School counselor Monica Sampedro of the Queens HS of Teaching laughs along with her colleagues as they make therapeutic squeeze toys using balloons during a workshop.
Haydee Lopez of PS 8 in Manhattan learns about the calming power of crafts.
The invaluable importance of human connection and care, even amid rapid technological change, was a recurring theme at the 22nd annual School Counselors Conference at UFT headquarters on March 28.
“School counselors are often the steady presence that students and families rely on,” said School Counselors Chapter Leader Rosemarie Thompson as she welcomed about 200 counselors and other related service providers to Shanker Hall. “We are those dependable people who show up every day to support our students unconditionally.”
The UFT members who filled the hall took part in a full day of professional workshops, networking and camaraderie with colleagues.
Carlos Feliciano, a school counselor at MS 80 in the Bronx, attended the “Not Another Talk Session: Experiential Tools that Actually Work” seminar, where participants received take-home kits of tactile supports to use with their students. Feliciano said he plans to try a color-coded wheel that allows nonverbal students to identify and communicate their emotions. “Any time we can use new strategies to get them engaging in the session actively is a win,” he said.
School counselors chose from five workshops in the morning and six in the afternoon, with topics ranging from social media and cyberbullying to the calming power of crafts.
Across sessions and in conversations with colleagues, counselors described feeling challenged by the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence in student interactions, including “deep fake” videos and altered images. “The laws haven’t caught up,” said one presenter of “What Artificial Intelligence Means for Bullying Behaviors and Social and Emotional Learning.” The discussion prompted Rita O’Doherty, a school counselor at PS 73 in the Bronx, to rethink her approach. “Resurrecting joy in things that are not tech-related” is her goal, she said. “When I started, 22 years ago, the kids loved arts and crafts.”
The keynote speaker, Hanna Kemble-Mick, the 2024 Kansas School Counselor of the Year, encouraged attendees to use AI as a “thought partner” rather than simply a tool for efficiency. “The goal is depth, not speed,” she said.
Echoing the conference theme, “Where Compassion Meets Action,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew emphasized the human side of the profession. “You can’t do what you do without great compassion. You turn compassion into action by helping a child move into a better place.”
For many attendees, the opportunity to connect was just as valuable as the workshops. Liana Wilson, a school counselor at Brooklyn Science and Engineering Academy, said exchanging ideas with colleagues was “refreshing. … Most times there’s just one or maybe two counselors in the building, and because of the nature of the job, we don’t really get to interact.”
The conference, she added, offered space to collaborate and grow. “Ultimately it’s a chance to hone our craft,” she said. “We don’t know everything. Every day is a different opportunity to learn.”
