Relax and Rejuvenate!
School counselors are the experts within their buildings for mental health wellness, best practices, self-care and how to seek help. Who is taking care of you?
It is imperative we take time for ourselves to focus on our own energy, reflections, joy and growth from this past year. Participate in activities that make you happy and surround yourself with people that help you be seen, heard and validated! Professionally, there are many opportunities to grow in a variety of areas of comprehensive school counseling this summer!
 School Counselor Advisory Council Updates
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) School Counselor Advisory Council had the opportunity to collaborate with the Commissioner's Student Advisory Council about the upcoming mental health initiatives recommended from students themselves.
Students shared insight and advocacy for school counselors and their role within schools. Florence Chang, KDE's strategic analyst of learning, shared data collection from the Equity Dashboard, which will begin to help school counselors use data-driven practices within their programs this upcoming school year and beyond. School counselors also were updated on topics for next year's statewide counselor cadres, meeting dates for the advisory council and ensuring counselors are taking care of themselves this summer for mental wellness.
E-Transcripts Update
Submitted by Kim Walters
Summertime staffing schedules can make things difficult for students who need to order transcripts during the months of June and July. Here are some tips to help students make their transitions:
- Remind students to update their contact email in their Parchment account before they lose access to their school emails
- Upload all final transcripts to Parchment as soon as grades are final and graduation dates have been added to their records in Infinite Campus
- Encourage your students to order their transcripts now in Parchment and choose the “Hold for Grades” option to make sure they receive their final transcript with the diploma date
- Plan for year-round staff members in your school or district to continue processing transcripts throughout the summer to eliminate backorders
- Consider using a less restrictive transcript approval setting in Parchment for those times when staff may be unavailable
- Go to Settings | To Do | Transcript Approval Setting
- There are 3 options:
- Request Approval – Each alumni request requires manual approval
- Alumni Approval – Only the first alumni request requires manual approval
- Auto-Approval – No transcript requires manual approval
- Prominently display a link to Parchment on your district’s website indicating how students can order transcripts when staff may not be in the building
- Remind your students that graduates will be deemed alumni after Aug. 30 and charges will apply for transcript requests after that date.
Refer to the May KSIS Infinite Campus News for reminders on eTranscript Batch functionality and PESC mapping that must be completed for diploma type and difficulty levels.
Shout Outs!
About 100 Kentucky school counselors attended our June 10 Counselor Cadre! We celebrated successes from this past year. They shared initiatives that went well and positive changes happening next school year, including additional counselors and decreasing inappropriate activities.
The movie "Angst" was shown and discussed to provide a different perspective on what true anxiety looks like, including strategies to help students and staff.
The administrative annual conference and school data summary were modeled and created by the school counselors to proactively plan for next year. Thank you for all who were able to join during your summer!
Mindful Moments: Power of Positive Connections
Tara M. Brown is a motivational speaker that I had the pleasure of hearing speak this month and left feeling inspired and motivated. One of her quotes that stayed with me was, "Everyone wants to be seen, heard and validated!"
As counselors we ensure our students, staff, administrators and families are seen, heard and validated, but what about you? How are YOU seen, heard and validated professionally and personally?
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