Photos

School counselors explore tactile tools and supports at a workshop titled, "Not Another Talk Session: Experiential Tools that Actually Work."

Monica Sampedro, a school counselor at Queens HS of Teaching, Liberal Arts and the Sciences, laughs along with her colleagues as they try to make squeeze toys using balloons filled with flour in the "Calming and Healing Power of Crafts" workshop.

Chapter Leader Rosemarie Thompson salutes school counselors and related service providers at the conference, saying they often are "the steady presence that students and families rely on."

UFT President Michael Mulgrew welcomes attendees to Shanker Hall.

Zasha Lucas, a school counselor at William Cullen Bryant HS in Queens, tries out a virtual reality trucking simulator at the vendor fair.

Jane Cowan (left), school counselor at PS/MS 207 in Queens, teaches Esther Smith, a retired counselor from MS 35 in Brooklyn, and others how to crochet in the "The Calming and Healing Power of Crafts" workshop.

Keynote speaker Hanna Kemble-Mick, the 2024 Kansas School Counselor of the Year, delivers a presentation on using AI tools as a "thought partner" for lesson development rather than an efficiency tool.

Intern Jenny Chinnici (left) catches up with her mentor, Liana Wilson, school counselor at Brooklyn Science and Engineering Academy.

Raffle winner Orfelina Cisneros (right), a school counselor at PS/MS 108 in Manhattan, reaches out to hug Althea Vega, a retired counselor at the Young Adult Borough Centers, who called the winning number.

A "comfort zone" wheel to help nonverbal students identify and express their feelings is one of the tools given to school counselors in the "Not Another Talk Session: Experiential Tools That Actually Work" workshop.