scope and sequence of evidence-based career development activities that are culturally relevant and trauma-informed. The ICP curriculum is designed for counselors and practitioners working with middle and high school youth. ICP is especially relevant for youth who are re-entering school and would benefit from a Tier 3 case management approach.
Lead Presenter: NJ Rees
This interactive session will demonstrate how to find and use publicly available data and dashboards for college and career readiness, postsecondary outcomes, and career options. The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub is a free state resource for data that can help counselors advise students and improve equity and outcomes. No data experience necessary!
Lead Presenter: Anthony Jannetti
This session will review evidence supporting alternatives to punishment for student substance use and how they can be a more effective solution for addressing substance use in schools. The iDECIDE curriculum in Massachusetts will be discussed as an example, including an overview of program, discussion of facilitators and barriers to implementation, and a brief review of preliminary findings.
Lead Presenter: Kate Regal
This presentation will take a deep dive into tiered interventions, focusing on how students are identified for support, how interventions are coordinated, and how data is used to screen and monitor progress. Participants will explore resource mapping, entrance & exit criteria, and outcome measures. Support to create a menu of interventions will also be provided. You will leave with tools and strategies for a stronger Tier 2 & 3!
Lead Presenter: Marisa Howard-Karp
Relationships between school staff and families of students with disabilities can be challenging. School counselors play a key, but often overlooked, role in easing these tensions. In this session, you’ll learn how to build trust and improve communication using strategies like Plain Language Writing, helping keep everyone focused on meeting the needs of the student and helping families become true partners in supporting their child’s success.
Lead Presenter: Mark Hubbard
Mindfulness helps reduce anxiety and stress while improving mental health. It promotes healthy life choices, thoughtfulness, and gratitude, while improving mood, sleep, and general health. The Keys to Mindfulness are easy-to-use techniques that teach students how to be more present and prepared. During this interactive session, engaging mindfulness strategies will be taught, which can then be used with students, staff, and yourself.
Lead Presenter: Cynthia Jackson
There are many benefits to conducting a Program Review of your school counseling department, but what does this process include? What is this experience like for a school? Learn how MASCA provides holistic assessments of departments’ efforts to develop comprehensive programs aligned with the MA Model. Hear about findings from several Massachusetts districts and discover how your school can participate in a future program review.
Lead Presenter: Adam Seidel
Partnerships with postsecondary institutions can open doors for students at your school. Learn how to build and strengthen meaningful working relationships between high schools and postsecondary institutions to create opportunities and access for your students. In this session, OneGoal will share insights on what has and hasn’t worked and how to create lasting, effective collaborations that lead to student enrollment, persistence, and completion.
Lead Presenter: Tiffany Lewallen
This session begins by discussing frameworks for understanding culturally responsive practice and exploring identity. Building on this foundation, we will examine a structured approach for making culturally relevant adjustments to social/emotional interventions. This session will include interview clips from clinicians in the field, and participants will learn various tools that they can apply within their school communities.
Lead Presenter: Sara Runkle
Experience an IRL version of the popular School Counselor’s Desk Facebook group! This interactive presentation invites middle school counselors to bring a strategy, success, or question to share. Together we’ll exchange ideas, offer real-time feedback, and build a stronger network of support and resources.
Lead Presenter: Courtney Rau Rogers
This workshop explores how implementing a school-wide social/emotional skills tracker can be used as an MTSS intervention to increase positive social/emotional outcomes for middle school students. It examines whether regular tracking of student emotional well-being, as a Tier 1 intervention, increases students’ social-emotional well-being, and how counseling staff can use this data to tailor interventions around CASEL competencies.
Lead Presenter: Anne Thidemann French
Educator SE skills and well-being are essential for advancing student academic and SE outcomes, for enhancing educator effectiveness and resilience, and for reducing burnout and demoralization. Aligned with an MTSS framework, a systemic and sustainable approach for educator SEL and well-being will be introduced. Examples of effective strategies and supports will be discussed with an eye to our own unique roles and expertise.
Lead Presenter: Katie Thomas
The development of social/emotional awareness and regulation must be the guiding principle of an early childhood education curriculum. Due to societal pressures and push-down education, classrooms have become less child-centered in favor of academics. This workshop will explore what we can still learn from Carl Rogers and Mister Rogers about child-centered early childhood education.
Lead Presenter: Molly Jordan
Anxiety is one of the most prevalent behavioral health challenges for children and adolescents today, and anxiety has also been identified as one of the top three reasons why students struggle with attendance. This workshop will share information to increase awareness about anxiety and the relationship between anxiety and school avoidance. Practical strategies for supporting youth will be shared.
Lead Presenter: Stephanie Wells
Don’t send your students down the yellow brick road to pay their college bill without their ruby slippers. Students beginning the college search often feel they’ve entered an unfamiliar world and need help at every step of their journey. This interactive session will share resources, tools, and tips to dispel myths for students, so you can become your best Glinda and help families avoid costly decisions as they finance a college education.
National Center for Youth Issues
ATTN: MASCA
P.O. Box 22185
Chattanooga, TN 37422-2185
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