Nominations For RISCA Board Of Directors
Openings in the next term of the board of directors are being accepted now. Download a nomination form here. All nomination forms must be received by March 10th 2010.

Nomination Forms for the 2010 Counselor of the Year
Nomination forms for the 2010 Counselor of the Year are being accepted now. Download a nomination form here. All nomination forms must be received by June 11th 2010.

We have celebrated 10 years of RISCA! Congratulations to all those who have been with us from the start. You have given us a remarkable legacy and continue to contribute to the effort of carrying it forward. We, who have joined you, commit our support to build on that legacy and move the Rhode Island School Counselor Association to the next level.

Rhode Island school counselors have learned to be collaborators with school departments, local, state and national organizations and especially with each other as we have kept ourselves, our co-workers and administrators informed on issues of educational reforms and requirements that affect students. We have had an impact on how those reforms and requirements have played out in our districts. We have written curriculum, created Individual Learning Plan documents and introduced students to www.waytogoRI.org as part of their career education process.

Rhode Island school counselors have been the advocates in their districts and have encouraged and helped sustain the necessary systemic change needed to see students "Graduate with Proficiency". We have collaborated with faculty to develop systems of personalization and lead professional development to sustain that initiative.

We are unique in the nation. We have a counselor-in-residence at Providence College. Belinda Wilkerson has kept us informed of state and national trends; she has put us at the table of those who would decide how those trends would play in Rhode Island, and she has brought to us some of the most remarkable professional development for which we could ask.

We are in the forefront as educators in that we acknowledge the need to document our effectiveness using data. We acknowledge that opinions and individual cases are not enough to verify a successful program.

In part because our state is small, we have accomplished a great deal in ten years and our accomplishments are known nation-wide. Due to our fame, Pat Nailor, our organization's first president, and Karl Squier consult across the nation and in Europe, sharing the protocols that we have developed. Belinda Wilkerson is often sought out for her knowledge of comprehensive school counseling or her skill in collaboration.

Now we are entering our second decade and the work goes on unabated. Our first task is to form a strong collaboration with the new commissioner of education, Commissioner Gist. Our 2009 Fall Conference will give us the first opportunity to hear her vision of education in Rhode Island and connect to that vision.

RISCA will once again lead counselors in the work of: advocating for students, helping students to deal with emergencies, helping students to set goals and make plans for their future; helping students set the educational course that will get them to their goal, giving students the tools to live well rounded lives, and collecting the data to prove the success of our efforts.

Thank you to all the members of Rhode Island School Counselor Association who have been working so hard to accomplish these goals. Our challenge is to support and help all school counselors to reach the same level of success. There is much to be done and we need everyone's help. If you are not yet involved with RISCA, please join us, as many hands make light work. Starting with the Fall Conference, continuing at our board meetings and through the list serv, take every opportunity to contribute in small ways or great ways. We will "LIGHT THE WAY". You can make the light brighter!

Looking forward to a brilliant year,

Donna Tobin, President
Rhode Island School Counselor Association