HISTORY OF THE LONE STAR STATE SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION

During the hot Texas summer of 2015, several school counseling leaders had the idea of forming a NEW association in Texas to be led BY school counselors FOR school counselors.  We had the passion, vision, and the belief that this new association could become a reality.  We took action and a GIANT leap of faith because we believed in a new direction for the school counselors in Texas.  We were a STAR ON THE RISE!

We intentionally set a focus to fill the needs of school counselors in Texas:

1. Create an identity for all school counselors in Texas
2. Advocate for all school counselors in Texas and their school counseling programs
3. Create an association that was led BY school counselors FOR school counselors
4. Create professional development based on the needs of Texas school counselors and students trends and issues in our schools creating barriers to student success

We created a vision and mission as large as the state of Texas:

Vision: To expand the image and influence of school counselors in the state of Texas.

Mission: To empower school counselors with the knowledge and skills in order to promote professionalism and ethical practices by providing leadership, advocacy, and professional development.

Now, we had to come up with a name.  What other phrase sums up Texas better than, “The Lone Star State?”  And that’s how we became The Lone Star State School Counselor Association.  Our acronym has a few S’s in it, but our title sums up who we are!

We had the vision, passion, belief, and now we had a name… but as 16 volunteers, we had no money!  How would we get this important work off the ground?  Setting our membership dues at a reasonable price, we started with $170.00 of dues and a $3,000.00 donation in March of 2016.  Using this amount, we turned our vision into THE organization for school counselors in the state of Texas.

On March 18, 2016, LSSSCA was born. The founding members created our original website, social media accounts, acquired a P.O. box, had logos created, and applied for non-profit status.  We started working towards fulfilling our mission by creating an annual conference.  

Our first annual conference was in January 2017, but we moved it to the fall for timing.  Each year, we provide the TOP professional development conference for school counselors in Texas.  Our numbers continue to grow as we provide top information on needs and trends in school counseling. 

We wanted to be THE state charter association for the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and we applied for charter status.  The Executive Director of ASCA, Dr. Richard Wong, flew to our conference to surprise us with the charter!  We were so proud of our efforts to be THE association in Texas that supports the work of school counselors and their programs. There was not a dry eye from the Board members that day!

We didn’t stop there, either.  LSSSCA created a pathway to RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) through our Lone Star Awards!  By following the path from Lone Star Bronze, Silver, and Gold, school counselors in Texas can work towards national RAMP recognition.  Each year, we have many school counselors/campuses awarded Lone Star Awards and we have seen the number of RAMP award winners rise each year.  We know how outstanding our school counselors and their programs are, now we can shout it to the rooftops!

We also created theTexas School Counselor of the Year award.  Each year, nominations open and school counselors across Texas begin the process for the SCOY honor.  School counselors answer questions about their comprehensive program, school counselor leadership, and create a video about their campus and program.  The Texas School Counselor of the Year goes on to the national School Counselor of the Year award process through ASCA.  Since our inception, LSSSCA has had 5 SCOY national finalists and 4 semi-finalist!  More proof that Texas school counselors make an impact on the lives of Texas students. 

Seeing a need for a comprehensive school counselor evaluation, we then set out to create a TEA approved evaluation tool modeled after the teacher T-TESS, but specific to what school counselors do and should be doing for a comprehensive school counseling program.  By creating this tool, LSSSCA is helping schools utilize their school counselors effectively and honoring their true work in the process.  The T-SCESS (Texas School Counselor Evaluation and Support System)is a great way to show how students are better because of the work of a school counselor.  The T-SCESS is available to all schools in Texas and is recognized as a TEA approved evaluation tool for school counselors!

The Great state of Texas is not just made up of our exciting big cities, we have more students in our small school districts than our big cities!  Recognizing the special needs of our rural school counselors, we have special seating at our annual conference and sessions just to meet these needs.  Our Director of Small School Districts  facilitates a virtual rural Route conference to meet the needs of our rural school counselors.

We started with 16 people and our reach has grown across Texas and we have over 2,000 members and counting!  LSSSCA is THE organization for school counselors and the LSSSCA Board is proud to serve every school counselor.  

Dr. Sylvia Lopez

President 

Tammi Mackeben

President-Elect

DeLynn Brennan

President-Elect Elect

Kristin Koulabouth

Secretary 

Leon Kilpatrick

Treasuer 

Shelia Lashley

Elementary Vice President

Diane Lowe

Middle School Vice President 

Pamela Branch

High School VP 

Dana Jackspon

Supervisor VP

Janise Pries

Director of Bylaws, Ethics, and Publications

Summer Martin

Director of Communications/Technology

Tracey Brown

Director of Communications/Technology

Wes Upton

Director of Governmental Relations

Tiffany Rhodriguez

Director of Membership

 Courtney Jackson 

Director of Membership