As Senior Director of Professional Learning for Hatching Results, Terri Tchorzynski leads a team of nationally recognized trainers and consultants who work with school counselors and administrators across the country to develop comprehensive, data-informed programs that are centered on supporting the needs of ALL students. Prior to Terri’s current role with Hatching Results, she served 18 years in education as both a high school English teacher and school counselor. As a practicing school counselor, she led her department in becoming one of the first schools in the state of Michigan to become a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) and was named by the American School Counselor Association as the 2017 National School Counselor of the Year. As Terri travels the country to support the development of comprehensive school counseling programs, she continues to fuel her passions for both career development and the state of school counseling in Michigan as most recently having served as an Advisory Panel Member for the US Department of Education Office of Career and Technical Education, as well as the President of the Michigan School Counselor Association.
Over the last few years it has become evident that the plates of school counselors across the nation have become increasingly full of challenges, such as staff shortages, increased mental health needs for adults and students, increased rates of truancy, decreased rates of academic achievement, and a noticeable lack of social skills and conflict resolution across all developmental stages. This list could go on!
Redesigning our systems to be more proactive is an essential part of breaking the cycle of reactivity that oftentimes leads to burnout and frustrations. Discover frameworks, strategies, and best practices that will leave you feeling empowered to embrace new concepts that may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first, but might be exactly the new approach that is needed to transform our student supports to be more comprehensive across all service providers, preventative in practice, and inclusive of ALL students.
Ripple effects are created by small disruptions that have the power and potential to continue to spread far beyond the starting point. In education, we are given daily opportunities to begin ripple effects with our students that have the power and potential to transcend the walls of our schools and positively impact their life trajectory. These are opportunities that we should not take lightly and should be done with thoughtfulness and intentionality.
Discover proactive strategies that are designed to reimagine systems and processes that are centered on student outcomes. From the integration of student mental health and well-being to academic achievement, to transformational teaming that is centered on data-informed decisions, to the development of a multi-tiered system of support that is designed to meet the needs of ALL students. Each of these strategies will encourage us to think differently about how we can best support the students we serve and is centered around this guiding question – “what ‘ripple effects’ are you hoping to start with your students and how do you hope they spread far beyond the walls of our schools?”
Recent increased focus on social-emotional learning and student mental health and well-being in our schools has generated some concerns over less time spent in college/career readiness when college enrollment rates are steadily decreasing and employment needs are at an all-time high. Discover developmentally appropriate ways to expand SEL competencies to strengthen non-cognitive factors across grades K-12 to increase intentionality around equitable postsecondary access for all students. Infusing SEL to strengthen college/career readiness support is a proactive approach to developing confident and emotionally healthy college and career ready students, regardless of the postsecondary path they desire.
Whether you are a new or an experienced counselor, it is always valuable to build your leadership potential and advocacy skills for not only your students, but also for the school counseling profession. Move your program to the next level by focusing on strategies and best practices around the American School Counselor Association themes of leadership, advocacy, collaboration and systemic change. The ability to develop and embed these themes into your program will empower you to be just as strong of an advocate for the profession as you are for your students. What are you waiting for? Your students and profession are ready for you to reach your full leadership and advocacy potential to offer best practices that are truly supportive of student success.
The true “magic” of the counseling profession occurs when professionals are able to capitalize on the inherent art of building trusting relationships through providing reflective listening and inquiry with the science of using data and evidencebased strategies. Unfortunately, it is the science of the profession that tends to provide more of a challenge, but can be the difference-maker in informing your practice to better serve your students. Learn proactive data-driven strategies to ensure your inherent intentions around your school counseling services align to your desired impact on student outcomes.
