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The 2012 Vermont School Counselor Association's Annual Fall Conference

  • 19 Sep 2012
  • 1:00 PM
  • 20 Sep 2012
  • 3:00 PM
  • The Vermont State House, Montpelier, VT
  • 117

Registration

  • Students need to currently be enrolled as full or part-time students in a School Counseling program.

Registration is closed
We are pleased to announce the

2012 Vermont School Counselor Association's

Annual Fall Conference:

Mindfulness, Movement and Motivation

to be held at our beautiful State House in Montpelier

Wednesday September 19th: Half-day Pre-Conference

Thursday September 20th: Conference Sept 20

 
September 19th

Pre- Conference Schedule:

1:00-2:30 Amanda Fitzgerald, ASCA's Director of Public Policy presents on Advocacy @ State House. 

All School Counselors are Welcome!

2:45-4:00  Directors of Guidance (DOGS) Meeting @ The State House. Tim Wile has offered to host a special Directors of Guidance meeting from 2:45-4:00. This is an opportunity to share information about the administrative end of school counseling and network with directors from across the state.

2:45-4:00  Advocacy Skills for Promoting Your School Counseling Program. Robert Bardwell from ASCA will present on creating an advocacy program for your school counseling program. 

4:00-6:00 Network/Appetizers @ The Capitol Plaza Hotel

September 20th

Conference Schedule:

8:00-9:00 Registration/breakfast

9:00-9:45 Opening Activities

10:00-11:15 Morning Workshops

11:15-12:00 Lunch & Awards

12:00-12:30 Networking Break/ Visit Vendors

12:30-1:45 Afternoon Workshops

1:45-2:15 Afternoon Break/ Visit Vendors

2:15-3:00 Closing remarks and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

Workshops

 All of the following workshops will be offered during the morning and afternoon sessions unless noted. On the registration form you will be prompted to select a morning and afternoon workshop. Space is limited to approximately 25 people per workshop, so first come, first served! If you do not get your first choice, you will be able to select at registration, but since they are all wonderful you won‘t be disappointed!. All workshops are experiential, no PowerPoints allowed! Come dressed to participate and leave relaxed and motivated!


Educating from the Heart-with Mindful Attention

AM and PM workshop is filled

Mary Webby Neagley and Carol Wheeler

This interactive workshop will reference the book Educating from the Heart and offer a brief overview of relevant research. Participants will be introduced to mindfulness-based practices and given demonstrations of activities that counselors can use in public school settings. The workshop will be led by Marilyn Webb Neagley and Carol Wheeler, a counselor from the South Burlington School District’s Wellness and Resilience program.

Over the past seven years Marilyn Webb Neagley has been the coordinator of Talk About Wellness, an initiative that deepens the inner lives of school children through activities and skills such as mindfulness-based meditation and other contemplative practices. Prior to and during that period of time she has attended innumerable professional workshops and retreats that focus on mindfulness and social/emotional learning. She has had her own practice and has led others since the late 1980’s.

Marilyn Webby Neagley may be best known for her work as president of Shelburne Farms during the formative years. She is the author of Walking through the Seasons (2008), a book of observations and reflections on nature that won an IPPY gold medal for best northeastern non-fiction and the co-editor of Educating from the Heart (2011), a compilation of essays by teachers.

Carol Wheeler, M.Ed., CAS has held numerous school counseling and teaching positions in VT over her 30+ year career. She has taught adults at the college level, supported UVM students in the career development office, worked at the secondary level in Rochester and Hartford and most recently at the elementary level in Burlington and South Burlington. As part of the Wellness and Resiliency Program in South Burlington, Carol has participated in training from Linda Lantieri, Jon Kabot-Zinn, Daniel Rechetschaffer and Trish Broderick.

 

Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers & Students

AM and PM workshop is filled

John Meiklejohn, LICSW, BCD

Using both didactic and experiential material we’ll examine: the rationales for offering mindfulness training to both K-12 teachers and students; highlight key neuroscientific and other research findings supporting mindfulness in education; experiment with brief examples of mindful awareness practices for teachers and students; offer (via handouts) descriptions of 10 school-based training programs; and explore the types of research questions that existing and new programs in this nascent field need to address.

For the past 30 years John Meiklejohn, LICSW, BCD has had a private practice of child, adolescent and adult psychotherapy in Westfield, MA. He teaches mindful awareness practices as part of his therapeutic interventions with both children and adults. He is also the lead co-author of an article published online in March 2012 by the Journal of Mindfulness entitled: Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers & Students.

 

Teaching Mindfulness to Teens (Morning Workshop)

This workshop is filled

Catherine Schiller

This workshop will explore why mindfulness? Why mindfulness for teens? This workshop will provide an overview of ways in which mindfulness can be brought to the life of a teenager through everyday living activities including eating, music, movement, and formal meditation practices. Ways in which we can provide a more mindful environment to our interactions with teens will also be discussed. This is an experiential workshop.  

 

A Mindful Approach towards Parenting (Afternoon Workshop)

This workshop is filled

Catherine Schiller

This workshop will provide opportunity for us to practice bringing mindfulness towards our relationship with parents. With a mindful approach we can cultivate sovereignty, empathy, and acceptance towards parents and in doing so we can create space for parents to do the same with their children. This is an experiential workshop in which we will practice formal mindfulness meditation. 

Catherine Schiller brought mindfulness to her work with children and families in the mental health field after noticing that it allowed her to approach her work in a higher quality way. Noticing that mindfulness also provides individuals the tools and invites them to be with themselves, others, and the world differently she began to teach others how they may be able to do this. Catherine is currently a graduate level intern and meditation instructor at the Vermont Center for Yoga & Therapy where she facilitates the Mindfulness for Teens and Mindful Parents groups in addition to meeting with people for individual meditation instruction. Catherine has been practicing mindfulness meditation formally and informally for the past 6 years and practices in groups and attends retreats whenever possible.

Bushintal-Do:  The Way of the Warrior Mind and Body

Nancy Keller and David Quilan

Join Students and teachers from Winooski Middle School in the practice of Bushintal-Do, a synthesis of self-defense techniques and movements from a variety of Asian marshal arts.  Learn how Bushintal-Do uses the mind-body connections to develop self-awareness and gain confidence.  Listen to students and teachers tell their stories of success.  Leave with an understanding of what might be possible in your own school.  All ages and abilities are welcomed and encouraged to actively participate:  the mind moves the body and the body moves the mind.

Nancy Keller, M.Ed, is a National Board Certified middle school teacher who has over 20 years of experience as an educator in the public school system, teaching both science and mathematics. She completed her C.A.S. in mathematics education at UVM in 2012. Student of the martial arts since 2002, she also holds the rank of 2nd degree Black Belt in Kempo-Jujitsu and Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For the past nine years, she has taught in Winooski Middle School’s general education alternative program in which she has combined her classroom expertise and martial arts training.

David Quinlan began martial arts training in 1977, began teaching in 1984. Holds a 6th degree Black belt in Kempo-Jujitsu, 2nd degree Black Belt in Arnis, the Filipino art of stick and knife fighting, Honorary Black Belt in Judo, Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is an instructor of Wing Chun Kung Fu, a style that has no belt ranking system. Since earning his undergraduate degree from UVM, he has dedicated his entire adult life to the study, practice, and teaching, of the Martial Arts. He created Bushintai-Do, a non-violent synthesis of various traditional martial arts skills designed for school-age children, in 2001, and developed the Thinksafe self-defense program, as a means to teach practical self-defense strategies to those unable to commit to long-term training. The founder and head instructor at Martial Way Self-Defense Center since 1988, he still enjoys working with all ages and skill levels.

Online Mindfulness for the Whole School
Soryu Forall

In response to the need for high-quality mindfulness programs in schools, and the low time commitment available to teachers, the Center for Mindful Learning (CML) developed an interactive online mindfulness program. This web-based program allows educational professionals to guide a meaningful mindfulness practice with little training.
The online mindfulness program teaches age-appropriate techniques that help students develop positive relationships with peers and adults, increase resilience to stress, improve academic performance, and make healthy choices for themselves and their communities. School faculty and staff also learn techniques to manage stress, increase job satisfaction, communicate effectively, and cultivate positive working relationships.

Director of Mindfulness Education, Soryu Forall (Teal Scott), will lead a one-hour workshop on mindfulness and CML’s online mindfulness program. In this presentation, participants will learn mindfulness techniques and leave with a basic understanding of how they can utilize CML’s online mindfulness program in their schools. Time permitting; participants will practice leading each other in a mindfulness session using the program.
Soryu Forall worked with hundreds of educational professionals and thousands of students, bringing mindfulness into education with a simple curriculum that is designed to be easy for students, teachers, administrators, and school boards to understand. For more information about the Center for Mindful Learning, go to www.cml.me.

Since 1995, Forall has dedicated his life to practicing mindfulness. In the spring of 2008, he began teaching mindfulness to youth through tennis. In October of 2008, he started the Mind the Music program for teens at the King Street Center in Burlington, Vermont. This program uses popular music as vehicle for teaching mindfulness. He teaches mindfulness and meditation full-time to both youth and adults, providing instruction at residential retreats around the U.S. and internationally, one-on-one in Vermont, over the phone, the Internet and through text messaging.
The Center for Mindful Learning (CML) is a non-profit organization devoted to improving lives and strengthening communities by offering mindfulness training that cultivates happiness, compassion, and success, for the benefit of all people and all living things.

Using Nature, Meditation and Movement in Trauma Treatment with Children & Adolescents

Amy Poland

PM Workshop is filled

Vermont Center for Yoga and Therapy offer comprehensive treatment for children, adolescents and families that have experienced complex early childhood trauma. Youth that have experienced trauma can present with a number of emotional and behavioral difficulties at home, in school and in their communities. These presentations can often be misunderstood and inappropriately addressed. Furthermore, it can significantly interfere with a child's education and social development in the classroom. There are a number of ways to help kids heal that are effective, enjoyable and easily adaptable across environments. This experiential workshop with offer some basic information about how trauma disrupts the  ideal neuro-development of young people, as well as some creative ideas using nature, meditation and movement to teach self-regulation skills.


Amy Poland is a licensed clinical mental health counselor from Southern  New Hampshire University with nearly ten years of experience working with children, adolescents and families. She has extensive experience in a broad area of topics and client populations, including mood disorders, attachment, developmental trauma, self-regulation, adolescence, family & systems of care. As a mental health counselor, she offers an eclectic practice including individual, family and creative group therapy; as well as talks and trainings at both local and national conferences.
Amy is a clinician at Vermont Center for Yoga and Therapy, working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary approach that celebrates healing holistically! As a person and a practitioner, she believes in an approach that is genuine, strength-based, relational and biologically informed. The mind, body and spirit are all interconnected and integral to health and balance. It is with empathy, playfulness, curiosity and humor that she looks forward to building a therapeutic relationship and the foundation for understanding, empowerment and healing

Accommodations & Parking

Please note that rooms have been reserved at the Capital Plaza Hotel, 100 State Street, Montpelier, VT; 802-223-5252, 800-274-5252, for a cost of $99.00 per room. Reservations must be made by August 18 to incur this cost.

Parking is free at the Department of Labor (off Route 2) where a shuttle will transport members to the State House. If you are staying at the Plaza, parking is provided.


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