Cash For College!

            There were several inspirations for me deciding to pursue a career as a school counselor.  The main impetus was assisting my daughter with the college application process.  In that process I also helped some of her friends that were also desperately seeking guidance on the tedious process of college applications.  Now, having started down the path of receiving a Master in School School Counseling degree, the passion of wanting to help kids get to college has only grown stronger for me.  In order to research this topic further, I attended a “Cash for College” workshop at Vista High School on January 31^st to see how school counselors are assisting their students fulfill their college dreams with one of the most tedious parts of the college application process – financial aid forms.  

Restorative Practices: Circles

Restorative Practices Training by Dana Creek

I attended and will be reviewing the Restorative Practices Training lead by Anthony Ceja. The
workshop took place on March 3^rd in our CSP662B class at San Diego State University.  Anthony Ceja is a certified trainer for restorative practices who works for the San Diego County Office of Education, providing trainings at different schools throughout San Diego County on how to incorporate restorative practices into their school environment, structure and discipline policies.  
I chose to review this training because last semester, in one of our first school counseling classes, we had a presentation from a school counselor at one of the practicum sites where she talked about her experience in the field and the particular interventions being used in her school; that intervention being Restorative Practices Circles.  She explained the basic principles behind RP and how it was being implemented in her school; using circles to create a safe school community where students can share their feelings and open-up to their peers without fear of repercussions such as bullying. As well they use circles to create healing within the school when an individual member of the community displays behaviors that harm the community at large, behaviors that would normally get kids sent to detention, suspended or even expelled.  Her words really spoke to me and I’ve been eagerly awaiting this workshop to learn more about Restorative Practices.

Renew & Refuel - San Diego State University's 1st Annual Mental Wellness Conference

In today's day and age, we, as humans, are constantly moving from one task to the next without much of a break. We tend to get so overwhelmed with caring for our responsibilities that we rarely take the time to take a moment and care for ourselves. As important as it is to juggle various responsibilities, it is equally imperative that we, as humans, take the time to refuel and recharge.

Funded by the SDSU Student Success Fee, the Renew and Refuel Mental Wellness Conference focuses on promoting mindfulness practices, as well as educate students on various types of exercises. In order to provide key practices in physical and mental care, the conference provides various health and wellness exercises that can be easily applied to everyday life.

      The day started off with a keynote speaker, Megan Leuchars.

Training: Trauma-Informed Care

Training: Trauma-Informed CARE

                I attended a two-hour training on Trauma-Informed on March 10, 2016. The training was provided by Harmonium, Inc. and lead by Heidi Echeverria, MPH Harmonium project manager. It was held at San Diego State University and Christine Ma, a student from the School Counseling Graduate Program, organized the training. 

           

 I was very interested in attending this training because at my current practicum, through my Culturally Affirming Responsive Education Specialist (CARES) grant, and as a court appointed special advocate (CASA), I have worked with students who live in violent communities, high risk environments, have an IEP or 504 and how are or have currently been in the foster care system. I wanted to learn more techniques that I could assist the youth, who are facing different types of traumas and I also wanted to learn about what protective factors could help make them become resilient.

Mental Health First Aid

On April 18^th &19^th, I attended a free two-day Mental Health First Aid training. It is $130 fee for anyone interested in attending, but as of now the state of California is offering it for free. The training is available in Spanish and English. It is provided by the Mental Health America of San Diego County. It was held at the Casa Familiar Recreation Center in San Ysidro, California. The environment was very welcoming and many Zumba members joined in after they got done exercising.

The Mental Health First Aid training is proven to be effective and is evidence based. This program originated in Australia in 2001 and has become available worldwide. Mental Health First Aid USA is listed in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. After an individual completes the training they are certified for three years as Mental Health First Aider.

Certified Mental Health First Aiders!

Mindful Meditation in Everyday Life

I attended the first annual Renew & Refuel Mental Wellness Conference at San Diego State University on Monday.  Renew and Refuel is one of the SDSU programs funded by the Student Success Fee, and was held at the Prebys Student Center at SDSU.  It consisted of a keynote speaker and two hour-long breakout sessions.  I attended the Mindfulness and Reflection breakout session led by Dr. Erik Conklin.

Dr. Conklin is a certified Compassion Cultivation Facilitator coming from Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.  He gave us an overview of mindfulness meditation and its neurological, psychological and physical benefits as well as an introduction to the philosophy of mindfulness.  In his terms, it is “paying attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental openness, curiosity and a willingness to ‘be with what is.’”  He described that non-judgmental openness as being like a flashlight.  Sometimes practice of mindfulness meditation will illuminate unpleasant things within ourselves, which he likened to that flashlight illuminating a “present” a new puppy leaves on the floor.  If we are adopting the mindfulness philosophy, we can both recognize the truth and hold back from judging it- we can say “yep that’s dog crap alright” without scolding ourselves for being bad dog owners or getting angry at the dog for not knowing how expensive the carpet is.

Nate Howard's "Tell Your Story Before They Do"

The professional growth opportunity that I decided to attend was Nate Howard’s “Tell Your Story Before They Do” motivational speech sponsored by the African American Mentoring Program (AAMP). It was held in the Council Chambers in the Conrad Presby’s Aztec Student Union here at SDSU. He is a poet, motivational speaker and entrepreneur from San Diego. Nate Howard’s Movement is called B.E., which stands for Be Empowered. His goal is to help students across the nation find their purpose through self- expression.  Movement B.E. stemmed from an event that happened in 2013 after a celebratory graduation party in the inner-city community of Los Angeles near USC. The police and the S.W.A.T. team came to the party and shut it down arresting a lot of people in attendance (mostly students of color). This resulted in a peaceful protest regarding racial discrimination and a lot of publicity in the media. He realized that he did not want anyone telling his story and defining who he was. I chose to attend this workshop because I too have been allowing people to tell my story and to define who I was based on my race, my gender, and where I am from. It is important that we use our own story to help the students that we are working with create their own stories and their own paths.

Holistic Interventions for Gang-Vulnerable Youth

The 4th Annual Community Lecture “Working with Vulnerable Gang-Involved Youth”, took place at San Diego State University on March 10, 2016. Presenters from various professional backgrounds presented including Robert Hernandez, MSW, Senior Lecturer at USC ; Steve Kim, MSW, co-founder of Project Kinship; and Conrad Fuentes, MSW, Director Field Instructor at USC.The hall was filled to capacity with an array of SDSU students from various disciplines along with youth who are served by the Tri County Collaborative Partnership and Project Kinship. Tri County Collaborative provides direct prevention and intervention services, as well as training to mental health professionals in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. This training enlightened participants about the systemic cycle of incarceration and how professionals can use a holistic socio-ecological model to better support gang-involved youth. Growing up with friends and family members involved in gang activity, it was important for me to learn about holistic prevention and intervention services. My home town has a Gang Investigations Unit responsible for investigating all criminal activity involving known or suspected gang members and graffiti vandalism.

Cultural Competency Webinar

For my professional development, I watched an ASCA seminar on cultural competency, by Paul Harris. I was able to do this from the comfort of my own home, as the ASCA 2016 webinar series archives most of its presentations for repeated use. This is really convenient because in just one hour, I was able to retrieve a PowerPoint slide, a presentation and discussion questions. I was curious about this webinar, because I wanted to pick up new ideologies, skills and strategies in a field that I am passionate about. I would recommend this to other school counselors, and Harris contends this would make a great training for all staff at every school.

The webinar started off with an activity that can be used in all settings, classrooms and age groups.  Harris drew a picture of everything that represented him. Then he shared for two minutes about everything he drew in his “My World” diagram. Harris explained that the exercise only had two rules.

The Postmodern Social Justice Symposium

The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium

            In February, San Diego State University’s Counseling and Social Change Club hosted an event in the Aztec Student Union called The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium. The symposium featured a lineup of speakers with various ties to SDSU, including Dr. Tanis Starck, Liz Roccoforte, Elisa Barnett, and Patricia Ruiz. The symposium comprised a motivational speech, and presentations on LGBTQIA life, bi-racial identity, and intersectionality in feminism. I chose to attend this event because social justice is an important cause to me, and because I am interested in how to implement it within counseling, my favorite aspect of school psychology.

            Ms. Barnett’s presentation gave an engaging, anecdote-rich view into life as someone growing up with parents of two different races. As someone who has never experienced the complexity of being multiracial, it never occurred to me how trying it could be for someone to be forced to identify themselves in a way that does not fully encompass all that they are, especially if they are young and still developing that identity. This presentation gave me a valuable perspective that will doubtlessly be of use to me as I go on to work with children of diverse backgrounds, some of whom may struggle greatly with defining who they are in a world that leaves them such limited options.

            Much like Ms. Barnett, Ms. Ruiz gave a presentation that broadened my perspective on walks of life I have not personally experienced. Her presentation on intersectionality in feminism showed that the experience of being female does not exist in a vacuum; race and other factors of one’s identity are inextricably linked to it, creating strengths and struggles that must be understood and tended to uniquely. Having a better awareness of this phenomenon, supported by the historical examples Ms. Ruiz provided (e.g. Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?”) has granted me a new lens through which to begin understanding the experiences that my future female clients face.

            Most striking to me, however, was Ms. Roccoforte’s presentation on the complexity of LGBTQ+ identities. The presentation began as a basic overview of the various traits included under the LGBTQ umbrella, but went on to discuss how we can make the world – particularly schools – a more hospitable place for those who are LGBTQ. The idea is to normalize LGBTQ individuals by repositioning the spotlight away from cisgender, heterosexual people, most notably by asking new acquaintances what their preferred gender pronouns are as casually as one would otherwise greet them. Admittedly, this seemed a bit awkward to me at first, but it really does make sense, and has the potential to be a very useful practice. The more I learn about various backgrounds, the more I see how little we can afford to assume about people. It then follows that asking a new acquaintance what their preferred gender pronouns are really is a reasonable thing to do, and I expect it would be especially useful in a counseling setting. I believe that by asking new clients for their preferred gender pronouns by default, I can show that I am interested in centering the conversation around them, and am open to however they wish to express themselves.

            In truth, the symposium did not entirely meet my expectations. It did not have a very strong focus on counseling, and as far as I can recall did not make any references to evidence-based practices or measuring the effectiveness of the practices given. If the anecdotes are any indication, though, there is a lot to be said for welcoming diverse people with not just open arms, but an open mind; the best practice is to be humble in just how little we know about walks of life we ourselves have not walked, and simply doing all that we can to support people as they specifically need it.

- Michael K.

Restorative Practices to Build Community in Schools

On March 3, 2016, I attended a training about restorative justice practices. This was an in-class training specifically for the students of SDSU's CSP 662B course. Restorative justice practices have been a popular topic in education lately, especially in San Diego. Some schools have begun implementing restorative practices in response to discipline problems and specifically as an alternative to suspensions. However, there seems to be conflicting opinions about this approach throughout the education field. I had very little prior knowledge about restorative practices and I was looking forward to learn about the topic in a small, intimate setting.

The restorative practices training was presented by Anthony Ceja, the Student Support Services Coordinator at San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE). Mr. Ceja has been trained by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) to train others about restorative practices. He is a lead facilitator in restorative practices and also provides trainings for San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) staff members. We received a shortened 3-hour version of the training, while a typical training is usually two full days.

Journeys in Identity - Diversity Narrative

Journeys in Identity: Diversity Narrative

    On Friday, March 4th, I attended Journeys in Identity: Diversity Narrative, a workshop presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Association (APISWA) at the Cholula Community Center in San Diego State University.  With previous exposure to narrative therapy as a counseling style, this workshop piqued my curiosity, as I wanted to learn how to incorporate its techniques in my work as a future school psychologist.  Narrative therapy places particular emphasis in collaboration between counselor and client, as well as the role of the client as expert regarding their own circumstances and strengths.  The non-pathologizing and collaborative nature of narrative therapy has grand potential as a framework for counseling services in schools.  I am happy to have attended this workshop, as it offered specific short exercises that incorporated not only narrative therapy techniques, but also themes regarding diversity and cultural competency.  These exercises can be easily and effectively implemented in schools as they take little time yet are engaging and value the clients’ individuality and connections to others.

Working with a Student of Parent Suicide

Blog post by Natalya Cordero

On Friday, February 12^th at the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Annual Convention in New Orleans, LA, I attended a session entitled Helping Children Cope in the Aftermath of a Parent’s Suicide. It was presented by Suzanne Bennett and Melissa A. Heath from Brigham Young University. Their focus was disseminating information that would be helpful for counseling students who have gone through the traumatic event of losing a parent to suicide.  This was particularly applicable to me as I have worked with a child whose parent had completed suicide. Most of the information I found while researching this topic in order to help this student were focused on death in general and not specifically suicide. This discovery was backed up by Bennett and Heath, who confimed that there are few resources for children of parent suicide, which was partly what led them to researching specific ways of helping these students. I was appreciate of the specific focus of their discussion as well as very practical information that they relayed in their presentation.

Tell Your Story Before They Do

Tell Your Story Before They Do

Personal empowerment is about becoming more aware of yourself as a unique individual and developing confidence and strength. Every individual has their strengths and weaknesses along with a variety of skills that are utilized in everyday situations; however, people frequently tend to undervalue or remain unaware of their true abilities.

On March 18, 2016, I attended an empowering event by poet, educator, entrepreneur, and professional and motivational speaker, Nate Howard, at San Diego State University. Nate is the founder of “Movement Be”, which is a non-profit organization that encourages youth nationwide to find their purpose through self-expression. He challenges the schools to use this movement to summon the students for social change. He asks you to define your essence, and not through your grades or your job. I decided to participate in this particular event because the topic of using self-expression to empower one’s self can be applied to any individual at any age and at any time. I especially liked this topic because it does not require a major learned skill because it simply asks you to recognize, identify and acknowledge the things that make you, you.

Effective Framework for Indigenous Youth, Families and Communities

USING THE FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE WITH INDIGENOUS YOUTH, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES

On February 12, 2016, I attended USING THE FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE WITH INDIGENOUS YOUTH, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES at 2016 NASP Convention in Louisiana, New Orleans.  The training was organized by the Indigenous group under NASP and School Psychology, Elvina Charley from Kayenta Unified School District from the Navajo Reservation presented.  

Trauma-Informed Care

On March 10, 2016 I attended a Trauma-Informed Care training at SDSU. The training was organized  by a second year student of the School Counseling Graduate Program. Shout-out to Christine Ma! 

I was very interested in this topic because I have worked with students in the past who have dealt with trauma yet, I was not aware or certain how to work with them on an individual basis. The training was provided by the local non-profit Harmonium which serves youth and families in many different capacities.

As a current student of the School Counseling program I felt like being more aware of the different ways to approach students/clients dealing with trauma was necessary to become a better advocate for them and their education. As a future school counselor it is important for me to be knowledgable in many different areas since our students will all be facing different challenges.

2016 Foster Youth and Homeless Summit

Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) Pledge

“All students in Riverside County will graduate from high school well prepared for college and the workforce”

             The event I attended was the Foster Youth and Homeless Summit on March 11th 2016. It took place at the Riverside Convention Center and was coordinated by the Riverside County Office of Education. The summit was sponsored by Moore Education Services, Chavez Educational Services, Reliable Workplace Solutions, and the City of Riverside Public Utilities. The event motto was a quote by Magic Johnson, “All kids need is a little help, a little hope and someone who believes in them.”

Candle Light Confessions

Candle Light Confessions: Stories of Youth Outshining Stigma

The professional growth opportunity I participated in was Candle Light Confessions:

Stories of Youth Outshining Stigma presented by Urban Beats.  The event was held on March 2^nd at the Malcolm X Library.  As explained on their website, Urban Beats is an innovative program for Transition Age Youth (TAY) aimed to empower and enhance the wellness of youth and adults through artistic expression by utilizing arts and social media.  Urban Beats provides a number of benefits for participating TAY, of which include: a safe space for youth where they can learn to de-stigmatize mental illness, express themselves without judgment, enhance their self-sufficiency, providing access to social media experts as well as working artists to support and help nurture potential careers paths, and help youth to develop transferable skills to the professional arena.

GroundSpark: Igniting change through film

On February 4th I attended the all day GroundSpark Straight-laced training held at Monroe Clark’s Parent Center.  The training was sponsored by the San Diego Unified School District.  Our school counselor invited us to attend as it was on on campus and we could attend for free as interns.  I thought this was a great opportunity to learn more about curriculum focused on gender roles and issues LGBT students face so I gladly accepted the invitation.  

GroundSpark is based out of San Francisco, California.  GroundSpark focuses on creating schools and communities that are safe for all young people. Their mission statement is to create visionary films and dynamic educational campaigns that move individuals and communities to take action for a more just world.  The Straight-laced Curriculum and Resource guide is aligned to the National Sexuality Education Standards which helps counselors and educators as there is limited time allocated to teaching the topic.  Some examples of their other curriculum are shown below.

AUTISM & ANXIETY

Understanding the Relationship Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Anxiety

Presented by: Patricia Cleinmark, S.S.P

CSP 662 Student: Adriana Damian

When I saw the title of this presentation at NASP, one of my students came to mind. My student is high functioning and has autism. He's demonstrated OCD-like behaviors in the past such as tapping his pencil on the table after writing three letters down and repeating numbers in the 10's family (e.g., 10, 20, 30) two times when counting numbers sequentially. This current school year my coworkers and I noticed that he's developed other behaviors. I thought that perhaps anxiety was playing a role in his new behaviors, and so, I attended this presentation with him in mind. 

This presentation was her doctoral thesis. Therefore, I think it's important to know some background information to understand why and how she applied her knowledge in school settings. The data she collected was made possible by the Interactive Autism Network. For more information: https://www.ianresearch.org

Welcome to Moreno Valley: How One School District is Supporting Their Foster Youth

Welcome to Moreno Valley Unified School District; the 7^th largest district in the state of California, with 80% of students receiving free and reduced lunch, and 979 foster youth enrolled in the district this past school year. With a large foster youth population in need of support and the LCAP funding to do so, this school district has, within one school year, transformed the services this population receives, and as a result, has already seen a 10% reduction in suspension rates of youth in foster care.

On March 11^th, 2016, I attended the annual Riverside County Office of Education Foster Youth and Homeless Summit in Riverside, CA. One of the breakout sessions I attended was a presentation by Beth Bartholomew, foster youth liaison coordinator for the Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD). As a scholar on the Culturally Affirming and Responsive Education Specialist (CARES) grant, a CASA, and a passionate advocate for the needs of foster youth, I attended this breakout session because I was eager to learn how LCAP funding could be utilized effectively to provide resources to foster youth through schools.

Paws to Read: an Animal-assisted therapy

On March 12, 2016 I attended an Animal-assited/Pet Therapy session with Banjo, a R.E.A.D therapy dog, at the Temecula Public Library. Banjo is part of a program ran by the Temecula Public Library known as Paws to Read that helps children practice their oral reading as well as relieve any anxiety related with reading (and with dogs). The program is hosted by the Temecula library, but all of the therapy dogs and their handlers are volunteers who donate their time to the library on a rotating Saturday schedule.

 

Commercially Sexually Exploited Children

          On March 22, 2016 I attended training for working with Commercial Sexual Exploited Children, also known as CSEC.  Leading the training was a group called SDYS-STARS, which stands for San Diego Youth Survivors - Surviving Together, Achieving & Reaching for Success.  I attended this training because I did not know enough about the commercially sexually exploited children and I did not feel comfortable yet with working with them.

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel"

I attended a presentation at San Diego State University on March 10, 2016. The presenters included Joey Nuñez Estrada, Robert Hernandez, Steve Kim, Conrad Fuentes, and Nati Alvarado. The presentation was focused on considering the definitional issues, cultural components, and the impact of trauma when working with vulnerable youth susceptible to gang-involvement. I chose to attend this presentation because I had a friend who used to be in the Foster Care system and shared his experience with me regarding how he found a family through his gang affiliation, and I wanted to learn more about how to help this youth population find family without the terms and conditions, so to speak. I also attended this presentation because it was offered through our class and is a population that Dr. Estrada works closely with.

Strength and Resilience of Refugee Students: School Supports

By Rachel Ruiz

For my professional training, I decided to attend the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) convention held in New Orleans, Louisiana. This convention is held every year in a different location in the U.S. and provides mini skills workshops, poster presentations, research paper presentations, and guided discussions about various topics within the School Psychology field. I chose this experience because it provides a thorough overview of the many issues and innovations that school psychologists face during practice today. While I was at NASP, I learned about many different populations of students and how school psychologists nationwide interact and intervene with these students.

Groundspark Blog-Straight-laced Curriculum Training

Groundspark Blog Entry

Straight-laced Curriculum Training

Jennifer Bolaski - March 29, 2016 

Professional Growth Opportunity Information: I attended the GroundSpark-Straightlaced Curriculum Training, presented by Nita Vjaters of San Diego Unified School District, on February 4th from 8:00am-3:00pm held at Monroe Clark Middle School in the Parent Center located in City Heights. I decided to attend this training because our practicum site currently has a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club during lunch.  

Objective: The focus of this training was to help educators “create an inclusive, bias-free school and community by giving youth and adults the tools they need to openly discuss diversity in all its forms.” The director created this program to bring attention to how all youth are affected by homophobia and gender pressures. The film shares the stories of more than 50 students who share the pressures they are dealing with around culture, gender and sexuality. The curriculum is fairly new (2011) and does not mention any evidence based data. 

Key Themes & Issues: 

• Gender pressures and expectations are all around us, limiting youth from reaching their potential
• Gender expectations exist across cultures and are expressed differently in different contexts.

Audience: The curriculum we were given is designed to be primarily used within high schools, grades nine and above because of mature themes such as sexuality, suicide, violence and drug use, however parts can be shared with middle school students. The activities are meant to use in groups. Counselors can use the unit of study lesson or simply share and discuss the film with their students. (Both resources are available for borrowing!) Although the curriculum was created for use with students, you can also share it in a different context such as hosting a parent/guardian/community screening of the film to engage viewers in exploring these issues. Another way to build support is to invite principals, administrators and colleagues to watch the film. 

Assessment: To measure it’s effectiveness, students will first be given a personal experiences survey/questionnaire of approximately 14 questions such as: “Do you act differently when you are with a group of girls than when you are with a group of guys?” Students can then respond: “yes”, “no”, “sometimes” and explain/give an example. The survey can be used as a reference tool for students to measure and discuss their level of individual growth. Also included in the curriculum as a School Climate Assessment and the School and Community Action Plan. Both involve students working together in teams to assess different aspects of their school climate relating to gender and sexuality by developing their own research questions, carrying out quantitative and qualitative surveys and sharing their findings and coming up with a plan for action. 

Considerations: Before beginning a lesson or showing the video, it is important to devout enough time for discussion, both in preparing students for what they are about to see, and allowing time to help them process what they saw. As a group, come up with some shared agreements for discussion in order to create a space where everyone feels safe and respected. Since the film has mature themes, it is recommended to provide some background to families (perhaps in the form of a letter) about what the students will be doing and why. 

Counseling Techniques: The particular counseling techniques I will be sharing relate to the following two student objectives as outlined in the curriculum:

• Understand how gender-role pressures affect all young people’s lives
• Explore connections among issues of gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, class and other aspects of identity. 

The training recommends coming up with group norms (such as the ones listed below) before beginning a group discussion. Some of the ones listed below are similar to the ones used for group therapy as outlined in our textbook and also include counseling strategies used in both Narrative Based Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy.

. 

• Be an active and caring listener
• Assume best intentions
• Use “I” statements
• Disagree respectively
• Support each other in trying on new ideas
• Point out hurtful comments
• Ask if you aren’t sure how to say something respectfully
• Keep the discussion confidential
• Everyone has the right to pass or not answer
• Allow everyone the chance to speak  

The training also included techniques to use when facilitating dialogue. They recommend using participatory strategies such as THINK-PAIR-SHARE (participants think of a response quietly, then pair up and share) so that everyone has a chance to develop and express their own ideas. 

When conversations turn unfamiliar, model willingness to engage with new or unfamiliar topics or themes such as setting the tone, model thinking, and remind students of the right to pass.

Incorporation: Even though I plan on becoming an Elementary School Counselor (and may not use the film itself with my younger students) I plan on incorporating the techniques in the unit with my students such as developing lessons that include: developing empathy for others, learning skills to reach across differences and become an ally, and working toward creating safer and more inclusive climates. I also would start a social justice club. I may use the film during a staff meeting or parent night to create awareness of the issues. As an educator, the training also included 10 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference: 

• Honor the identity of every student
• Reach out to those that are marginalized
• Ensure the visibility and acceptance of a wide range of gender experiences, identities and forms of expression.
• Set clear school rules and expectations that promote safety and respect.
• Engage in professional development on issues of gender, sexuality, bias and equity.
• Teach about gender, sexuality, culture, race and other diversity issues.
• Intervene when you witness bullying, bias, harassment or disrespect.
• Sponsor a gender support group, social justice club, or Gay-Straight Alliance
• Ensure school policies are fully inclusive of both girls and boys, as well as of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming students, and students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Engage parents, guardians and caregivers in this dialogue.

Link to the video trailer: http://groundspark.org/our-films-and-campaigns/straightlaced

The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium (Jinhui Kiang)

On Feb. 27^th, Michael and I went to The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium, hosted by the Counseling and Social Change Club. This event took place in the Aztec Union Theater on campus. Upon our arrival, we received a booklet with the schedule for this six-hour long workshop and some information about the keynote speakers.

Dr. Sarah Kahn, the Director of the Counseling and Social Change undergraduate minor, welcomed everyone with a welcome speech. Then, Dr. Starck delivered an exciting and passionate motivational introduction on why social change needs to be addressed urgently among young professionals and college students. At the end of Dr. Starck’s speech, she encouraged everyone to stand up and to shout “Social justice!” three times with her. As a person coming from an introvert culture background, this format of the speech seemed a little overwhelming for me. However, the speeches led us into a curious stage where we were afforded a learning opportunity of diverse identities.

The first speech, Embracing Complexity and Breaking the Binary: The Future of the LGBTQ+ Movement, was delivered by Liz Roccoforte. She talked about the fluidity of one’s sexual and gender orientation, which gave me a better understanding of the identities of LGBTQ groups. The most fascinating part of this speech was the Gender Unicorn.

The unicorn was used as a model to represent the many aspects of gender identity, gender expression/presentation, sex assigned at birth, sexually attraction, and romantic/emotional attraction. The unicorn provided a full picture of the fluidity of sexual/gender orientation that have challenged the stereotypes that people in general have about LGBTQ groups. This speech, along with a PBS documentary Growing Up Trans, reminded me how little the majority of heterosexual people acknowledge the way LGBTQ people see themselves and the identity struggles they experience in everyday life. In the documentary, transgender children started to explore their identity at a very young age. For school psychologists and counselors, the support we offer will be crucial to those children. The fundamental premise of providing adequate service is to fully understand the interchangeable identity of LGBTQ children and to stay professional and compassionate during counseling sessions with them.

Elisa Barnett gave the second speech, with the topic about biracial identity issues. She utilized narratives to explain biracial identity and some common assumptions people will make. One of the questions she asked the audience was, “When we ask biracial people to give up one nationality or ethnicity, what are we asking them to give up?” Answers such as culture, heritage, and identity were shouted out from different corners of the theater. She acknowledged those answers and continued, “We are asking them to give up all those factors of their lives. In fact, we are asking them to give up a part of themselves”. I was deeply touched by her statements. Personally, I’ve been going through some moments of merging a new identity to my original one, that of an unsolidified Chinese. Inevitably, conflicts and accords both appeared in my process. As school professionals, instead of judging dogmatically on someone’s complex identity, our job is to help biracial students to merge both their heritages and cultures more successfully so that they can have a more efficient and more productive school life.

The last speech, Intersectional Feminism, was presented by Patricia Ruiz. I was a little confused about the title before the speech. Patricia made it clear to the audience during the speech – feminism is in the center of an intersection, where one never knows from which direction the criticism (e.g.: racism, sexism) is coming from. Patricia ended her speech with a video of Astraea, a lesbian foundation for justice.

The implication for my future counseling in schools is that, as a school psychologist, I need to respect that students, just like adults, have complex identities that have been shaped from their diverse experiences. When we utilize solution-focused counseling techniques, details like past experience and identities are usually left out. It wouldn’t hurt if we spend a little more time on building rapport and truly get to understand the students. Last, but not least, this photo shows my goal of being a future school psychologist.

Jinhui Kiang

Kumeyaay Transborder Education

I attended a presentation and discussion titled Kumiai/Kumeyaay Transborder and Transnational Education: Intermixing Traditional and Formal Education by Cynthia Vasquez. Cynthia is currently a Ph.D. candidate at University of California, San Diego and the workshop was sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Scholars Collaborative (NAISC). Cynthia works at two schools located on reservations: one in Juantos de Neji on a Kumiai reservation in Mexico and one in Campo on a Kumeyaay reservation in the U.S. Cynthia’s research and community services are focused on the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation’s process of bridging traditional knowledge and formal education. In addition, Cynthia illuminates how the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation is affected by the U.S./Mexico border. The event was held on March 14, 2016 at San Diego State University. 

I chose to participate in this event because I have little knowledge about the Kumeyaay people’s culture and felt it important to learn more about their specified educational needs. I was also very interested in this workshop because of the focus on transborder education and the problems caused for the Kumeyaay people from the U.S./Mexican border. I felt that this is such a lesser known topic to public it would be an extremely valuable opportunity to be able to learn more about these issues and share this information with others. 

Due to the trauma the Kumiai/Kumeyaay have faced from colonization and the creation of the U.S./Mexican border, there is a need to make the formal education system more accessible in a way that is culturally valuable. In order to allow Kumeyaay students better access to formal education, Cynthia suggested that the formal education system should utilize their traditional knowledge in order to better support Kumeyaay students education. Traditional knowledge can include ecological knowledge, oral history, and ethnoatronomy. While in the past formal education has been used as a means to acculturate Native Americans and wipe them of this traditional knowledge, Cynthia spoke about claiming formal education as a space for survival and preservation of culture. An key intervention that Cynthia spoke about was the need for increased preservation of the Kumeyaay language through language classes and camps. The methods of the classes are unique in their holistic approach. Rather than overtly teaching using traditional methods, Kumeyaay language teachers teach using more immersive techniques, such as completing daily activities in the language, going on walks in nature and using the language to explain, and use of personalized picture/language books. These methods are more beneficial to the students because they are more in line with their traditional knowledge. 

Many of the students in school on Kumiai/Kumeyaay reservations face unique challenges and are often taught to have a victim mentality. When working with this population, it is important to use a strength-based approach to combat such mentality. While it is important to recognize the current and historical traumas these students have faced, it was suggested that focusing too much on this can lead to learned helplessness. Counseling groups at the aforementioned sites are called “Resiliency Groups” rather than counseling groups or anger management groups. Students are also encouraged to determine their own strengths and make that the name of the group. 

Another important counseling tool suggested for use with Kumeyaay students was incorporating cultural aspects into the counseling group. This is important because it honors and values the student’s unique culture and the importance in plays in their identities. Healing, through the use of smudging or burning of sage, has been positively used at the beginning of groups to start when cleansed energy. The use of weaved baskets and the stories they tell have also been used as a way to value culture and discover patterns. 

A page from a Kumiai language booklet children in the language class used. Note that children write the numerical representation as well as the word and a picture to foster a fuller comprehension of the language. In these language booklets, pictures are incorporated with various words in both Kumiai and Spanish to help children make a meaningful connection with the language, which is a very important part of their culture that has largely been lost. 

A pamphlet Cynthia provides to teachers at schools who work with Kumeyaay students. Many of the teachers at the schools are White and know little about Kumeyaay culture and the importance of incorporating their culture into the educational setting. As described above, it is extremely important to incorporate Kumeyaay culture into the classroom so that traditional knowledge and formal knowledge can both be utilize to better support and motivate Kumeyaay students' learning.

A page from the pamphlet. These pages list various effective teaching strategies that should be used when working with Kumeyaay students. Important factors include building trust with the students and the teacher learning along side the students. 

Another page from the pamphlet. This describes pieces important to Kumeyaay culture. Many teachers and staff have little knowledge about Kumeyaay culture. This serves as a positive introduction to staff so that they can gain a better understanding of the students they are working with. 

Sarah Nakutin