Bringing the MA Model to Life By CHRISTINE EVANS MASCA 2007 Counselor of the Year
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n June of this year, I had a meeting with the superintendent of the East Bridgewater Public Schools to discuss the offer I received to come on board as the new Director of Guidance and Student Support Services. During the meeting, we talked about the need for a comprehensive school counseling program and for sharing our vision about what it could
accomplish for the students in the district. The meeting concluded with my accepting the offer. This was the beginning of a challenge: transforming the school counseling program at East Bridgewater High School into a proactive program that addresses the needs of all students, in terms of their academic, personal/social, and career growth.
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Since that first meeting, I have participated in many more meetings — most of them with the building administrators — to define and focus the direction and goals of the school counseling program. The school district is looking to me for leadership in designing and putting into action a developmentally appropriate and comprehensive school counseling and support program. By sending me to the MA Model Implementation Institute in July, they demonstrated their commitment to this goal. Our mission is to reach every student. And as I share with the administrators, staff, and community the value of what we are doing and how it helps students succeed, we are gaining the support needed to make the vision a reality. Key elements in the process have been leadership and collaboration. Leadership has involved making a consistent effort to communicate early and often with all stakeholders about what we are doing, how it impacts students, and what needs to be done in the future. Our communication has included faculty meetings, department meetings, school committee meetings, newsletters, and even conversations in the faculty room. Another key element is collaboration. The initial meetings we held with central office administrators, the building administrator, and the counseling staff helped to lay the foundation. Then, through continued collaboration, we set about working out the details of the program. With the framework in place, we gained the support of faculty and support staff in the building. This was crucial for planning classroom visits and coordinating our objectives. We also collaborated with middle school and elementary school counselors and their building administrators, discussing common concerns and focusing on how to better serve our students. Already, we are seeing the results of this partnership. By sharing with the faculty, all those involved have remained focused on the purpose of helping students realize their potential. We have also worked to formalize and streamline processes and procedures around ADA acCOUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK
