How are you helping students transition back to school? What resources are you using? Please join us as leaders in school counseling, share their best practices.
Date/ Time: Thursday, August 5th @ 9 am Pacific Time
Facilitator:
- Dustin Seemann - Assistant Superintendent of Beverly Hills Unified School District, CA
Panelists:
- Josh Godinez - President of California Association of School Counselors, School Counselor at Corona-Norco Unified School District
- Kirsten Perry - Social-Emotional Learning Specialist - Network 11 Chicago Public Schools, Past President - Illinois School Counselor Association, & 2018 National School Counselor of the Year
- Franciene Sabens, MS ED. LPC, NCC, School Counselor, Elverado High School (IL)
Meet the Facilitator & Panelists:
- Dustin Seemann is currently the Assistant Superintendent in Beverly Hills, CA. Dustin has worked in K-12 and Higher Education for over 15 years. Throughout his professional career, he has served as a School Counselor, Club Advisor, Graduate Professor and now Assistant Superintendent. Dustin is passionate about creating opportunities for students to set achievable goals and give back to their communities while feeling supported by their school.
- Josh Godinez is a high school counselor at Centennial High School in Corona, California. He also serves as the Chair of the Board for the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) and was named the 2019 California School Counselor of the Year. Josh supported the development of a data informed program for a new high school in Fontana, California where he served as head counselor prior to his current assignment. He also has served on the California MTSS Design Committee, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Data Transition Team, California Department of Education’s Mental Health Coalition Meeting, and the CASC Policy, Advocacy, and Legislation Committee. He is a champion of advocacy and the advancement of school counseling. Prior to school counseling, Josh was a high school social studies teacher for nine years, a Beginning Teacher Support mentor, and served as an adjunct professor in the Teacher Education Department at Claremont Graduate University.
- Kirsten Perry is a Social-Emotional Learning Specialist for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) serving 29 schools in the Englewood and Auburn Gresham neighborhoods. Kirsten served as the President for the Illinois School Counselor Association (ISCA) and as an adjunct instructor for DePaul University’s Office of Innovation. Prior to this, she served as a K-12 School Counseling specialist for CPS for 2 years and as a P-8 school counselor for 7 years. Kirsten was named the National School Counselor of the Year by the American School
Counselor Association (ASCA) in 2018 for her work at Lawndale Community Academy. She served as a Master Counselor for the CPS district for 5 years, mentoring school counselors and assisting with the development of district initiatives. Kirsten also served
on the CPS Naviance Advisory Committee for 3 years, where she developed a middle school companion guide to be used district-wide to support Naviance implementation. Kirsten was awarded the CPS Directors Choice Award in 2013 for her work with high school matriculation and was named the CPS Site Supervisor of the Year in 2015 for her work supporting school counseling interns. She earned her undergraduate degree in 2006 from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in the Liberal Arts and earned her
masters degree in school counseling from DePaul University in 2011 where she also earned the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018. It is her passion to serve at-risk youth and underserved communities by developing programs that work to create change and close the achievement gap.
- Franciene Sabens is a southern Illinois high school counselor, she also serves as a board member for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and is a member of the ACT Council. Franciene was named Illinois high school counselor of the year in 2014 and honored by ASCA in 2016 at the White House as the Illinois state representative for the School Counselor of the Year ceremony. She co-authored the 2014 edition of the Developmental Counseling Model for Illinois Schools and contributed to the current edition. She was also a member of the state advisory committee responsible for creating IL PaCE, a recognized state-wide post-secondary and career expectations framework and a former Illinois School Counselor Association board member. Franciene is a well respected presenter who is passionate about helping school counselors implement comprehensive programs that meet students changing needs and assisting students with reaching their greatest potential.
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