Virginia Capitol Connections Winter 2019

Kids don’t quit; neither can we By Brett. C. Welch

Last month I had an opportunity to represent the Virginia School Counselor Association at a roundtable discussion of area education stakeholders at the invitation of Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg. We all had experienced the exhibit Performing Statistics at Art 180. I say “experienced,” and not just “saw,” for a reason. The exhibit moves you as a human being. Its formerly incarcerated teen artists breathe life into the school to prison pipeline in a devastatingly real way and make us all face inconvenient truths about its realities. The crux of Performing Statistics asks an essential question: “ how would criminal justice reform differ if it was led by currently incarcerated teens? ” Throughout the commandingly beautiful art these teens created were a few common threads and one was to ask for more counselors at school . Phrases like “ instead of suspension give us attention ” and “ refer us to counselors and staff we can trust ” implored us from the walls. These teens called out what would have been a difference maker for them—what they needed. We are substituting know what they need to succeed, and if we would only listen we would discover many of the answers we seek to “fix” our education system. Kids do not throw their hands up and say it’s too complicated or too expensive or too much because to do so would be to give up on themselves. Kids don’t quit, so neither can we. The beauty the teens in the Performing Statistics program created out of their pain embodies a school counselor’s mantra: to advocate for those who often cannot advocate for themselves. You, our leaders in government, have the power to make these calls to action become reality. School counselors ask for a fully funded 1:250 ratio with 80 percent of our time mandated in direct service to students not just because we need it but because our students need it. They need us. What does all the research show on what helps kids “ make it ”? It just takes one: ONE trusted adult to make the difference. School counselors are the school’s family history holders, the tear catchers, punishment for intervention and it is failing them and us miserably. After many years in this job and as a parent, I truly believe that all kids

Virginia Women’s Monument Onlookers were thrilled and inspired when the VirginiaWomen’s Monument was unveiled in October. The newly completed granite plaza includes names on a “Wall of Honor” memorializing notable women in Virginia’s history. “Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women’s Monument” will soon be open for viewing by the public. The wall will inscribe the names of 230 women, from Pocahontas to Irene Morgan to Mary B. Wade to Temperance Flowerdew Yeardley. Much will be learned from these names spanning 400 years of Virginia’s history. The VirginiaWomen’s Monument is the nation’s first monument designed to celebrate the remarkable women who made significant, but often unrecognized, contributions and accomplishments in a variety of fields and endeavors. The granite wall of the upper bench tier features an inspiring quote by Mary Johnston, a well-known Virginia author in the early years of the 20th Century: “It did not come up in a night, the Woman Movement, and it is in no danger of perishing from view. It is here to stay and grow…it is indestructible, it is moving on with an ever-increasing depth and velocity, and it is going to revolutionize the world.” Mary Johnston, 1912. Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar brought flowers to honor Em Bowls, Mary Easterly, and Patty Twohy—three women whose names are on the wall.

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the advocacy for rigor champions, the whole child perspective. Any teacher can tell you that small class sizes and small group intervention move the needle in student performance. The same is true for students developing meaningful relationships with counselors. If we can get to know each of our students on our caseloads and be able to listen and give attention to what they truly need, what might we prevent? What might we inspire? If you have not yet seen the exhibit, run, don’t walk. It will change you in all the best ways. Our students are telling us what they need. Now it’s our turn to listen. Brett C. Welch, MA, CTP, is a school counselor and Advocacy and Government Relations Chair of The Board of Directors of the Virginia School Counselors Association.

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V irginia C apitol C onnections , W inter 2019

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