CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Around 400 school counselors, administrators, and more will come together in the Capital City Thursday for the third-ever Student Support Conference.
Hosted by the West Virginia Department of Education, the conference aims to support the workers in schools throughout the state who are instrumental in the current education environment. The conference runs from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
WVDE Instructional Leadership Coordinator Stephanie Hayes recently said on MetroNews “Talkline” that there’s significant interest in the conference. She said community partners will set up tables, supporting the conference’s core structure by the state Department of Education.
“We will focus on supporting students who are facing increasingly complex academic, social, emotional, and behavioral challenges,” Hayes said. “We are going to focus on providing strategies and sessions to support our Student Support professionals in the schools who are working with those students every day.”
Education officials laid out nine ‘tracks’ that the conference will focus on, including behavior and discipline, data-informed strategies, and prevention education about ‘risky behaviors.’ Hayes said family engagement, another one of the tracks, is extremely important.
“We are supporting our schools in developing those strategies to ensure meaningful partnerships, so that families can support their students in being successful in schools,” Hayes said. “We’ll have breakout sessions to help schools understand the best practices for creating those opportunities of engagement with our families.”
Hayes said beyond school counselors, other Student Support workers include school social workers, homelessness liaisons, and behavior specialists. She said they give so much to schools, and it’s critical to arm them with the best possible approaches.
“We are looking for opportunities to pour into our Student Support professionals,” Hayes said. “They provide so many of those basic needs; address so many of those basic needs that build the foundation for our students to be ready to learn.”
In a state like West Virginia, she said, sometimes there are needs for schools to provide food and clothing, in addition to supporting their behavioral and social needs. Hayes noted that sometimes those students have a ‘hard time’ understanding everything that is afforded to them.
“Really, the hope with this conference is to equip our Student Support professionals, provide them with best practice strategies, and resources to better equip them to support students,” Hayes said.
Hayes said those professionals help every student in the building, especially at-risk students who require extra support.
“Not only school counselors, but social workers, communities and schools’ coordinators, our homeless liaisons, to identify students who need that extra support to reach every student in the school,” Hayes said, “so that our teachers can spend more of their time focused on teaching math, English, and reading.”
Dr. Ruby K. Payne is the conference’s keynote speaker. Her topic is titled, “Emotional Poverty In ALL Demographics: How to Reduce Anger, Anxiety, and Violence in the Classroom.”