MASCA
Counselor’s Notebook
MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION
Vol. 60, No. 10
JUNE 2024
525,600 Minutes of Service By Melinda Cripps, MASCA 2023-2024 Board Chair and Director of School Counseling, Billerica High School
This month wraps up my year as the MASCA Board Chairperson. It has honestly been time well spent, for so many reasons. Those that know me know that I am a complete RENThead. If you’re not familiar with this term, it is a person who is very passionate about the musical RENT, almost to the level of a cultlike following. Most of my life philosophy comes from this show, and I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes from the production and how they have directly tied into my experience with MASCA. As the musical prompts, “525,600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year?” Here’s how I measure my 525,600 minutes of leadership service in MASCA: “Only thing to do is jump over the moon”: In early spring of 2023, our Executive Director of MASCA called me up. “Mindy, I have this idea. Hear me out. What about a summer camp for school counsel-
Inside this Issue: Directory...................................2 Director's Message.....................3 5 Things I Learned.......................5 Enough Abuse Campaign...........6 Seasons ......................................7 S u m m e r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 New Members............................9 History of Success.....................10 MA Model...............................12
second SC2 this summer; consider joining us in the fun at Lasell College for a terrific and educational time. Come see why MASCA’s is a nationwide Pinnacle Award Finalist amongst school counseling associations across the country! P.s. MASCA will find out if we are chosen as the Pinnacle Award winner at the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) Conference in July.
Melinda Cripps
ors? Learning! Fun! A throwback to their childhood while upscaling it to a fun and exciting adult event for a few days, held at a college so that they can relive their college experience. I think if we build it, they will come.” Gathering a group together, and installing Ali Robidoux as the chairperson of the first School Counselor Summer Camp (or SC2 as we lovingly called it) was just the beginning. We aimed high and said we would shoot for the moon. We had hoped for 30 participants. In the end, we had 61 participants, many of which were on scholarship from the generosity of colleges funding opportunities for counselors across the state and from various demographics. SC2 is one of the highlights that MASCA accomplished this year. MASCA and the committee dreamed big with creating SC2, shot for the moon, and we got there! We can’t wait for our
“Anywhere else you could possibly go after New York would be a pleasure cruise”: While it might not be New York, New Jersey has always held questionable luck for me, until last October. I had the opportunity to attend a conference in New Jersey with other MASCA leaders, and we combined with other school counseling associations from the Northeast for some exciting networking and learning opportunities. My favorite part was when an older, retired gentleman gave a presentation on Generative AI. My first thought was, “Am I really going to learn something new about technology from an older gentleman who is retired?”, and my second thought was, “oh no, AI is not for me. It’s scary, and I don’t even want to explore it.” I was so wrong, AI is amazing when used carefully! I always leave conferences with little nuggets of wisdom on how I can adjust and improve my practice, and to my delight, I returned to my office with a powerful new tool to support my work in ways I never (continued on page 4)