The Role of WV School Counselors in relation to WV Laws, WVBE Policy, and Ethical Practices
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Ethical Standards for School Counselors underscore the vital importance of understanding and complying with legal mandates, school board policies, and professional ethical guidelines. In West Virginia, school counselors work within a framework shaped by state code, West Virginia Board of Education policies, district-level regulations, and administrative procedures that collectively define their scope of practice and responsibilities.

This session offers a comprehensive overview of the legal and policy landscape that directly influences the work of school counselors across the state. Participants will examine West Virginia Code §18-5-18b, which outlines the official role of school counselors, including the mandate that at least 80% of their time be dedicated to direct services with students. The code also delineates tasks that counselors should avoid—such as disciplinary actions, record keeping, and test administration—unless specifically assigned.

We will also explore recent legislative updates, including HB4769, which further clarifies appropriate and inappropriate duties, reinforcing the importance of maintaining a student-centered counseling role.

Additionally, we will explore other West Virginia state code and Board of Education policies that mandate prevention education for school staff and students. Resources and best practices will be provided to help school counselors understand how to best address these mandates and to support academic achievement, career readiness, and social-emotional development..

To promote practical understanding, the session will conclude with a Frequently Asked Questions segment focused on ethical responsibilities. This interactive portion will address common challenges and provide actionable guidance for navigating complex situations with professionalism, integrity, and confidence.

Presented by:
Stephanie Hayes | Coordinator of School Counseling & Student Support | West Virginia Department of Education




Wild & Wonderful Tech Tools: The School Counselor’s Creative Toolkit with Padlet & Classroomscreen
School counselors juggle lessons, small groups, advisory councils, staff trainings, and a never-ending flow of students—so why not use tools that make it all easier and more fun? In this lively, hands-on session, you’ll discover how Padlet and Classroomscreen can transform the way you organize, present, and engage. From visual brain breaks to group norms, mood check-ins, timers, attention signals, exit tickets, collaborative reflections, and interactive modules, these tools offer endless possibilities for creative counseling that sticks.

We’ll explore how Padlet can become your go-to hub for classroom lessons, small groups, virtual learning modules, family engagement activities, advisory council meetings, and even professional development trainings with your staff. You’ll learn how to build a space where students can reflect, collaborate, and connect with each other—and with you—whether they’re in your classroom, sharing in a counseling activity, or completing follow-ups on their own time. We’ll also highlight privacy tips, organization strategies, and layout tricks to help your Padlets look polished and intentional.

Next, we’ll dive into Classroomscreen, the ultimate “control center” for counselors with a classroom, a smartboard, or a high-traffic office. Use it to display visual routines, SEL prompts, timers, noise monitors, to-do lists, random name pickers, videos, counselor expectations, music, and warm-ups. Create a calming dashboard for individual sessions, or set up a standing home-base screen students see the moment they walk in. This will be an absolute game-changer for your classroom lessons! You'll also be able to share this tool with your staff and help them use it to support neurodivergent learners.

You’ll leave with skills, fresh ideas, and a creative toolkit you can use the very next day. Get ready to explore wild, wonderful, student-centered tools that bring clarity, structure, and spark to your school counseling program!

Presented by:
Alaina Schrader | Faculty Lecturer | West Virginia University - School of Education and Counseling


Toolbox Training: Adolescent Substance Use Trends
Substance use among adolescents continues to evolve as new products, methods, and cultural influences emerge. This interactive session provides youth-serving professionals with current, evidence-informed information about the latest trends in adolescent substance use—including vaping, cannabis, prescription medications, and opiates. Participants will explore common slang terms, patterns of use, and methods of concealment that are prevalent among today’s youth, helping them more effectively identify students who may need additional support.

The session emphasizes prevention and early intervention strategies that promote healthy decision-making and resilience. Attendees will gain practical tools for initiating meaningful conversations with young people, as well as strategies for connecting them to appropriate resources when concerns arise. Additionally, the training addresses how to support youth affected by a family member’s substance use disorder, recognizing the ripple effects substance misuse can have on academic performance, relationships, and mental health.

Through collaborative discussion and engaging activities, participants will leave with an enhanced understanding of current adolescent substance use issues and a clear framework for fostering safe, supportive environments within schools and community programs. This session is ideal for educators, counselors, social workers, and other professionals who work directly with youth and want to stay informed on emerging substance use trends and best practices for prevention.

Caron’s Education Alliance is dedicated to providing professional development for school personnel, agency employees, and community members. We also offer a few other Toolbox sessions in this series including- Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Strength-Based Approaches to Engaging Families, and Resiliency in Youth: The Art of Bouncing Back.

Presented by:
Allison Maiolo | Education Alliance Specialist | Caron Treatment Centers


Toxic Stress: Supporting Youth to Overcome Trauma
If not addressed, individuals exposed to ongoing trauma and toxic stress suffer negative outcomes, including poor mental and physical health, poor academic outcomes, and early death. Since WV has the lowest life expectancy in the nation, it is likely that our children and families are experiencing high levels of trauma and toxic stress. This session will describe how toxic stress impacts brain development, behavior, and learning. The presenter will share best-practice strategies to immediately support students that school counselors can share with parents, school staff, and community student support organizations to provide a comprehensive approach to support students who have been impacted by trauma.

Best practices for helping children and families, to not only overcome, but to prevent generational recurrence of trauma will be discussed. Professionals who work with youth and families will understand the importance of using supportive or trauma-informed practices and be able to examine their own practices in creating a safe environment to prevent secondary trauma and instead promote healing.

Objectives:

1. Understand how trauma and toxic stress affects the brain and impacts behavior, school success, as well as poor health outcomes.
2. Discuss a 1998 study that identified adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a contributor to poor academic, social, career, and mental and physical health outcomes.
3. Understand ACEs that contribute to toxic stress.
4. Learn ways to support families, school staff, and community youth support organization to mitigate toxic stress, including building resilience and protective factors; and the importance of Safe, Stable and Nurturing Relationships and Environments.
5. Learn about a 2019 study that identified Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) as antidotes to ACEs.

Presented by:
Dr. Barb Brady | Executive Director | Inspiring Dreams Network, Corp.

Inside Out: Helping Grieving Students with Internal Family Systems
Grief is an emotional and unpredictable experience for students. This session introduces Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a tender, accessible, and developmentally appropriate theory to help students process their grief in a supportive and effective manner. Through IFS, participants will learn how to support and uplift students in identifying the “parts” of themselves that are hurting, protecting, feeling scared, or overwhelmed by the loss, simultaneously connecting them with their core Self. Counselors will leave with practical IFS-based tools, reflection strategies, and appropriate language to normalize grief and foster emotional resilience in school settings. This session strikes a balance between compassion and clarity, with just the right amount of creativity to engage even our youngest grievers.

When students experience the loss of a loved one, their grief can show up in many forms, whether it is by shutting down, avoiding challenging tasks, socially withdrawing, acting out, or experiencing anxiety. School counselors can play a critical role in helping students regain a sense of normalcy, feel safe, seen, and supported, but they may not always feel equipped with the tools to meet grief where it lives: inside. This session introduces Internal Family Systems (IFS), a compassionate, non-pathologizing theory that helps students explore their inner world with curiosity and care.

Participants will learn how to help students identify and acknowledge grieving parts, such as a sad inner child, a protective perfectionist, or a silent worrier. With simple language and creative techniques, IFS is a developmentally appropriate framework for grief support. Counselors will engage with case examples, reflective practices, and strategies that align with trauma-informed, student-centered care.

Whether working with elementary school children or high schoolers, this session offers school counselors a hopeful, flexible, and empathetic approach to guiding students through grief from the inside out.

Presented by:
Hanna Decanio | Graduate Student – Master of Science in School Counseling | West Virginia University
Alaina Schrader | Faculty Lecturer | West Virginia University - School of Education and Counseling



Riding the Hills of Regulation: Using Polyvagal Theory to Help Students Navigate Their Emotional Rollercoaster
Every school day can feel like a rollercoaster—students soaring with excitement one moment and suddenly plunging into anxiety, shutdown, or frustration the next. For school counselors, understanding this ride is key to helping students regulate, connect, and thrive. Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, gives us a powerful map of the nervous system, showing how feelings of safety, danger, and disconnection shape behavior and learning readiness.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore the “rollercoaster of regulation” through the lens of Polyvagal Theory. The slow climb represents awareness—learning to notice what our bodies feel before reacting. Even when students share the same classroom or activity, their experiences of the ride can differ dramatically. Some may feel calm and engaged (ventral vagal), others keyed up and defensive (sympathetic), and some withdrawn and exhausted (dorsal vagal). Recognizing these states allows counselors to respond with empathy instead of judgment, supporting students right where they are.

We will help participants bring Polyvagal Theory into their schools by teaching a few simple, practical strategies that fit easily into classroom lessons, small-group activities, and one-on-one counseling sessions. These techniques focus on fostering body awareness, creating moments of safety, and strengthening relationships—core ingredients for resilience and self-regulation.

Attendees will receive digital materials, discussion prompts, and take-home resources to adapt for any K–12 setting. Counselors will leave with deeper insight into the nervous system, a fresh metaphor to explain emotional regulation, and practical ways to help every student ride life’s rollercoaster feeling a little more grounded, safe, and connected.

Presented by:
Abigail Taylor | Graduate Student - Master of Science in School Counseling | West Virginia University
Katie Merrill | Graduate Student - Master of Science in School Counseling | West Virginia University
Anna Simmons | Adjunct Professor - West Virginia University | Owner/Mental Health Therapist - Empowered Healing & Wellness | President - West Virginia School Counselor Association


The Power of a Picture: Contingency Mapping for Behavior Change
As school counselors, we are often called to support students whose behaviors interfere with both their learning and their relationships with peers and adults. While we are not trained as behavior analysts, we can still utilize practical, accessible strategies that make a real difference in helping students develop self-awareness and self-control. One of the most effective strategies is the use of simple, visual tools that allow students to clearly see the connection between triggers, their actions, and the natural or logical consequences that follow. This session will focus on how to create and implement behavior and contingency maps, which serve as visual supports that break down challenging behaviors into smaller, more manageable, and teachable parts.

Behavior and contingency mapping is a trauma-informed, student-centered approach that empowers students to notice patterns, reflect on their choices, and begin to practice alternative, more positive responses. These tools are especially helpful for students who struggle to understand cause-and-effect relationships or for those who may have difficulty with verbal processing. Unlike generic charts or posters, this method uses photos of the actual student (with parent consent) to personalize the process and create maps that are highly relevant and meaningful to each child’s unique experiences.

The presenter, a practicing elementary school counselor in West Virginia, will share practical examples of behavior maps used in real counseling sessions. Participants will leave the session with editable templates, ideas for student engagement, and strategies for collaborating with teachers and families to reinforce consistent support across multiple environments. Whether you are implementing Tier 1, 2, or 3 interventions, behavior mapping can be a powerful addition to your counseling toolkit.

This session is designed primarily for elementary school counselors, but can also be useful for those working with middle and high school students who struggle to connect cause and effect.

Presented by:
Zoe Sampson | Professional School Counselor | Kanawha County Schools


The Students Who Look Fine: Identifying Invisible Challenges
Some of the most overwhelmed students are the ones who never raise a hand, never break a rule, and never ask for help. This session dives deep into understanding the hidden struggles behind high-functioning, perfectionistic, and “easy-to-overlook” students. Joey Stepp offers practical strategies for spotting subtle warning signs, opening conversations gently, and supporting students who mask their stress or pain. Using a mix of storytelling, lived experience, and magical metaphor, Joey equips counselors with tools to see beyond the surface—and intervene before a quiet struggle becomes a crisis.

Presented by:
Joey Stepp | Professional School Counselor

Protecting the Youngest Voices: Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response in Elementary Schools
Elementary school counselors are uniquely positioned to prevent, recognize, and respond to signs of sexual abuse—yet many lack specialized training or practical resources for addressing these sensitive issues, especially with our youngest and most vulnerable students. This session provides an in-depth, trauma-informed approach to sexual abuse prevention and response within elementary settings. Participants will explore evidence-based practices that align with ASCA’s Ethical Standards and national child protection laws while maintaining developmentally appropriate communication with students as young as 3 years old.

The session begins by reviewing key indicators of abuse and understanding how trauma can manifest in children’s academic, social, and emotional behavior. Counselors will then learn how to introduce safety and body autonomy lessons through existing social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula, creating a culture of respect and personal boundaries across grade levels. Using sample scripts, lesson outlines, and real-world examples, attendees will practice strategies for responding to student disclosures calmly, compassionately, and ethically.

Participants will also learn how to collaborate effectively with teachers, administrators, child advocacy centers, and families to ensure consistent, legally compliant responses to suspected abuse. The session includes interactive discussions, case studies, and scenario-based exercises that help counselors build confidence and clarity in their role as mandated reporters and trusted adults.

By the end, attendees will leave equipped with a comprehensive digital toolkit—including model prevention lessons, staff training materials, and family engagement resources—to strengthen their school’s protective framework. This proactive, student-centered approach empowers counselors to safeguard their youngest learners while fostering environments where every child feels safe, respected, and heard.

Presented by:
Chelena McCoy | Elementary School Counselor | Kanawha County Schools
Stacey Jackson-Whitlow | Elementary School Counselor | Kanawha County Schools



From Stuck to Sparked: Using Motivational Interviewing to Create Change
School counselors are constantly having meaningful conversations with students about growth, goals, and making a change. What if those conversations could become more effective, empowering, and enjoyable for both the counselor and the student? Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, evidence-based approach that helps students uncover their own motivations for change, rather than feeling pressured, judged, or directed. Rooted in empathy, respect, and partnership, Motivational Interviewing aligns naturally with the core values of school counseling and can be applied across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains.

In this engaging and practical session, participants will discover why MI is so powerful in school settings- both through supporting research and real-world success stories. Together, we’ll discuss how MI promotes student voice, builds trust, and strengthens counselor-student relationships in meaningful ways. We’ll explore how this brief, flexible approach can fit seamlessly into the time-limited nature of school counseling while still making a meaningful impact. Through live demonstrations, case examples, and interactive role plays, attendees will see MI in action and learn practical techniques they can immediately use every day in their own schools.

Whether you are brand new to MI or looking to strengthen your existing skills, you’ll leave this session equipped with clear, easy-to-use strategies and fresh, compassionate language to help students move from “I don’t know” to “I can do this.” Come ready to participate, reflect, and experiment with new approaches. Discover how small shifts in the way you communicate with students can open doors to greater motivation, confidence, and long-term success- making every counseling conversation more meaningful and impactful.

Presented by:
Anna Carr | School Counseling Intern | Grafton High School
Alaina Schrader | Faculty Lecturer | West Virginia University - School of Education and Counseling



Setting the Stage for Success: How a Student Support Services Team Took the Lead in Addressing Chronic Absenteeism
Every strong performance depends on a talented ensemble, and when it comes to student success, school counselors are uniquely positioned to take the leading role in uniting professionals around a shared vision. This session highlights how one elementary school developed a Student Support Services Professional Learning Community (PLC) to address chronic absenteeism through a comprehensive multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The team—comprised of school counselors, school nurse, school social worker, school psychologist, academic coach, attendance director, and administrators—collaborated to remove barriers, build connections, and create consistent systems to support student attendance and achievement.

Presenters will describe how the team was intentionally structured to foster collaboration, define clear roles and responsibilities, and cultivate shared accountability for student outcomes. Participants will learn how attendance, behavioral, and academic data were analyzed to identify trends, set measurable goals, and implement interventions across the universal, strategic, and intensive tiers of MTSS. The session will also explore how data collection and communication processes were simplified, ensuring all team members could contribute meaningfully regardless of their comfort level with data, and how these processes built capacity for continuous improvement and informed decision-making.

Attendees will gain practical strategies, actionable templates, and examples of communication and progress-monitoring tools that can be adapted for schools of any size or grade level. In alignment with the conference theme “School Counselor: The Greatest Role,” this session demonstrates how school counselors can step confidently into the director’s chair—leading interdisciplinary teams, coordinating systemic supports, and producing measurable improvements in attendance, engagement, and student well-being. Through this collaborative approach, every student has the opportunity to consistently participate, succeed, and thrive.

Presented by:
Kady DeSarno | School Counselor - Mountainview Elementary School
Anna Simmons | Adjunct Professor - West Virginia University | Owner/Mental Health Therapist - Empowered Healing & Wellness | Chair - West Virginia School Counselor Association


Rewiring the Emotional Brain: Helping Students Heal, Regulate, and Thrive Through Mind–Body Awareness
Across the country, school counselors are witnessing unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation among students. Many young people are struggling to manage overwhelming emotions, self-sabotaging habits, and chronic stress that hinder both learning and personal growth. Traditional counseling techniques often focus on behavior modification without addressing the deeper emotional and physiological causes of distress. In this transformative session, Dr. David Amponsah — a physician, spiritual teacher, and holistic transformation expert — introduces a powerful, integrative framework that connects neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, and mind–body wellness to help students heal and thrive.

Participants will learn how subconscious stress patterns, emotional suppression, and learned beliefs affect student behavior, motivation, and resilience. Dr. Amponsah explains the brain–body connection and the ways chronic stress impacts the nervous system, focus, and memory. Through interactive exercises and real-world examples, attendees will experience how simple techniques such as breath regulation, mindfulness, energy alignment, and guided visualization can calm the nervous system, enhance focus, and promote emotional balance.

This session provides practical, evidence-informed strategies counselors can implement immediately in one-on-one, small-group, or classroom settings. Attendees will explore how to help students recognize emotional triggers, build internal safety, and reprogram limiting thought patterns.

By integrating these holistic tools into school counseling, participants will not only support student wellness but also strengthen their own resilience and sense of purpose as professionals. Dr. Amponsah’s approach empowers counselors to see each student as a whole person — mind, body, and spirit — and to create compassionate, healing-centered environments that foster emotional literacy, self-regulation, and long-term well-being.

Participants will leave with actionable techniques, renewed inspiration, and a deeper understanding of how mind–body awareness can transform student outcomes and restore hope in the counseling profession.

Presented by:
David Amponsah | President and Founder | The Doctor of Results LLC

Trauma-Informed School Counseling: Strategies to Support Middle School Students Impacted by ACEs
This session presents findings from a qualitative descriptive research study that explored how middle school counselors support students affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promote their academic, emotional, and social development as they transition toward high school. ACEs—which include abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction—can have long-lasting impacts on a child’s mental health, learning, and behavior. As schools increasingly confront the realities of trauma among students, the role of the school counselor has become more essential than ever.

Guided by the foundational ACE Study by Felitti et al. (1998), this research explored the trauma-informed strategies counselors use to meet the needs of students during early adolescence—a critical period for intervention. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with licensed school counselors selected through purposeful sampling. Thematic analysis revealed several key practices, including individual and group counseling, implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, development of behavioral intervention plans, and collaboration with families and community-based mental health providers. A consistent theme across participants was the emphasis on building strong, trusting relationships and fostering a safe, supportive school climate.

Despite these efforts, counselors reported significant systemic challenges: high student caseloads, limited access to trauma-informed professional development, and the absence of cohesive school-wide mental health frameworks. These barriers often restrict their capacity to provide sustained, individualized support.

This session will present major findings and offer evidence-based recommendations to improve trauma-informed practices in schools. Attendees will leave equipped with actionable strategies to strengthen support systems, advocate for systemic change, and foster resilience in students affected by trauma.

Presented by:
Marcell Brown | School Counselor | Roosevelt Senior High School (Washington, D.C.)


Center Stage: Using HB 5262 to Clarify and Advocate for the School Counselor Role
As school counselors, we play many roles—but at the center of it all is the part that matters most: supporting students’ academic, social/emotional, and career development. West Virginia House Bill 5262 provides a clear framework for identifying the appropriate and inappropriate duties of school counselors, giving professionals across the state the guidance needed to focus their energy on the work that has the greatest impact. This session will show how HB 5262 can serve as both an advocacy tool and a script for collaboration with school administrators, helping counselors take center stage in defining their professional role while aligning with the ASCA National Model.

Through a detailed case study, participants will learn how a high school counselor from Doddridge County successfully used HB 5262 to engage her administrative team, clarify her responsibilities, and reshape her school’s counseling program. The session will spotlight the “behind-the-scenes” strategies she used—documenting her workload, communicating her priorities, and negotiating the redistribution of non-counseling duties—so that attendees can envision similar strategies for their own schools.

Participants will gain actionable tools for advocacy and collaboration, including communication techniques, practical templates, and steps for addressing common challenges such as role ambiguity or excessive non-counseling tasks. By combining legislative guidance with strategic advocacy, counselors will learn to confidently take the spotlight in their buildings, ensuring their expertise is recognized and their time is dedicated to services that most directly support student growth and success.

This session positions school counselors not just as performers on the school stage, but as directors of their own professional narrative—empowering them to orchestrate meaningful change that centers student needs while honoring the complexity and importance of their role.

Presented by:
Alessa Ash | School Counselor | Doddridge County High School
Anna Simmons | Adjunct Professor - West Virginia University | Owner/Mental Health Therapist - Empowered Healing & Wellness | Chair - West Virginia School Counselor Association


Building Student Hope: An Evidence-Based Strategy to Improve Academic Performance and Social-Emotional Wellbeing
School counselors face unprecedented challenges supporting student mental health, academic achievement, and college/career readiness simultaneously. With rising anxiety, depression, and academic stress among students, traditional counseling approaches often treat symptoms rather than building fundamental resilience. This session introduces Hope Science — a research-backed framework that directly addresses the psychological foundations of student success across academic, social, and emotional domains.

Attendees will learn the three components of Hope Theory (Goals, Agency, Pathways) developed by psychologist C.R. Snyder, which research shows outperforms intelligence and prior academic achievement in predicting student success. When students develop clear, meaningful goals, multiple pathways to achieve them, and the agency to act, their stress decreases while academic motivation and emotional regulation improve dramatically.

Through the retelling of lived experiences, real-world examples, and practical applications, discover evidence-based approaches to common counseling challenges: helping anxious students develop coping strategies, supporting underachieving students find motivation, guiding college-bound students through uncertainty, and building resilience in students facing adversity. Participants learn hope-centered approaches to individual counseling, group interventions, and classroom guidance lessons that can be implemented immediately.

This isn't theory—it's proven practice. Research demonstrates that hope-building interventions improve academic performance, reduce behavioral referrals, increase graduation rates, and strengthen students' social-emotional competencies. Attendees will leave with specific assessment tools (Adult Hope Scale adaptations) and hope-centered intervention protocols that support data-driven counseling practices.

Perfect for school counselors, student support specialists, and educators seeking evidence-based approaches that address the whole student — building both academic success and emotional wellbeing through scientifically-grounded hope development strategies that create lasting positive change.

Presented by:
Yira Muse | Professional Speaker & Coach | Waypowered Leadership Coaching, LLC