Nearly 2,000 school counseling professionals journeyed to Dallas last month for the ASCA conference. The four days of professional development and networking opportunities helped educate and motivate school counselors across the United States and 18 other countries. Share your comments or memories about the conference on the SCENE or view a selection of photos from the event, also on the SCENE. Feel free to post your own photos in this gallery as well.

And make your plans now to join ASCA in Boston to "Celebrate School Counseling" - and America's birthday - July 3-6, 2010. Registration prices will remain the same as this year. Learn more about next year's event and submit any session proposals by Sept. 4, 2009.

Do you know a stellar school counselor who's running a comprehensive, data-driven program? ASCA is seeking nominations for the School Counselor of the Year awards program, sponsored by Naviance and ASCA. This program brings up to 10 finalists and their nominators to Washington, D.C., in late January 2010, where they participate in a congressional briefing, meet their members of Congress and are honored at the School Counselor of the Year Gala. From these 10 finalists, one school counselor of the year is selected.

The nomination deadline has been extended to Friday, Aug. 14. Nominees must be professional ASCA members as of Sept. 1, 2009; have five years experience, be working in U.S.-based schools (or DoD schools); be practicing school counselors as of Feb. 1, 2010; and must not have been School Counselor of the Year finalists in the past three years.

ASCA is proud to announce Dawn Stevenson has been named the 2009 School Counseling Director/Coordinator of the Year. Stevenson, the coordinator for K-12 School Counseling, Career Awareness, and Student Services for the Utah State Office of Education, was honored at ASCA's 2009 annual conference in Dallas, June 28-July 1. Special request: If anyone has a photo of Stevenson receiving her award at the conference, please e-mail her a copy.

Aug. 14: School Counselor of the Year Nominations due. Note new deadline.
Sept. 4: 2010 Annual Conference call for programs
Oct. 15: ASCA Foundation Scholarship applications due

Mentoring for Children with an Incarcerated Parent:Caregiver's Choice is a nationwide initiative that helps provide adult mentors to children who have a parent incarcerated. Funded by HHS and administered by MENTOR/The National Mentoring Partnership, Caregiver's Choice offers a $1,000 voucher, essentially a scholarship for mentoring, that parents or caregivers can use to receive mentoring services. Approved mentoring programs have completed training specifically preparing them to work with children and families affected by incarceration. Learn more.

Free Goal Setting for Students Info: Accent On Success' mission is to get the Goal Setting for Students life skills message to as many teachers, administrators, school counselors, group leaders and parents as possible. Download a free 55 slide PowerPoint presentation to help students learn to set - and achieve - goals.

USA Rice Federation Sponsors $8,500 in Scholarship Awards: The USA Rice Federation is sponsoring a scholarship contest for high school juniors and seniors from the rice-growing states of Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. Three scholarship prizes totaling $8,500 will be awarded. The grand prize is a $4,000 scholarship. The winner and chaperone also receive an expense-paid trip for the scholarship presentation on Dec. 10, 2009, at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in New Orleans, La. To enter, students must conduct an activity to promote U.S.-grown rice in September, which is National Rice Month. More info.

Free Vocabulary Workbooks Available: Want a few new (and free) books for your lending library? Brian Leaf, author of "Defining Twilight: Vocabulary Workbook for Unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED and SSAT," has raised thousands of dollars to give away copies of his book to schools. To request free copies of the book, contact the author through his Web site.