Dear WSCA Members,

If at first you don’t succeed…….Perseverance, it is the order of the day. It has been much less fun dismantling the PSCA Western Regional Meeting than it was putting it together. Despite a talented committee and much effort we failed. It’s ok to say the word fail. It’s also ok to recognize that the factors contributing to the conference collapse were beyond our control – budgets, timing, competing interests. We met each challenge, but in the end, couldn’t meet our ultimate goal. I feel like the whole experience could have been filmed as a classroom guidance lesson on perseverance. We’re all ok and we’re all still committed to supporting the proud and essential profession of School Counseling.

In that spirit, we are trying something new. We are putting together a brief evening WSCA meeting on Wednesday, May 24th. I encourage you to join us in our foray into a new meeting format. We are fortunate to have a current principal/doctoral student from Duquesne share with us critical information regarding Ethics in our profession. We also have the joyful task of awarding scholarships and the important undertaking of electing officers. We’ll enjoy a Mexican buffet and a casual, friendly atmosphere. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

To end, a note of gratitude; it was an honor serving as a committee member for the Western Regional Conference that never was. For the most part, we are the same committee who put together the 2009 Western Regional Conference. Thus, we’ve been meeting over pizza and salad while hashing out innumerable details multiple times a year for several years now. In that time, I’ve grown quite fond of these folks and would like to recognize their efforts: Clint Page, Tony Indovina, Tom Steiner, Frank “Fuzzy” Ferris, Tim Krempecki, Judy Bookhamer, Amy Salay, Kathy Sclesky, Deb Rietski, Toni Ann Bielick, Angie Margaronis, Dennis Gates, Lisa Maloney, Cristy Shields, and Beth Butala. Thanks Everyone!

Regards,
Sarah M. Switala