A Zoom webinar scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10, to discuss the Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Reintegration and Postvention Toolkit has been rescheduled for later this month.

The webinar is now scheduled for 11 a.m.-noon Tuesday, Nov. 28. This one-hour overview will take a closer look at the four components and offer a question-and-answer session. It is appropriate for educators at all grade levels.

To register, click here. If you registered before Nov. 7, 2023, you will need to register again. A Zoom link will be sent the evening before the event to the email you send with your registration.

There also are two other opportunities for overview of the toolkit:

• Thursday, Nov. 16: Noon-3:30 p.m., KSDE Suicide Prevention Toolkit Training, in-person only. Smoky Hill Education Service Center and KSDE are collaborating to provide a detailed, guided exploration through the revised toolkit. Trainers will assist Kansas schools in best practices for a mental health crisis, students re-entering after an intake and preparation for a student/staff death. It is recommended that participating districts bring all or part of their school mental health team. The cost is $25. Lunch is provided at 11:30 a.m. Location is the Salina SMESC, 605 E. Crawford, Room 1. To register, click here. For registration questions, call 785-825-9185. For training questions, contact Melanie D. Scott, a KSDE school counselor leader coordinator, via email at mdscott@ksde.org.
• Friday, Nov. 17: 71^st annual Fall Conference for School Counselors at Memorial Union on the Emporia State University campus. A one-hour breakout session will feature KSDE’s Kent Reed, Dr. Jessica Lane and Melanie D. Scott, a KSDE school counselor leader coordinator, discussing the revised Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Reintegration and Postvention Toolkit. This is an opportunity for a question-and-answer session. This session is appropriate for educators from all grade levels. To register for the conference, click here. The cost for the entire conference is $95. For conference questions, email Dr. Alice Hinck at afronst@emporia.edu. For questions regarding the session, email Melanie D. Scott at mdscott@ksde.org.

\KSDE school counselor leader coordinators have scheduled a variety of professional development opportunities for school counselors throughout November and December, too.   

Events include Coffee with Counselors; trainings on the KSDE Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Reintegration and Postvention Toolkit; training on AI counseling tools; and more.   

For an event listing, click here.   

The school counselor leader coordinators also have created a 2023 KSDE School Counselor Resources Padlet that includes PDFs of presentations, resources relevant to school counselors and education and more. It can be accessed here.