A School Counselor’s Guide to Staying Connected in the Age of Technology and AI: Screens and Their Real-Time Effects on Children's Development
Today’s society benefits from a variety of highly developed tools in the realm of technology, such as staying connected through social media or the new contender, generative AI. Children these days are growing up alongside technology, unlike generations of the past. While technology and the internet have many benefits, they are also affecting childhood development. Children are becoming increasingly exposed to and dependent upon technology. Increased screentime elevates the risk of exposure to cyberbullying, online harassment, or developmentally inappropriate content. It can also affect youth by resulting in lowered self-esteem, increased social anxiety, struggles within interpersonal relationships, a lack of coping skills, difficulty with communication skills, decreased attention span, poor sleeping patterns, and general unhappiness or depression. Social media affects the brain's dopamine pathways, leading to increased engagement and potential addictive behaviors. Therefore, school counselors have an ethical duty to be aware of technology’s effects, but also play a role in increasing awareness on the topic and in educating students on how to use technology wisely. However, what role does a school counselor play in connecting with others genuinely in the face of a technological world, not only themselves, but also teaching how to do so to students? Different strategies and tools will be defined, explored, and discussed, as well as a space for questions, collaboration, and further dialogue.
Alexis Qualls
Graduate Student
Western Illinois University
Matthew Beck
Associate Professor, Counselor Education Program Coordinator, and School Counseling Clinical Coordinator
Western Illinois University
Expanding Postsecondary Access: A Data-Driven Systems Approach to Early College Programming
This data-driven session will examine the design, implementation, and measurable outcomes of the TFD215 Early College Program, a comprehensive dual enrollment and dual credit model focused on increasing postsecondary access, persistence, and affordability. Grounded in the ASCA National Model, this program integrates school counseling practices with systemic structures to remove barriers and expand equitable access to college coursework.
TFD215 serves a highly diverse student population, with 972 students enrolled in dual credit and 135 students in dual enrollment during SY25–26, of which over 70% identify as Black and approximately 25% as Hispanic, demonstrating a strong commitment to equity and access for historically underrepresented students.
The program incorporates structured, high-impact supports, including:
- Beginning-of-semester parent information sessions to increase family engagement and awareness
- Beginning-of-Semester (BOS) student onboarding meetings to train students on college expectations, platforms, and communication systems
- Direct partnerships with postsecondary institutions, bringing college representatives on-site to walk students through registration systems and learning platforms
- Centralized communication via Google Classroom and Remind
- Midterm check-ins for all students, regardless of grade status, to proactively intervene
- Distribution of an “At-a-Glance” collegiate calendar to support time management and accountability
Academically, the program prioritizes Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) general education courses and has developed structured pathways with partner institutions to ensure transferability and progress toward degree attainment.
The session will also address challenges, including enrollment fluctuations due to scheduling conflicts and course availability, and how program adjustments were made to improve access and sustainability.
Participants will leave with replicable systems, tools, and data-driven strategies to design, implement, or strengthen early college programming aligned with school counseling frameworks and equity goals.
Rosalind Scaife
Early College Coordinator
Thornton Fractional High School District 215
Wendy Bivins
CTE Career Development Coordinator &Counselor
Thornton Fractional High School District 215
Handing Over the Mic: How Student Voice Becomes School Power
Youth leadership is not about delegating tasks; it is about building student capacity—equipping them with the skills, confidence, and authority to drive meaningful change. Empowered student leaders influence their peers more effectively than adults can, creating a sustainable loop of positive peer pressure and shared responsibility.
This workshop will demonstrate how empowered student leaders are uniquely positioned to influence their peers more effectively than adults can, establishing a crucial, self-sustaining loop of positive peer influence and shared responsibility within the school environment.
This practical session provides school counselors and administrators with a comprehensive toolkit and framework for developing a robust leadership program centered on authentic student voice. We will analyze and outline successful, high-impact student-led roles, including: Student-Led Attendance Check-ins (promoting accountability) Student-Facilitated Restorative Practices (building community and repairing harm) Structured Peer Mentoring Programs (fostering connection and academic support).
Participants will walk away with tangible, immediately implementable program outlines and resources adaptable to any school setting, regardless of the current stage of student leadership development. This is a practical roadmap for fostering genuine, student-driven initiative and improving school climate.
Lauren LaMantia
School Counselor
Chicago Public Schools-Sherman Elementary
Before the Crisis: What We Get Wrong About Safety, Trauma, and Healing
We have become very good at preparing for emergencies. Schools have drills, threat assessment teams, crisis response plans, and detailed protocols for what to do when something goes wrong. Yet crisis response begins long before the crisis.
This session challenges school counselors to look upstream and consider a different question: What are the conditions that help students and staff feel safe, connected, and ready to learn before a crisis occurs? Drawing on trauma-informed practices, the neuroscience of regulation and belonging, and experiences supporting students impacted by community violence in Chicago and the Highland Park shooting, participants will explore what schools often get wrong about safety and what a prevention-centered, relationship-first approach looks like in practice.
Together, we will examine the difference between hardening schools and heartening them, while recognizing the importance of both. Participants will learn how connection, co-regulation, trusted relationships, and school belonging serve as powerful protective factors that support mental health, resilience, and violence prevention.
Attendees will leave with practical strategies to strengthen school climate, support educator and student well-being, and build environments where healing, resilience, and learning can flourish. Because while we cannot prevent every crisis, we can create conditions that make people feel seen, supported, and connected long before one occurs.
Josh Novick
School Counselor & Founder
Trust and Grow
Triage, Tiers, and Trust: Building a Sustainable, System-Wide Behavioral Health Team
In today’s school settings, school counselors are frequently inundated with crisis management, administrative demands, and an overwhelming influx of student referrals. When every student issue is treated as an emergency, systemic intervention suffers.
This session presents a data-driven success story from a near west side Chicago middle school (Grades 6–8, 500+ students, 95% Latino) where two school counselors successfully overhauled their Behavioral Health Team (BHT). By implementing clear triage protocols and optimizing internal systems, the presenters reduced total BHT referrals from 109 in SY 24/25 to 73 in SY 25/26—a 33.03% decrease in referrals.
Participants will get an under-the-hood look at the reproducible tools that made this shift possible, including customized referral forms, structured meeting agendas, and a matrix for organizing students efficiently into tiers. The presenters will candidly discuss the realities of supporting teachers who utilize the BHT for Tier 1 classroom management issues, shifting the staff culture toward robust universal practices.
Additionally, the session will detail how to successfully secure administrative buy-in, assign distinct BHT members to tiered responses, and run Tier 2 evidence-based small groups (including Executive Functioning, Grief, and S.T.R.O.N.G.).
Attendees will learn how school counselors successfully integrated three community mental health partners directly into the BHT fabric, securing individual therapy for 65 high-need students while embedding external clinicians as active, collaborative stakeholders in the weekly BHT process. Attendees will leave with a practical blueprint to transform their BHT from a reactive crisis team into a proactive, data-fueled machine.
Allison Manasse
School Counselor
Chicago Public Schools, Northwest Middle School
Elizabeth Martin
School Counselor
Chicago Public Schools, Northwest Middle School
