New January Updates

OK State Dept of Ed sent this bulletin at 01/17/2024 11:29 AM CST

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National School Counseling Week 2024

National School Counseling Week 2024, "School Counseling: Standards-Based, Student-Focused," will be celebrated February 5-9, 2024, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.

The special week honoring school counselors provides recognition for school counselors who implement comprehensive school counseling programs, a vital part of the educational process for all students as they meet the challenges of the 21st century.

This special week honors school counselors for the important role they play in college and career readiness and in helping students examine their talents, strengths, abilities, and interests.

OKMTSS Winter Conference

OSDE is hosting its annual OKMTSS Winter Conference on January 26, 2024 from 7:30am-3:30pm. This year's conference has a focus on "Evidence-Based Practices" with sessions provided on practices to improve your systems and teaming, math instruction, reading instruction, and behavioral intervention.

Please join us on January 26, 2024. For more information, view the 2024 MTSS Winter Conference flyer.

Register Here

2024 Oklahoma/Arkansas ACT Summit

Why should you and your team attend the 2024 Oklahoma/Arkansas ACT Summit happening February 22, 2024, in Owasso, Oklahoma? This one-of-a-kind event assembles K-12 and postsecondary education stakeholders and workforce professionals. By engaging with this diverse audience to share views and experiences you will gain practical takeaways and insights that will help your institution thrive. Here are five reasons to attend this year’s conference:

Top-notch keynote panel — moderated by Janet Godwin, CEO of ACT.
Time to network — Connect with hundreds of peers and get regional perspectives.
Top-tier professional development — Engage in sessions on data trends; diversity, equity, and access; marketing; and much more.
ACT insights — Learn new trends and strategies from the latest ACT research reports.
Professional development — The conference is a low-cost professional development opportunity for your entire team. Lodging and full event details can be found on the registration site. Register now with the discount code StateOrgs and save $10 on the regular registration price.

Register Now

The Oklahoma Department of Career Technology is proud to announce the 20^th Annual For Counselors Only Conference!

Join them in Celebrating 20 Years of Excellence in School Counseling and prepare for an exhilarating experience at the 2024 For Counselors Only Conference! This years conference will take place at the Tulsa Technology Center – Owasso Campus on Thursday, March 14, 2024 from 8:30am - 3:00pm.

Key Conference Features:

Energizing Atmosphere: Experience a day filled with positivity and motivation, ensuring you leave recharged and ready to make a difference.
Leading Experts: Engage with industry-leading experts who will share their knowledge and insights.
Peer Networking: Connect with counselors and exhibitors from across the state
Exhibitors: Explore exhibits featuring the latest resources, tools, and services for counseling professionals.
Empowering Insights: Walk away from the conference with a wealth of new knowledge that can be immediately applied to your work
Advocacy for the Counseling Profession: Learn new ways to advocate for the counseling profession and contribute to its growth.

Reserve your seat today! Click on the Registration Link to secure your spot an ensure you don’t miss out on this exceptional opportunity for professional development.

Coffee with Counselors

Please join us for "Coffee with Counselors!" This is an informal time for school counselors from across our great state to come together for celebration, collaboration, and continued growth. We look forward to you joining us!

Register for the February 6th session

Each session will be held 9am - 10am

Schedule a CCR Listening Session

Are you interested in discussing College and Career Readiness? Jennifer Peters, Program Manager of CCR, is keeping aside some time in the day for listening, sharing, and problem-solving with Local Education Agencies.

Schedule a meeting or send a message to Jennifer.Peters@sde.ok.gov

School Voice: ICAP Conversations

Join your colleagues for a monthly gathering to collaborate on ICAP best practices, challenges, and solutions. This is an informal time to build relationships and share ideas with other professionals building & leading ICAP programs across the state. We look forward to learning from you!

School Voice: ICAP Conversations Among 1A & 2A Schools

School Voice: ICAP Conversations Among 3A & 4A Schools

School Voice: ICAP Conversations Among 5A & 6A Schools

Work Based Learning Opportunity

Tinker Federal Credit Union offers free, in-person or virtual money skills workshops for kids throughout Oklahoma! Help your students build a budget, earn money, understand credit, and shuffle real world financial decisions they will have to make as an adult. Workshops typically last 45 – 60 minutes

Is Work-Based Learning getting you down?

Fear not! Our College and Career Readiness Specialist, Meredith Dennis, will be heading efforts to support schools with developing and connecting students to quality Work-Based Learning experiences.

Already have questions for Meredith?
Connect with her HERE to schedule a meeting or send a message to Meredith.Dennis@sde.ok.gov

FAFSA Resources

Senate Bill 93 requires students, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, to complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to graduate from a public high school. The Bill, as well as FAQs for this legislation and the Opt Out forms, can be found at https://sde.ok.gov/college-career.

OLWEUS Bulling Prevention Program

The OLWEUS Bulling Prevention Program is one that has a proven track record with over 40 years of research and has been recognized as the most extensively studied bullying prevention program of its kind.

Findings revealed that the OBPP was successful in reducing all forms of being bullied and bullying others. Read that study published in the International Journal of Bullying Prevention here.

There is a training block that will be offered in March.

We will review and consider the first 8 respondents to this invitation.

This is an intensive ONLINE training that will impact your entire school campus. It is not a quick 2-hour training. BUT, there are many who can be identified as a point of contact to attend: SRO’s, School Counselors, Principals, Coaches, etc. It does not have to be any specific person on your campus – just someone who want to lead the charge for change.

You can find more details on the program here:

Your school/district will be responsible for upfront cost of the training curriculum, But you will be reimbursed by the State Department of Education for the individual(s) that complete the ONLINE training. Information on reimbursement will be provided if you are selected to complete the training.

Please email me your questions and/or interest in attending this training and we will send you the additional paperwork you will need to complete the process. Sheri.fleming@sde.ok.gov

Crisis Response Network

We are sending out a request for our local school staff/counselors/administrators to begin the conversation of taking the next step in Crisis Management in Oklahoma schools. With many of the grants that funded the SDE training and staff to help develop a network of District Crisis Teams coming to an end, it is time to reach out and bring all of these resources together. The goal is to develop a network of trained individuals who understand the steps and actions required for an effective Crisis Response to assist their own Districts as well as other local District partners. Please note: this is NOT required. This is simply a coordinated effort by SDE to help connect resources.

The letter attached HERE was sent out to District Superintendents to solicit feedback and willingness to partner with SDE to maintain regional response team lists of counselors and other trained school staff to respond regionally to crisis. At this time, we have had a limited response and are asking for some additional voices to help start the conversation. Please feel free to forward the linked document to your superintendent or district counseling coordinators to discuss your level of participation in this project and to use the form to identify your district’s decision in this partnership.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions to:

Christi Sturgeon – christi.sturgeon@sde.ok.gov
Sheri Fleming – sheri.fleming@sde.ok.gov
Rachel Hernandez – rachael.hernandez@sde.ok.gov

PREPaRE Crisis Response Training

SDE will continue to offer PREPaRE Crisis Response training to Oklahoma School Districts upon request. School districts will need to provide the funding for the curriculum to NASP. $45/person for Workshop 1 and $55/person for Workshop 2. SDE will continue to provide certified PREPaRE trainers to facilitate the curriculum for free.

Download Workshop Descriptions

Questions: Jackie Lindley - jackie.lindley@sde.ok.gov

^{**Inclusion of upcoming events in this newsletter does not constitute an endorsement by OSDE. The information provided is for general awareness purposes only. OSDE does not assume any responsibility for the content or outcomes of these events.}

Health Education Act

Do you have questions about the Health Education Act, the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Health and Physical Education, or the best practices to teach health education? The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) is partnering with Healthy Schools OK and the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to provide teachers, school counselors, school nurses, and community health educators with guidance and support for the implementation of high-quality health education instruction. Click here to access the technical assistance form.

The Center for Safe & Resilient Schools and Workplaces is excited to announce that they are hosting live virtual training for tier 2 & 3 interventions: CBITS and Bounce Back, facilitated by Dr. Sharon Hoover, Co-Director of the National Center for School Mental Health & Director of the National Center for Safe Supportive Schools!

CBITS (12 hrs) - $500/person

Day 1: January 22 11am – 6pm ET (8am – 3pm Pacific time)
Day 2: January 23 11am – 6pm ET (8am – 3pm Pacific time)

Bounce Back (9 hrs) - $400/person

Day 1: January 24 11am – 6pm ET (8am – 3pm Pacific time)
Day 2: January 25 3pm - 6pm ET (12pm – 3pm Pacific time)

These trainings are especially appropriate for:

Individual school-based mental health professionals that can deliver the intervention and have not been formally trained.
Staff within schools that have recently been trained but may have had new staff join that need to be trained.
Schools that have a small number of individuals to be trained but have not been able to host full trainings for their staff.

Please contact them if you would like more information or are interested in attending one of these trainings and they can get you registered! Email angela@safeandresilient.org and sydney@safeandresilient.org.

2024 Student Preparation Overnight Conferences

Attention, PK-12 counselors, coordinators and administrators! This is a time to come together and share best practices and ideas. We will discuss new and relevant information regarding college/career readiness, PreACT, OK Promise, ICAP and more. You will have the opportunity to develop your school’s ICAP on OKcollegestart.

Early-bird registration is $170, and regular registration is $175. Registration fee for this two-day conference includes meals and lodging. We accept POs, personal checks or credit cards.

For more information, contact Sabrina Wood, swood@osrhe.edu.

ProtectOK

The State of Oklahoma and Oklahoma School Security Institute has launched their brand-new safety app, ProtectOK! This free app allows you to anonymously report any suspicious activity you see directly to law enforcement.

Learn more about the app here: https://oklahoma.gov/dps/protect-ok-app.html

Botvin LifeSkills® Training

The ODMHSAS Prevention Division is currently accepting application to provide Botvin LST curriculum and training to schools/districts at no cost. Botvin LifeSkills® Training (LST) is an evidence-based substance use and violence prevention program that has been proven to reduce the risk of alcohol, tobacco, drug use, and violence among children and teens. Botvin LST provides skills in drug resistance, personal self-management, healthy alternatives to risky behaviors, and general social interactions. If your school or district is interested in implementing Botvin LifeSkills, please submit an application to get started: Botvin LifeSkills Training Application Form (office.com)

If you have any questions, please contact Katelyn Wilson at katelyn.wilson@odmhsas.org.

3rd Millennium Classrooms

The ODMHSAS Prevention Division is partnering with 3^rd Millennium Classrooms to offer a select number of secondary schools access to a variety of online substance use prevention and intervention courses. These evidence-based online prevention and early intervention courses address several topics including alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. The courses aim to prevent substance use by teaching students a range of positive behaviors including refusal skills and educating students on the dangers associated with alcohol and drug use. Courses include interactive exercises that use motivational interviewing strategies to engage students in a powerful learning experience that has shown to positively impact behavior and reduce alcohol and substance use.

If interested, please contact Katelyn Wilson at katelyn.wilson@odmhsas.org.

Contact Student Development

Marissa Lightsey, Program Director; Student Development

Dr. Sheri Fleming, Program Manager; Prevention & Intervention Services

Christi Sturgeon, Program Manager; Comprehensive School Counseling

Jennifer Peters, Program Manager; College & Career Readiness

Rachael Hernandez, Program Manager; School Based Mental Health

Emily Hicks, Administrative Assistant; Student Development

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