The School Counseling Advocacy Welcome Wagon

 It's just about time to welcome all the staff back to school, a perfect time to advocate for the profession, and your role as a school counselor. ASCA has curated some great back to school resources for us to use this year, check them out here. 

When I welcome teachers back to the building I prefer to make the experience as personal as possible and brief, very brief. They are busy, possibly overwhelmed already and more than likely don't have much time to take in more information. Here are a few fast tips to help you build a welcome wagon process that advocates for the profession and for your specific role.

1. Try to pop in to say hello to each teacher in their classroom
2. 
   Take a small treat and information for them to reference later. I like to share this ASCA handout, department mission & vision, outcome data from previous year, current annual student outcome goals, referral procedures and contact info
   
3. Be brief and remind them to come by anytime
4. Leave a QR code to collect needs assessment data, or any other data you need to inform your program. You can always follow up with an email later for people who don't respond.

Keep this process simple. Check out the meet the teacher templates on Canva for inspiration and customize them to meet your needs. Add more specific info about your role with these resources from ASCA.

I have also taken small packs of gum, lifesavers, mini Kind bars, kit kats etc. Do what you can afford and make it meaningful.

Share your tips for welcoming teachers back to the building in the comments!