Announcing a Leadership Transition: Dr. Trish Hatch Passes the Torch to Dr. Danielle Duarte
Hatching Results®, a leading provider of professional development, consultation, and evaluation services for school counselors and educational leaders, proudly announces a leadership transition as Dr. Trish Hatch is passing the torch to Dr. Danielle Duarte, who is assuming the role of President.
Dr. Hatch, who co-authored the original American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model®, founded Hatching Results in 2003 and has served as the President and CEO for more than twenty years. Dr. Hatch has dedicated her career to advancing the profession of school counseling and developing comprehensive, data-driven school counseling programs that have positively impacted school counselors and the profession nationwide. She has received numerous state and national awards and recognitions, including three lifetime achievement awards and the honor of serving as a consultant to the Obama Administration’s Reach Higher Initiative.
One Step Forward for Suicide Prevention & Awareness Week (Sept. 8-14, 2024)
I’m Dr. Loren Dittmar, Lead Professional Learning Specialist with Hatching Results. Suicide Prevention and Awareness Week - September 8th-14th - is quickly approaching, and I’d like to share some resources and ideas for school counselors wishing to support your students and communities during this week. My goal is to provide a few ideas to encourage you to consider new and creative ways to make a difference in your own community. Having over two decades of experience in schools and clinical mental health settings in several states across the country, I can attest that as school counselors, we don’t often hear lots of thank-yous, but the most meaningful expressions of gratitude I have received from students are from those who said, “You saved my life!”
Tips for School Counselors: How to Receive Approval and Funding for Professional Development Events (with a Justification Letter Template!)
As a school counselor, you play a pivotal role in meeting the needs of all students, and it’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest practices through professional development.
However, securing approval and funding to attend these events can be challenging. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process effectively and a justification letter template that you can quickly customize for your next professional development request!
Dr. Trish Hatch to Receive CASC Lifetime Achievement Award
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Trish Hatch, our Founder, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Dr. Loretta Aday Whitson Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Association of School Counselors (CASC). This esteemed award recognizes Dr. Hatch’s extraordinary contributions and unwavering commitment to the field of school counseling over the course of her distinguished career.
Dr. Hatch is the co-author of the original ASCA National Model®, first published in 2003 after an extensive collaboration with her co-author Judy Bowers and national leaders of the ASCA Model Task Force. A landmark document for the profession, it operationalized the ASCA National Standards and served as a framework for comprehensive school counseling programs.
California Board Policy 6164.2: Leveraging Support for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
Post COVID-19, students’ mental health issues have been characterized as a crisis. In August 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced California’s “Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health” to combat this crisis and to make it easier for children to access mental health and substance abuse services. The ambitious plan included an investment of billions of dollars in funding to increase comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services in California schools. This plan also included the enactment of AB 2508, signed into law on August 18, 2022, which amends several provisions of the California Education Code 46900 to update the statutory role and responsibilities of school counselors.
Spearheaded and heavily influenced by Dr. Loretta Whitson, Executive Director of the California Association of School Counselors (CASC), and consequently widely promoted by CASC, the changes are significant and very relevant. This piece of legislation has leverage and influence amongst California school administrators, but not as AB 2508. Frankly, most administrators do not really pay attention to newly enacted bills or to updates to the Education Code. It’s just not part of their daily activity to concentrate on the ever-changing and humongous book of Education Codes.
Top 5 Reasons We Love Going to the ASCA Conference Every Year!
Here at Hatching Results, nothing is more important to us than supporting the school counseling profession. With a team made primarily of former and current school counselors, attending the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Annual Conference is one of the highlights of our year. It feels like a “school counselor summer camp,” as Hatching Results COO Dr. Danielle Duarte described it!
This year’s conference theme was “Fired Up”. From the elaborate campfire-themed exhibitor booths to the out-of-this-world Kansas City BBQ (not to mention the 100-degree weather), that was certainly the vibe throughout the weekend!
Keep reading to learn about the top reasons why we love going to the ASCA Conference every year!
Shine a Light on Your School Counseling Program Results with a Flashlight Presentation
Showcasing the impact and results of your school counseling program is an essential tool for sharing successes, advocating for your program, and creating systemic changes.
Rather than attempting to highlight every effort, we encourage school counselors to adopt the "Flashlight" results report approach outlined by Dr. Trish Hatch and Dr. Julie Hartline in The Use of Data in School Counseling, Second Edition. Just as a flashlight illuminates a specific area, this method focuses on shining a light on one particular success or significant outcome. By concentrating on a single, well-documented example, school counselors can effectively share the value of their work with administrators, school boards, and other key educational partners, making their achievements clear and compelling.
This blog post will guide you through creating an engaging Flashlight results presentation that resonates with your community. You’ll learn how to spotlight the most impactful aspects of your school counseling efforts, such as deciding what information to share, identifying your audience, drafting the presentation, and evaluating its effectiveness.
Tips for Presenting to School Boards
Presenting to the school board can be a bit intimidating, but for school counselors, it is also an essential part of advocacy for your program. As a former superintendent who has seen literally hundreds of staff presentations to the board over my career, I have created a “Tips for Presenting to School Boards” document to help prepare you for your time in front of the board of trustees and your district leadership.
For me, the most important takeaway is to realize your objective is not simply to present and then sit down but to get your school board engaged in a dialogue following your presentation. If there are no questions after your presentation, you basically earned a walk to first base. But, if you can get the board members talking amongst themselves, asking thoughtful questions, and wanting you to come back and present again in the future, you have hit a home run!
Our RAMP® Winning Schools for SY2024
We partner with many schools to provide Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) Support Services, and we are proud to recognize several RAMP winners from this past school year!
Tracy High School
Tracy Unified School District in Tracy, CA
School Counselors: Kamara Clark, Iris Abraham, Charles “Trip” Manley, Ashley Hallen, Jonathan Sanny, and Audra Munoz (Left to Admin job in summer 2023)
Earle Williams Middle School
Tracy Unified School District in Tracy, CA
School Counselors: Michelle Simas, Mercedes Morales-Villa, and Melanie Ann Kaing
California’s New Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule for School-Linked Service
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has recently introduced “draft guidance” on the new Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule For School Linked Services. This new fee schedule will exist alongside the cumbersome Local Education Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program (known as LEA BOP) and streamline the processes while removing the complexities and constraints associated with the LEA BOP. The new fee schedule will benefit schools in many ways, such as increasing student access to behavioral health services, providing a flat fee-for-services method that provides 100% reimbursement, and expanding the program to both Medi-Cal enrolled and commercially insured students. Most importantly, the new fee schedule will provide a permanent funding source to sustain behavioral health services for students.
New Logo, Same Hatching Results
We’re thrilled to share a new logo for Hatching Results that will accompany us into the future! Our thanks to Gary Gogis for his hard work designing this logo. (And he also did our logo for NSCLC!)
A Guide to Native American Land Acknowledgement
Hi to all, I’m Becky Love, a recently retired Hatching Results Lead Professional Learning Specialist, and I wanted to share a couple of resources with you on Land Acknowledgements.
With Indigenous Peoples' Day just around the corner, I invite you to entertain the opportunity to enhance relationships with your Native American community. What data are you and your colleagues presently collecting about the American Indian students in your county, district, or school? Upon reviewing your data, you may discover a student group that would be worthy of a Closing the Gap Intervention. Understanding that family engagement is one sure way to increase student outcomes; we encourage you to consider the practice of making a Land Acknowledgement at the beginning of school board meetings, faculty meetings, student assemblies, and family engagement events.