School Counselors Conference
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 | 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
DeWitt Learning Commons, Northwestern College
Get Directions | View Campus Map
Cost: $65 | lunch included
Optional additional credit: 1 License Renewal credit $50 | 1 Graduate credit $150
School counselors are an important part of the educational leadership team and provide valuable assistance to students from academic achievement and career direction to social/emotional development. You work with challenging issues facing your students as you care for their needs.
Join topic experts and other school counselors to learn practical strategies to address issues affecting your students and school as well as practices in caring for yourself. Keynote speaker, Denise Blomberg, a mother who lost her son to addiction, will share her personal story of loss and hope in the journey of addiction and recovery. Breakout sessions by local and regional experts in the field will share strategies for addressing anxiety, technology and gaming disorders and other issues.
Registration deadline is June 5th.
Please contact online@nwciowa.edu or 712-707-7388 with any questions about registration.
Schedule and Topics
| 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. | Check-in |
| 8:30 - 8:45 a.m. | Welcome |
| 8:45 - 10:00 a.m. Opening Keynote | Triumph Over Tragedy: Remembering Ryan Denise Blomberg, Regional Director, Operations, Samaritan's Feet International In December 2016, the Center for Disease Control released data that 129 lives are lost a day due to a drug overdose. That number has now increased to 192 a day. Denise Blomberg is a mother of 4 from Sioux Falls, SD, who lost her son, Ryan, as the result of an accidental fentanyl overdose in April 2018. Denise will share the story of dealing with Ryan’s addiction, his journey through treatment and recovery and his very unexpected death. His death was a profound loss not only for her family but on the many lives of those he impacted through his work in the sobriety and recovery communities and beyond. Denise offers hope to those who are currently dealing with a friend, family member, student or client who is struggling with addiction to help prevent them from being one of the #192aDay. |
| 10:15 - 11:00 a.m. Morning Breakout Sessions | Breakout option 1 Braking Traffik Stefanie Behrens, Domestic Abuse Specialty Services Coordinator, Family Crisis Centers Cipa Bulk, Family Crisis Centers |
| Breakout option 2 Go to Strategies for your Anxiety Reduction Arsenal Dr. Shawn Scholten, LMHC, Mental Health Counselor, Creative Living Center Nicky Menke, LISW, Social Worker, Creative Living Center This session will take a look at what anxiety is and its common causes as well as how it's commonly presented in symptom form for young people. Factors that inflate anxiety symptoms will also be a focus. The majority of this break-out session will be a sharing of some of our favorite strategies to combat anxiety and lessen the effects it has on behavior both at school and in the home. Come with open minds, a willingness to be hands-on with some of these measures, and your preferred recording tool. The goal is to leave this session equipped with a bettered understanding of anxiety and its manifestations in young people, along with an arsenal of tools to help you in helping them to combat it. | |
| 11:15 - noon Morning Breakout Sessions | Breakout option 1 Screen Time, Gaming Disorder, and Digital Literacy Andrew Gerodias, LMHC, CADC, Mental Health Counselor, Jackson Recovery Centers In this session, Andrew will explore how the process of screen time can become very similar to the experiences of addiction. A few objectives of the presentation will be to provide possible warning signs of these addictive behaviors, ways in which to address the situation, and an understanding of electronics from a place of digital literacy and gamification. Through this presentation, I am also open to having a discussion of experiences seen by participants in the field and answer questions you may have. As a counselor, an avid gamer himself, and a father to four little girls who already love getting screen time, he views the topic of screen addiction from three different perspectives. |
| Breakout option 2 This session will take a look at what anxiety is and its common causes as well as how it's commonly presented in symptom form for young people. Factors that inflate anxiety symptoms will also be a focus. The majority of this break-out session will be a sharing of some of our favorite strategies to combat anxiety and lessen the effects it has on behavior both at school and in the home. Come with open minds, a willingness to be hands-on with some of these measures, and your preferred recording tool. The goal is to leave this session equipped with a bettered understanding of anxiety and its manifestations in young people, along with an arsenal of tools to help you in helping them to combat it. | |
| Noon - 1:15 p.m. Lunch | Catered lunch and round table discussion |
| 1:30 - 2:15 p.m. Afternoon Breakout Sessions | Breakout option 1 Screen Time, Gaming Disorder, and Digital Literacy Andrew Gerodias, LMHC, CADC, Mental Health Counselor, Jackson Recovery Centers In this session, Andrew will explore how the process of screen time can become very similar to the experiences of addiction. A few objectives of the presentation will be to provide possible warning signs of these addictive behaviors, ways in which to address the situation, and an understanding of electronics from a place of digital literacy and gamification. Through this presentation, I am also open to having a discussion of experiences seen by participants in the field and answer questions you may have. As a counselor, an avid gamer himself, and a father to four little girls who already love getting screen time, he views the topic of screen addiction from three different perspectives. |
| Breakout option 2 Social Emotional Learning: Building Healthy Relationships Dr. Sara Waring-Tiedeman, Co-Chair, Education Department, Director, Master of Education Program Children from a young age develop attachments to significant others in their immediate social environment. Dr. Tiedeman will share the research behind the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and a free curriculum that can be used by counselors and teachers to help children from a grades PK - 6 have the skills to be successful in life. The presentation will focus on cooperation, empathy, and effective communication through games and activities. Participants will be able to leave with information to obtain the free Harmony Curriculum. | |
| 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. Afternoon Breakout Sessions | Breakout option 1 Safe Dates Kelsey Van Den Berg, Family Crisis Centers Courtney Cunard, Family Crisis Centers |
| Breakout option 2 Social Emotional Learning: Building Healthy Relationships Dr. Sara Waring-Tiedeman, Co-Chair, Education Department, Director, Master of Education Program Children from a young age develop attachments to significant others in their immediate social environment. Dr. Tiedeman will share the research behind the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and a free curriculum that can be used by counselors and teachers to help children from a grades PK - 6 have the skills to be successful in life. The presentation will focus on cooperation, empathy, and effective communication through games and activities. Participants will be able to leave with information to obtain the free Harmony Curriculum. | |
| 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Closing Keynote | Self-Care - Take Time for YOU Dr. Sara Waring-Tiedeman, Co-Chair, Education Department, Director, Master of Education Program In this session, educators will learn to take care of themselves while taking care of their students. The key to thriving, as both a human and an educator, rests in daily self-care. By working through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs educators will see a clear science-based path to overall well being. |
| 4:30 Graduate credit meeting | Attendees receiving graduate credit meet with Dr. Sara Waring-Tiedeman |
Speakers
| Denise Blomberg Regional Director, Operations, Samaritan's Feet International In December 2016, the Center for Disease Control released data that 129 lives are lost a day due to a drug overdose. That number has now increased to 192 a day. Denise Blomberg is a mother of 4 from Sioux Falls, SD, who lost her son, Ryan, as the result of an accidental fentanyl overdose in April 2018. Denise will share the story of dealing with Ryan’s addiction, his journey through treatment and recovery and his very unexpected death. His death was a profound loss not only for her family but on the many lives of those he impacted through his work in the sobriety and recovery communities and beyond. Denise offers hope to those who are currently dealing with a friend, family member, student or client who is struggling with addiction to help prevent them from being one of the #192aDay. | |
| Stefanie Behrens Domestic Abuse Specialty Services Coordinator, Family Crisis Centers Stefanie is a certified domestic violence and sexual assault advocate, receiving her certification through the Iowa Coalition against Domestic Violence, the Iowa Coalition against Sexual Assault and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. She received her BA in Psychology and Human Services from Dordt College. She has worked for Family Crisis Center for almost 10 years, working with a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and crisis needs of victims of human trafficking, sexual violence, family violence/domestic violence, child abuse, attempted homicide, stalking and teen dating violence. Stefanie has worked with thousands of victims of crime, specialized in vulnerable population, pursued innovative services and connections to better serve individuals and the community needs. As a violence survivor herself, proud wife/daughter/aunt of Military Veterans and mom of twins boys she is dedicated to be a voice for those who feel they have no voice and encourages her community to join the movement to have a fuller understanding of the impact of trauma on young, vulnerable, diverse individuals in our community. | |
| Cipa Bulk Domestic Violence Advocate, Family Crisis Centers Cipa is a Domestic Violence Advocate receiving her certification through the Iowa Coalition against Domestic Violence. She is a bilingual advocate. She received her BA from Dordt College. She has worked for Family Crisis Centers for almost five years, before that she was a certified volunteer for FCC as an interpreter. She works will all types of victims, but she concentrates on serving Spanish Speaking clients, she has served victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Human Trafficking and Survivors of Homicide victims. As a Spanish speaking advocate she helps her clients navigate their paths while breaking the language barrier and helping them make connection in their community. She also helps connect her clients with immigration services. Cipa wants to help those most vulnerable in the community find help and resources, she also want to raise awareness of the trauma can do to victims of crime so that the community as a whole can better serve them. | |
| Dr. Shawn Scholten, LMHC Mental Health Counselor, Creative Living Center Dr. Shawn Scholten holds a Doctoral Degree in Counseling Psychology. She has been practicing individual, couples, and family therapy with the Creative Living Center since 1993. Her specialties lie in grief and loss, anxiety disorders, pre-marital and couples work, children and adolescent therapy, and conducting trauma debriefings. Further interests are aiding in conflict-laden systemic situations. Dr. Scholten is an Iowa Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a National Board Certified Counselor. She also is part of the NWIA Crisis Intervention Stress Management Team. | |
| Nicky Menke, LISW Social Worker, Creative Living Center Nicky Menke is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in Iowa and South Dakota. She received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of North Dakota. She works with children and adults of all ages, couples and families. Nicky is skilled in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), Family Systems, Solution-Focused Therapy, Crisis Intervention, Child-Based Interventions, and School-Based Therapy. She has an interest in dealing with depression, anxiety, Borderline Personality Disorder, children and adults suffering from acute and chronic illness such as cancer and end-stage renal disorder, and those coping with severe and persistent mental illness. | |
| Andrew Gerodias, LMHC, CADC Mental Health Counselor, Jackson Recovery Centers Andrew Gerodias is a licensed mental health counselor with a certification in alcohol and drug counseling. He received his BA in Counseling Psychology from Morningside College, his MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of South Dakota, and is currently working on his dissertation for his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from USD. He has worked for Jackson Recovery Centers for over 5 years, working with a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and counseling needs. His primary focus has been in the area of addictions, and over the last three years has expanded into mental health and process addictions. As a counselor, an avid gamer himself, and a father to four little girls who already love getting screen time, he views the topic of screen addiction from three different perspectives. | |
| Kelsey Van Den Berg | |
| Courtney Cunard | |
| Dr. Sara Waring-Tiedeman Co-Chair, Education Department, Director, Master of Education Program In addition to serving as chief administrator for Northwestern’s current Master of Education degree programs, Dr. Waring-Tiedeman works with the college’s education department to develop new M.Ed. tracks and graduate-level programs. Before coming to Northwestern, she was the school support and ESL specialist for the East Dakota Educational Cooperative in Sioux Falls and also served as a contract specialist and data analyst for edCount, which is based in Washington, D.C., and provides systems and services for educators across the U.S. Dr. Waring-Tiedeman has taught at South Dakota State University and Arizona State University and also has experience as a teacher of English as a second language. She previously served on the executive board for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. She earned a doctorate in educational administration, specializing in educational leadership and adult education, at the University of South Dakota. She also holds a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction and a bachelor’s degree in English, both from South Dakota State University. |
