By Marc Verhoeve

The 2004 Ontario School Counsellors Association Conference

The Ontario School Counsellors’ Association is a professional association which represents almost 1,780 elementary and secondary school counsellors and associate members. This year’s annual conference took place on November 7 to 9, 2004, at the Doubletree International Hotel on Toronto. The conference, entitled “Polishing the Many Facets of Guidance”, was the venue for over 400 counsellors and 58 exhibitors.

The delegates had access to 84 workshops which dealt with the full spectrum of school-level issues, from bullying and career pathways – to teen suicide and online career resources.

Inspiration and focus was provided to the delegates by the keynote speakers: Dr. Avis Glaze, Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario, and William Gordon, a motivational speaker on teen issues.

In the spirit of professional networking, many presenters agreed to post their workshop screen shows and handouts on the OSCA site: www.osca.ca/OSCA2004/index.htm.

Check the OSCA site www.osca.ca for other exciting professional initiatives, and the 2005 OSCA Conference in November!

Marc Verhoeve has been a counsellor since 1975. In addition to being a secondary school Counselling Head, he is also a private career practitioner and cybertraining consultant. He currently serves as a Vice President of the Ontario School Counsellors Association (OSCA). He is also PAC Vice–Chair for Conestoga College’s Career Development Practitioner Program, and member of the Assessment Technology Committee of the American Association of Assessment in Counseling & Education.