History of NWMSCA
The Northwest Missouri School Counselor Association has been serving the school counseling profession of Northwest Missouri for over thirty years. As an integral component of the Missouri School Counselor Association, (American School Counselor Association nationwide), the Northwest district has had a rich history. Although some of the early records have been lost, we do know a lot about its past.
The founding of the organization came in the late 1950's after a few Northwest area school counselors attended a state counseling conference and were encouraged to start a district organization. Some of the early counselor leaders included: Helen Gorsuch, Oren Miller, Harold Ashbaugh, Georgia Hash, Mary Hash, Betty Wilson, Bob Stinson, Bob Moran, Wayne Winstead, Courtney Goforth, Kay Whitney, Virginia Brown and Jane Pertain. Meetings during those early years were almost exclusively held after school. The meetings were held at an area school or restaurant. Some of the restaurant locations in St. Joseph included the St. Francis Hotel, the Shangri-La, and the Circle W. The organization usually met two or three times a year. Sometimes an area college would host an open house for association members. A major topic of discussion in the early years as well as today, is accountability.
In the early 1970's, the district was split into two districts: Northwest and St. Joseph. At that time, there were only 50 members in the Northwest organization. They worked closely with Dr. Zillner at NWMSU and one of their accomplishments was holding a combined meeting with the Northwest Missouri State Teachers Association.
In the 1980's, Northwest Missouri Guidance Association changed to the current name, the Northwest Missouri School Counselors Association, to reflect the state and national organization names. Meetings in the 1980's were held at Platte College, Missouri Western State College, Tarkio College and Trenton Junior College. Area colleges and agencies also sponsored "Counselor Days" for Northwest Counselors. Program topics focused on a wide variety of topics, such as: ACT testing, alcoholism, art therapy, college planning, teen pregnancy and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Issues such as: Counseling ethics, counseling certification and licensure, crisis intervention teams, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, counselor shortage and the prevention of violence, have taken us from the 80's into the 90's.
Highlights of the 90's have been:
* Connie Miller's work with TASK (Take Action for Safe Kids) brought statewide awareness to the subject of domestic violence.
* Crisis teams have been developed throughout our district.
* A mentoring program for new counselors has been added to help meet the needs of our colleagues.
* Northwest established an Advocacy committee in November of 1995.
* Jon Hixon and several counselor educators wrote a draft recommending that special education-related coursework be dropped, so as to lower the number of hours needed for counselor certification.
* In November of 1997, NWMSCA helped to celebrate MSCA's 50th year of school counseling at the fall conference at Tan-Tar-A.
* In 1999 Deb Petrick, counselor from Gilman City was a national winner in the Planning for Life Program
The many changes in society and the educational system have challenged the counseling profession to become better equipped to meet the needs of students in our schools today. We continue to prepare for the new millennium by looking at issues such as: projected counselor shortage; guidance-privacy issues for Missouri School Improvement; the widespread use of the drug, methamphetamine, and the effects on our community and school populations; the Safe Schools Act; providing necessary training to prepare students for careers in the 21st century through the School to Work program; continued requests for additional crisis training for counselors; and the development of the Performance Based Counselor Evaluation.
The Northwest Governing Board meets monthly to plan district meetings, prepare the district newsletter, encourage support for legislative issues, and keep district members abreast of MSCA and ASCA conferences and workshops.
A major highlight each year at one of the district meetings, is the announcement of the District Counselor of the Year Award, and the Distinguished Service Award. Some of the recipients of the awards in recent years have been: Connie Miller, Judy Fuston, Charles Shouse, Dean Sparks, Richard Demarest, Jean Johnson, Suzanne Lehr, Rita Poppa, Okie Rose, Donna Pile, Judi Bloss, Maureen Lager, Larry Markt, Dorothy Silvey, Alice Osborn, Joann Olsen, Joyce Maudlin, Chris Danford, Edd Green, Mike Thomson, Linda Peterson, Gene Teeter, Terri Johnson and Sandy White.
The Northwest district has also been honored by having eight counselors receive the MSCA Counselor of the Year Award. These include: Jean Johnson, Connie Miller, Judy Fuston, Suzanne Lehr, Rita Poppa, Alice Osborn, Mike Thomson, JoAnn Olson, Gene Teeter and Sandy White.
Bob Berger, MWSC, was presented The Conspicuous Award in the fall of 1995 by Missouri Governor, Mel Carnahan.
Through the years, many Northwest members have demonstrated their leadership skills, not only on the district level, but also have excelled at the state level. Northwest members who have served as MSCA officers and committee chairpersons include: Oren Miller, Helen Gorsuch, Virginia Brown, Jean Johnson, Brenda Costin, Mike Thomson, Judy Fuston, John Michael, Diana Cooper, Mark Hargens, Sherris Hane and Shelly Hiatt.
NWMSCA has not only had a proud past, but has a bright future. Our challenge is to continue to make our organization a friendly and helpful gathering of school counselors - a challenge we hope to always meet as we celebrate life.
Updated history by Susan Jackson & Sylvia Summers, February, 2000
St. Joseph District Presidents: 1971 - 74 Betty Wilson 1974 - 75 Bob Moran
NWMSCA Presidents:
1970 - 71 Virginia Brown 1980 - 81 Herschel Owen 1990 - 91 Richard Demarest 2000 - 01 Linda Crowder
1971 - 72 Harold Frazee 1981 - 82 Ann Peterson 1991 - 92 Suzanne Lehr 2001 - 02 Sandy White
1972 - 73 Jim Polsey 1982 - 83 Anita Imler 1992 - 93 Edd Green 2002 - 03 Alice Osborn
1973 - 74 Ron Murawski 1983 - 84 Ron Jacques 1993 - 94 Gene Teeter 2003 - 04 Annette Brown
1974 - 75 Gay Dittemore 1984 - 85 Connie Miller 1994 - 95 Naomi White 2004 - 05 Kay Cameron
1975 - 76 Linda Goodwin 1985 - 86 Diana Cooper 1995 - 96 Okie Rose 2005 - 06 Cami Aebersold
1976 - 77 Larry Heaps 1986 - 87 Jerry Batson 1996 - 97 Linda Goodwin 2006 – 07 Jennifer Grossman
1977 - 78 Twila Anders 1987 - 88 Mike Thomson 1997 - 98 Dorothy Silvey 2007 - 08 Chris Danford
1978 - 79 Dean Sparks 1988 - 89 Brenda Costin 1998 - 99 Sherris Hane 2008 - 09 Michelle Veasey
1979 - 80 Teresa Klein 1989 - 90 Judy Fuston 1999 - 00 Joni Rost 2009 - 10 Sharon Evans
2010 - 11 Kim Hill
2011 - 12 Kim Schank
2012 - 13 Geoff Heckman
2013 - 14 Shelly Vertin
2014 - 15 Glenda Fine
2015 - 16 Laura Shelton
2016 - 17 Becky Houtchens
2017 - 18 Dee Anna Kelley
2018 - 19 Erin Hunter
2019-20 Corrine Allee
2020-21 Becky Arway