Contact info:
Name: Branson Townsend
Address: Executive Director, K - 12 Teaching and Learning
Division of Accountability, Teaching and Learning
TN Department of Education
Andrew Johnson Tower,
5th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243-0379
615-532-6254 office
615-532-8536 fax
Email:
Branson.Townsend@tn.gov
Dear School
Counselors and Administrators,
I am very happy to finally be able to
officially announce there will be a 2010
School Counselor and Administrator
Leadership Institute! We encourage
school counselors and principals to attend
this event as a team. There will be
several sessions focused on the important
role of counselors and principals
working together. Your director of schools
and central office administrators
are also more than welcome to attend.
We are also pleased to announce that the
National Center for Youth Issues
(NCYI) is co-managing this event. NCYI, a
non-profit organization, has a long
history of successful conference/event
management. I know with their
expertise and help, registration before and
at the event will run much more
smoothly than last year.
The Institute will take place February 7-9,
2010 with an additional day
February 10 for those of you interested in
learning more about Service
Learning. Service Learning is a key
component in the Tennessee Diploma
Project. The National Dropout Prevention
Center identifies service-learning as
an effective dropout prevention strategy. As
school counselors and
administrators, you will gain practical
resources and helpful suggestions to
allow you to successfully implement service
learning into your school. I hope
you all will consider staying for this
exciting addition to our regular leadership
institute.
The Murfreesboro Convention Center will host
our event again this year. You
are strongly encouraged to register and book
your hotel early. We anticipate
this event reaching capacity and there will
be NO ONSITE REGISTRATION.
For details regarding the Institute:
CLICK HERE
Registration and hotel reservation
information is included in the online
brochure to which the link above takes you.
You will see there are several
ways to register. If you have questions, you
can call NCYI at 1.800.477.8277.
The school counseling
webpage contains the TN Comprehensive
School Counseling Model and other tools
to aid you in your service to students.
Please check back regularly to find out
about new legislation, workshops and
resources that will be helpful to you.
Question: How do I access
funds to pay for professional development? Answer: Each school district has
funds (safe school, Perkins, ect.) to help school
professionals pay for professional development
training. You need to contact your district level
supervisor to discuss how you can apply to use these
funds.
Question: I am having problems with
STAR or other student information systems? Answer: Contact Lisa Howard,
Executive Director of Technology,
Lisa.Howard@state.tn.us
Question: I have questions regarding
transcript uploads with collegefortn/xap? Answer: Contact Wendy Tabor,
Wendy.Tabor@state.tn.us
Question: How do I register for the TDOE
School Counseling Institute and is it for all school
counselors? Answer: http://www.mtsu.edu/~cte/, phone: 615 898-2031,
fax: 615 898-2689, email:
cte@mtsu.edu. MTSU/CTE
handles all the registration for the school
counseling institute. The institute does have
sessions for all (K-12) school counselors in each of
the 3 domains.
Important Legislation for School Counselors Suicide Prevention: 4-96-3004 All
school professionals (7th - 12th) must have
a minimum of 2 hours suicide prevention
training each year. One possible resource to
meet this legislation is the Jason
Foundation, Linda Dunlap 615 264-2323
Lottery Scholarship Day: 49-4-932
Each LEA shall report to the department of
education (Nicole Cobb) on the required form
no later then May, 31 each year when each
school's lottery scholarship day was
conducted, the number of students
participating, the percentage of students
participating in each grade, and the
activities that occurred during that day.
LEAs shall also report when each school
conducted college admissions workshops, the
number of students participating, the
percentage of students participating in each
grade and the activities that occurred at
such workshops.
Mental Illness Training: 247-933 Such
training shall place an emphasis on
understanding the warning signs of early
on-set mental illness in children and
adolescents and may be conducted by school
counseling personnel (psychologists, social
workers, guidance counselors, health
faculty), by mental health clinicians or by
approved personnel from mental health
advocacy organizations, using curricula
approved by the department of education and
the department of mental health and
developmental disabilities.