MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 2011VOL. 48, NO. 2

MASCA

Greetings from the President

MICHELLE BURKEMASCA President

T he start of a school year is an excit-ing time for educators, students, and

parents—a time filled with anticipation,energy, and goals. On behalf of the Gov-erning Board of MASCA, I sincerely hopethat the start of your school year was arewarding and energizing experience foryou and your students as well as for theirfamilies.

MASCA is focused and ready to helpour members throughout the year as wecontinue to advocate for school coun-selors by providing leadership, collabo-ration, and professional development.Last year we made excellent progress inmany areas, and this year we look for-ward to continuing to move ahead as weembrace change and make our voicesheard. We are passionate school coun-selors who are leaders in our schools, inour profession, and in the lives of thestudents we guide, support, and encour-age every day.

MASCA’s theme this year is “It is OurTime to Shine—For Our Students, OurStakeholders and Our Profession.” Thistheme will be carried out in all that wedo throughout the year.

As we enter our 51st year as a stateschool counseling organization, we mustreflect and be grateful for all of our pastleaders, who have worked tirelessly tobring our association and profession towhere it is today as a respected and rec-

MASCA is proud to presentanother professional

development opportunity

MASCA Pre-Conference WorkshopHoliday Inn, BoxboroMonday, October 24

MASCA Fall ConferenceTuesday, October 25

See the agenda on page 12.To register, go to www.masca.org

ognized professional organization. This past summer President-Elect Jen-

nifer Lisk and I were able to representMASCA at the National Assembly ofAmerican School Counselor Associationdelegates in Seattle, Washington and againat the ASCA Leadership Development In -stitute in Savannah, Georgia.

We were proud to represent MASCAand to report on the progress our orga-nization has made over the past tenyears. We were more advanced thanmost state organizations in many areas,including professional development, stateconferences, our Counselor’s Notebook,political advocacy, the development ofand continued implementation of the MAModel for Comprehensive School Coun-seling, our partnership with our statedepartment of education (DESE), andour website.

Other state leaders were in awe of ourmany successful programs and resourcesfor our state counselors. MASCA is res -pected as one of the more active andeffective state counseling organizationsin the nation.

Recognition must be given to HelenO’Donnell (Professional Development andConferences), Sally Connolly (Counselor’sNotebook), Bob Bardwell (Advocacy andLobbying), Katie Gray (MA Model andDESE liaison) and Ron Miller (website)for their tireless efforts and high qualitywork for our organization.

I hope to see all of you at our fall con-ference on October 25 at the BoxboroHoliday Inn.

And I encourage you to join ASCA andconsider voting for our own Bob Bard-well (Monson High School) for ASCAPresident-Elect. ■

2 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

2011– 2012MASCA OFFICERS

PRESIDENTMICHELLE BURKEBeverly High School100 Sohier RoadBeverly, MA 01915-2654Tel. 978-921-6132 x11107E-mail: mburke@beverlyschools.org

PAST PRESIDENTCAROLYN RICHARDSSomerville High School81 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143Tel. 617-625-6600 x6120 • Fax 617-628-8413E-mail: crichards@k12.somerville.MA.US

PRESIDENT-ELECTJENNIFER LISKMedway High School, Medway, MA 02053Tel. 508-533-3228 x5107 • Fax 508-533-3246E-mail: lisk@medway.k12.ma.us

VICE PRESIDENT ELEMENTARYJACQUELINE BROWNEast Somerville Community School42 Prescott Street, Somerville, MA 02143Tel. 617-625-6600 x6517 • Fax 617-591-7906E-mail: jbrown@k12.somerville.ma.us

VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE / JUNIOR HIGHALBERT MERCADOStacy Middle School66 School Street, Milford, MA 01757Tel. 508-478-1181 • Fax 508-634-2370E-mail: amercado@milfordma.com

VICE PRESIDENT SECONDARYTBA

VICE PRESIDENT POSTSECONDARYJOHN MARCUSDean College99 Main Street, Franklin, MA 02038Tel. 508-541-1509 • Fax 508-541-8726E-mail: jmarcus@dean.edu

VICE PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATORSRUTH CARRIGANWhitman-Hanson Regional High School600 Franklin Street, Whitman, MA 02382Tel. 781-618-7434 • Fax 781-618-7098E-mail: ruth.carrigan@whrsd.org

VICE PRESIDENT COUNSELOR EDUCATORSTHERESA A. COOGAN, Ph.D.Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA 02325Tel. 508-531-2640E-mail: theresa.coogan@bridgew.edu

VICE PRESIDENT RETIREESRALPH SENNOTTP.O. Box 1391, Westford, MA 01886Tel. 978-692-8244E-mail: ralphsennott@hotmail.com

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORDONNA M. BROWNAdjunct Professor, UMass BostonP.O. Box 366, 779 Center StreetBryantville, MA 02327Tel. 781-293-2835E-mail: dbrownmasca@gmail.com

TREASURERASHLEY CARON25 Belmont Ave., Stoughton, MA 02072Tel. 508-212-0676E-mail: ashcicero@hotmail.com

SECRETARYJENNIFER JUST McGUIREUpper Cape Cod Regional Technical School220 Sandwich Road, Bourne, MA 02532Tel. 508-759-7711 x247 • Fax 508-759-5455E-mail: jmcguire@uppercapetech.org

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORDEBORAH CLEMENCEP.O. Box 805, East Dennis, MA 02641E-mail: membership@masca.org

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK EDITORSALLY ANN CONNOLLY19 Bayberry Road, Danvers, MA 01923Tel. 978-774-8158 • Fax 978-750-8154E-mail: sallyconnolly@att.net

OCTOBER 2011 3

October 2011

www.masca.org

Published by:Massachusetts School Counselors Association10 issues per year, September through June. The yearlysubscription rate is $30.00. Individual copies are $3.00.

Opinions expressed in the articles published herein representthe ideas and/or beliefs of those who write them and do notnecessarily reflect the views or policies of the MassachusettsSchool Counselors Association, Inc.

The acceptance of an advertisement for publication does notimply MASCA endorsement of the advertiser’s programs,services, or views expressed.

Questions concerning submission of articles, publi cationdeadlines, advertising rates, etc., should be addressed toSally Ann Connolly, Editor.

©2011 by the Massachusetts School Counselors Association.All rights reserved.

MASCA

inside4 Emerging Leaders Program Turns Five

By Bob Bardwell

6 Focus on Learning

8 Advocacy Committee UpdateBy Bob Bardwell

12 MASCA Fall Conference Agenda

13 MASCA Fall Conference Sessions

14 MASCA and Technology: An UpdateBy Joe Fitzgerald

14 In Memoriam

4 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Emerging Leaders Program Turns FiveBy BOB BARDWELLMASCA Past President

As we begin a new academic year, itis time to introduce MASCA’s four

new Emerging Leaders (ELs). They are:Marie Anderson, retired school counselor,Barnstable High School; Molly Cohen,Lynn English High School, Lynn; NicoleLuongo, Austin Prep High School, Read-ing; and Sara Runkle, Chestnut Acceler-ated Magnet School, Springfield. Theyjoin twelve previous ELs, including JennLisk, who became MASCA’s President-Elect on July 1.

The Emerging Leaders (EL) program—which was approved in 2007 by theMASCA Governing Board—seeks toiden tify potential leaders in the schoolcounseling profession in Massachusettsand to get them involved with MASCA.Emerging leaders have to be a profes-sional school counselor and MASCAmem ber; they must have a desire to giveback to our profession; and they cannothave previously served as an elected orappointed Governing Board member.

ELs are required to present at a MASCAsponsored conference, attend a Govern-ing Board meeting and one of the affili-ate meetings, join one of MASCA’s com-mittees, write articles for the Counselor’sNotebook, and participate in EL trainings.In return, they receive a free, one-yearMASCA membership, reduced conferenceregistration, and free leadership training.

Emerging Leaders 2011–2012• Marie Anderson is entering a new

phase of her career / retirement. A coun-

selor for 33 years, she served more than20 years as school counselor and de part -ment chair at Barnstable High School.While at Barnstable, Marie had a case-load of over 120 students in addition toorganizing and supervising a staff of 8-10 members. She has participated in theMA Model Institute and Advanced In sti -tute twice and created a MARC for herdepartment. In 2003 she was recipient ofthe MASCA Administrative Award, andshe has twice served as president of theCape & Islands Guidance Association.

• Molly Cohen is beginning her thirdyear as a school counselor at Lynn EnglishHigh School. She completed her under -graduate degree in sociology at the Uni-versity of Vermont and earned her schoolcounseling credentials at Salem State Uni -versity. She is involved with the MAModel Implementation Project at LynnEnglish as part of the RTTT grant. Mollyis enrolled in the Merrimack LeadershipAcademy administration preparation pro-

BOB BARDWELL

OCTOBER 2011 5

gram and expects to finish in June 2012.Prior to entering school counseling, Mollywas an English Immersion Teacher at LynnVocational Technical Institute.

• Nicole Luongo has just finished herfirst year as a ninth grade school counselorat Austin Prep in Reading. She completedher school counseling graduate work atSalem State University and her undergrad-uate degree in biology at Westfield StateUniversity. Prior to working at AustinPrep, Nicole was a science teacher at Bed -ford High School, adjunct professor atMontserrat College of Art and MiddlesexCommunity College, and Supervisor ofEducation for the MA Department ofConservation and Recreation. At AustinPrep, Nicole has been instrumental in im -plementing small group seminars, partic-ipating in Rachel’s Challenge, and usingNaviance with all of her freshmen.

• Sara Runkle, a certified school coun-selor in Connecticut and Massachusetts,is entering her second year at ChestnutAccelerated Middle School in Springfield.She earned an undergraduate degree atMinnesota State University Mankato inhumanities before earning her schoolcounseling degree at Springfield College.Before arriving at Chestnut, Sara workedas a school counselor at Robbins MiddleSchool in Farmington, Connecticut forfour years. This past year Sara was Ad -junct Professor at Springfield College,working with students in their practicumplacements. Sara has a passionate inter-est in youth issues, including youth vio-lence, social justice service learning, andyouth leadership.

This year’s Emerging Leaders will pro-vide energy and excitement for MASCAand should provide the next generationof leadership within our organization.Welcome aboard.

If you have any questions about theEmerging Leaders Program, please con-tact me at bardwellr@monsonschools.comor at 413-267-4589 x1107. ■

Renew yourMASCA membership at

www.masca.org

Mission of MASCAThe mission of MASCA is to advocate for

school counselors in the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts by providing leadership,

collaboration, and professional development.

6 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Tweets of NoteCell phone guide for tweenswww.nclnet.org/technology

What high school juniors should do to prepare for collegehttp://bit.ly/kKhNNt#education

Join us on TwitterDonna Brown

www.twitter.com/MASCAExDrSally Ann Connolly

www.twitter.com/sallyconnolly1

This or that? Choosing to learnResults of a research report make a strongcase for freedom of choice. “In an exper-iment, high school students who wereallowed to choose their homework assign -ments (covering the same material) re -ported more interest, enjoyment, andcompetence regarding their homework,and they scored higher on a subsequenttest of this material.”

— Kevin Lewis, “Uncommon Knowledge: Sur-prising Insights from the Social Sciences,”Boston Sunday Globe, October 24, 2010, K4.

The key to learning“We now know that it is possible to teachevery kid, even poor kids with wretchedhome lives, to read, write and do mathand science at respectable levels….whatmatters more than anything else in theschool is the teacher, the one person inthe building whose job has changed theleast in the past half-century.”

— Amanda Ripley, “A Call to Action for PublicSchools,” Time, September 20, 2010, 32.

Video learning aidsBill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, rec-ommends the educational videos spon-sored by the Khan Academy. The Acad-emy’s mission is to provide “a world- class education to anyone, anywhere.”To access their resources, go to www.Khanacademy.org.

— Paul Tough, “What I’ve Learned About GreatTeachers,” Parade magazine, October 24, 2010, 8.

Gateway to a careerAccording to the Pathways to ProsperityProject, a two-year study conducted byHarvard University Graduate School ofEducation, “only one-third of the jobscreated in the coming years are expectedto need a bachelor’s degree. Roughly thesame amount will need an associate’s de-gree or an occupational credential.”

— Christine Amario, “Study urges greater focuson occupational instruction,” The Boston Globe,February 3, 2011, A4.

FOCUS ONLEARNING

OCTOBER 2011 7

Massachusetts Senate Bill 204, “An ActRelative to Financial Literacy in Schools”

Sponsored by State Senator Jamie Eldridge, this bill would require allschools in the Commonwealth to teach personal financial literacy.

“By teaching children the financial education basics in school, we willhelp them make educated financial decisions in the future, preventingfuture bankruptcies, foreclosures, and unmanageable debt. The invest-ment we make in teaching our children financial literacy now will paysubstantial future dividends.” (State Senator Eldridge)

One Year Out: Survey Results

• College Is Definitely Worth It: One yearout of high school graduation, an over-whelming majority (86%) feel that a col-lege degree is worth the time and money—including a large majority not currentlyenrolled in college (76%).

• High School Is Not Enough: An over-whelming majority (90%) agree with thestatement: “In today’s world, high schoolis not enough, and nearly everybody needsto complete some kind of education ortraining after high school.”

• College Is Essential for Career Success:Even in the current economy, 66% saythey are very (22%) or somewhat (44%)optimistic that people in their generationwill have good opportunities for jobs andcareers, while 33% say they are worriedabout this. Seven in 10 members of theclass of 2010 say that a college degree willhelp them a lot in fulfilling their careeraspirations, and another 18% say a degreewill help somewhat.

• Cost Is a Barrier: Cost was the biggestchallenge faced in transition to college.Five in 9 students who attended collegesay that affording it was very or prettychallenging. Of those who did not attendcollege, 56% said affordability was a keyfactor.

• College More Challenging Than Ex -pected: A majority (54%) report thattheir college courses were more difficultthan expected. And 24% say they wererequired to take noncredit remedial ordevelopmental courses by their college,including 37% of those who went to atwo-year college; 16% report they didnot complete the full year of their col-lege program.

• Rigorous Course Work — More Math,Science, Writing: Students wish they hadtaken more math, science, and writing-intensive course work in high school.

• Life Skills Are Also Important: Stu-dents wish their high schools had givenmore practical career readiness and morebasic preparation for how to engage ina college environment—including howto manage personal finances.

— http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2011,Accessed on September 5, 2011. ■

8 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Advocacy Committee UpdateBy BOB BARDWELL

MASCA Advocacy Committee Chair

T he Advocacy Committee is gearingup for its November 1 hearing at

10:00 a.m. at the State House. We willbe testifying before the Joint EducationCommittee for House Bill 1941 “An ActEstablishing a School Counseling Leader-ship Pilot Project to Accelerate Collegeand Career Readiness in MassachusettsPublic Schools” and House Bill 1945 “AnAct to Assure College and Career Readi-ness through Six-Year Career Plans for allMassachusetts Public School Students.”

There is great interest in HB1945,which passed in the House during thelast session. If you are interested in tes-tifying or assisting with this hearing,please let me know.

Please also keep in mind that HouseBill 1068—which would mandate certi-fied school counselors in all elementaryschools—is still very much alive, but weneed your help to influence your legisla-tors to support that bill.

Here is what you can do to help:1. Contact members of the Joint

Committee on Education (http://www.malegislature.gov/Committees/Joint/J14)to advocate for this bill, particularly if youare a constituent of one of these 17 mem-bers. Not sure who your legislators are?Go to www.wheredoivotema.com andyou can locate your legislators.

2. Contact your state senator and rep-resentative and encourage them to sup-port HB1068.

3. Ask everyone in your network todo the same.

The bullying legislation passed last yearwith overwhelming support because therewas a public outcry. Why can’t this be truefor the mandating of elementary schoolcounselors as well? Even if you have al -ready called or written your state sena-tor or representative, we ask that you doit again.

We are also planning an advocacy

training workshop sometime this fall.Details will be e-mailed to all MASCAmembers and will also be available onthe Advocacy page of MASCA’s website.Stay tuned.

Additionally, we want to work onstrengthening the list of liaisons for eachof the legislative districts in the Common -wealth. The goal is to have a list of mem-bers who, when notified about an im por-tant legislative event concerning schoolcounseling, would contact their legislatorsin their home district. If the Ad vocacyCommittee has quick and easy access to alist of volunteers, we can be assured thatall 200 legislators will receive legislativeupdates swiftly and efficiently. We startedlast year but did not get very far.

The MASCA Advocacy Committee isalways looking for more members andthose willing to help. Visit the MASCAAdvocacy Committee webpage or contactme at bardwellr@monsonschools.com formore information. ■

Talking Pointsto support House Bills

House Bill 1068:An act relative to theMandating of ElementarySchool Counselors

• In 2009-10, an estimated 70% ofelementary schools in Massachusetts hadno school guidance counselor and 41%had no student support professional(school counselor, adjustment counseloror social worker).

• At least one in five young children“have mental disorders with at least mildfunctional impairment” (U.S. Departmentof Health & Human Services, 1999), andsome researchers estimate that 80 percentof children needing mental health servicesfail to receive these services (Kataoka,Zhang, & Wells, 2002).

• Disruptive students harm the be ha -vior and learning of their classmates(Figlio, 2007; Aizer, 2008; Carrell &Hoekstra, 2010; Fletcher, 2009, 2010).

• Carrell and Carrell (2006) found that

OCTOBER 2011 9

a smaller counselor–student ratio leads toboth fewer disciplinary incidents and alower rate of recidivism for students whoalready committed a disciplinary offense.

• States’ adoption of a counselor sub-sidy or minimum counselor–student ratioreduces the fraction of teachers report-ing that their instruction suffers due tostudent misbehavior and reduces the frac-tions reporting problems with studentsphysically fighting each other, cuttingclass, stealing, or using drugs.

• Greater availability of counselorsis also correlated with improvements instudent learning and in students’ mentalhealth, as measured by third-grade stu-dents’ test score gains and their responsesto a battery of questions concerning ex -ternalized and internalized problembehaviors.

• Schools in states with more aggres-sive elementary counseling policies aredoing something better for their elemen-tary students—better than similar schoolsin other states, better than they were pre-viously doing before the policies wereadopted, and with more immediate ele-mentary-level improvements than sec-ondary-level improvements.

• These findings imply that there maybe substantial public and private benefitsderived from providing additional ele-mentary school counselors. When statesrequire a minimum level of counseling ser-vices, teachers are far more satisfied withschool climate.

House Bill 1941:An Act establishing a schoolcounseling leadership pilotproject to accelerate collegeand career readiness in Massa-chusetts public schools

and

House Bill 1945:An Act to assure college andcareer readiness throughsix-year career plans for allMassachusetts public schoolstudents

• Career plans are currently requiredfor all students enrolled in career andvocational technical education schools,but they are not mandated in compre-hensive schools.

• Certified school counselors are

responsible for ensuring that all studentshave an updated career plan and meetwith each student multiple times a yeareither individually or in small group set-tings to update goals and future plans.

• A 2009 study explored the role ofschool counselors in promoting students’academic achievement, college readiness,and transition from 8th grade into highschool in the Chicago Public Schools. Theauthors found that high school coun-selors play an important role in promot-ing student academic achievement; sig-nificantly impact how students plan for,prepare for, search, apply to, and enrollin college; and play a vital role in help-ing 8th grade students successfully tran-sition into high school.

• The number one reason studentsdrop out of school is lack of career focus(therefore, if they have worked with theirschool counselor to determine their in -terests and abilities and have created acareer plan, they are more likely to stayin college and graduate—which is whatwe really need to see, not just an in creasein college-going, but in number of kids

actually graduating). • Numerous studies have shown a link

between career development programsand academic achievement and studentengagement. Students who work with ahigh school counselor to develop four-year educational plans had higher scoresin science, math and reading assessments,and were more likely to take and succeedin AP math and science courses.

• Students find greater success in schoolif they have the best schedule for theirabilities and needs, they can identify theirinterests and abilities, they have a plan forschool and beyond, they can set goals, andtheir parents are involved in the process.

• Career planning helps students tointernalize the connection between schooland career. It helps them to link their edu-cational goals with their career goals,there by making school and their classesseem more relevant. In other words, theycome to understand the value of acade-mic subjects to their future career choicesand their motivation for mastering whatwas otherwise an uninteresting subjectmay increase. ■

10 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

OCTOBER 2011 11

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

2011 Fall ConferenceOctober 25 • Holiday Inn, Boxboro, MA

Own the Turf: Career & College Readiness

AGENDA(as of 9/6/11)

7:15 a.m. Registration Opens Promenade

7:15 – 8:15 a.m. Exhibit Hall Activities Parade RoomVisit Exhibitors ~ MA Model Poster Sessions ~ Affiliate Membership Drive

8:25 – 8:30 a.m. Greetings: Michelle Burke, MASCA President Parade Room

8:30 – 9:45 a.m. Dr. Vivian Lee, Senior Director, Counselor AdvocacyCollege Board National Office of School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA)Own the Turf: Using Data to Promote College & Career Readiness K-12

9:45 – 10:40 a.m. Exhibit Hall Activities Parade RoomVisit Exhibitors ~ MA Model Poster Sessions ~ Affiliate Membership Drive

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Luncheon Buffet Parade RoomMARC Recognition Awards presented by David Elsner

David Cedrone, Associate CommissionerEconomic & Workforce Development – MA Department of Higher EducationExecutive Director of the Governor’s STEM Advisory CouncilA Foundation for the Future: MA Plan for Excellence in STEM Education

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Raffles – Exhibit Hall Activities Parade Room

1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Dr. Karla Baer, Associate Commissioner Parade RoomMA Dept. Elementary & Secondary EducationThe Educator Evaluation Framework & Guidance Counselors:Linking the MA Model and the New Regulations

1. District Analysis & Review Tools (DART) Jenny Klein-Sosa & Peg HarringtonMA DESE

2. Career Plans: Good, Bad, or Ugly? Bob Bardwell, Marie DeMego, Jenn McGuire

3. TAB: Training Active Bystanders Sue Wallace, Sharon Tracy, Keeley Malone(Quabbin Mediation)

4. A Reality-Based Approach to Ending School Andre NormanViolence and Empowering Success National Gang Council

5. Session TBA

Breakout Sessions Presenter

12 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

MASCA FallConference SessionsPresenter: Dr. Vivian Lee

Monday, October 24

School Counselors for Collegeand Career Readiness inMassachusetts Race to the Top Massachusetts school counselors have aunique leadership opportunity to impactthe implementation of Race to the Top intheir schools. Alignment of school coun-seling work to Race to the Top initiativesthrough data-driven goals and interven-tions help school counselors link the re -sults of their work to student outcomesto increase college and career readiness.

School counselors will learn how toidentify data elements and inequities indata, develop metric goals, link interven-tions to goals and how to implement inter-ventions systemically. As a result, coun-selors will be able to assess the needs ofthe students in their school and develop astrategy to incorporate college and careercounseling into their school counseling pro-gram to increase college and career readi-ness as part of Race to the Top initiatives.

Tuesday, October 25

Massachusetts Race to the Topand School Counseling:Increasing College and CareerReadiness for All StudentsSchool counselors in Massachusetts arepoised to be national leaders in collegeand career readiness counseling, con-tributing to the goals of Race to the Top.As our nation’s standing in educationalattainment and college completion de -clines compared to other countries, theneed for more students graduating highschool college and career ready is criti-cal to our country’s future.

This call to action requires school coun-selors to strategically align their work tonational initiatives using data-driven pro-grams that serve all students, especiallythose traditionally underserved. Schoolcounselors must be leaders and advo-cates dedicated to closing gaps, buildingaspirations and helping students fulfilltheir dreams through college and careerreadiness. ■

OCTOBER 2011 13

22nd Service Academies Nightfor students in grades 9-12

Danversport Yacht Club • Danvers

Wednesday, November 26:30 – 9:30 p.m.

For information, contact Ed Bryant, captecb29@aol.com

14 COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

In Memoriam

Charles Brovelli, a long-serving mem-ber of MASCA, died suddenly in early

September. For many years Charlie waseditor of the MASCA Directory. For evenlonger he served as treasurer of MASCA’saffiliate, the Northeast Counselors Asso-ciation. He was also a leader in the Massa-chusetts Career Development Association.

Charlie was a U.S. Army veteran andmember of the American Legion. Heearned his bachelor’s degree in BusinessAdministration from Boston University,master’s degree in Business Administra-

tion from Suffolk University, and M.Ed.in guidance and counseling from the Uni -versity of Massachusetts. He worked atthe Massachusetts Department of Edu-cation as an Education Specialist.

He leaves his wife, Loretta, a daugh-ter, and three grandchildren.

Kathy Scott, president of NECA, ex -pressed the feelings of many on his pass-ing. Charlie, she said, was “a tremendous -ly respectful and considerate gentlemanand [we] will miss his kindness, wisdomand counsel.” ■

MASCAand Technology:

An UpdateBy JOE FITZGERALD, Ed.D.

MASCA Technology Committee Chair

M uch of what has been done on theMASCA website was completed

this summer. With the ability to handleits own membership MASCA took a bigstep forward.

You may ask as a MASCA memberhow this affects you as a school counselor.As a member/user of masca.org, you haveaccess to new features that are availableto you alone. The website has two sides:a Members Only side and a Public side.One of our goals is to make more con-tent available on the members’ side.

Though affiliate information on thewebsite is not new, more direct affiliateinvolvement is something that we suc-cessfully began last year. Affiliate secre-taries have been asked to update their ownsection of the site. This provides memberswith timely information about professionalopportunities in their area. At this point,we are seeking affiliates who would liketo edit and update their own page. If in -terested, contact the Technology Coor-dinator at webmaster@masca.org.

The final phase of the new website willbe to affect more management capabilities(like standardized formatting terms of useand customized reporting) and to enhancecurrent capabilities (add more media fea-tures, improve member profiles, add bestpractices guide). The site is becoming lesstechnical and more organic. In otherwords, it is growing and not static. If youhave comments and/or suggestions, sendan e-mail to webmaster@masca.org.

Much more to this phase of the con-tinued development of our website willcome into more focus during this year.Meanwhile, please log in to www.masca.org; update your profile and lookaround. ■

CHARLES BROVELLI

Stay current. VisitMASCA’s website regularly.

www.masca.org

OCTOBER 2011 15

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

NEWBURYPORT, MAPERMIT NO. 96

Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc.COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Sally Ann Connolly, Editor

CHANGE OF ADDRESS:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NAME

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADDRESS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CITY ZIP CODESTATE

Send this form to:Deborah ClemenceP.O. Box 805East Dennis, MA 02641

YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DATE IS INDICATED BY YEAR AND MONTH ON YOUR ADDRESS LABEL ABOVE.To renew your membership, go to MASCA’s website, www.masca.org.

RTTT Pre-Conference WorkshopHoliday Inn, BoxboroMonday, October 24

Dr. Vivian Lee, “Using Data to Advocatefor Systemic Change”

(Dr. Lee will be available throughout the day to support teams.)

_____________

MASCA Fall ConferenceTuesday, October 25

Morning keynoter: Dr. Vivian Lee“Own the Turf: Using Data to Promote College and

Career Readiness K-12”

MARC and MARC Jr. Recognition Awards

Register for the MASCA Fall Conferenceat www.masca.org