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Mission Statement:
The members of the North Carolina School Social
Workers Association provide services that enhance and
promote the educational, emotional, and social needs of
students and families in order for them to make use of
the resources available to them to achieve their full
potential within their home, school, and community.
According to the School Social Work Association of
America, school social work is a specialized area of
practice within the broad field of the social work
profession. School social workers bring unique knowledge
and skills to the school system and the student services
team. School Social Workers are instrumental in
furthering the purpose of the schools: To provide a
setting for teaching, learning, and for the attainment
of competence and confidence. School social workers are
hired by school districts to enhance the district's
ability to meet its academic mission, especially where
home, school and community collaboration is the key to
achieving that mission.
Message from the
President...
I bring you greetings from the Board of NCSSWA. I hope
you have all had a successful opening of the traditional
school year. We seem to hit the ground running, with
new students, new staff, and new co-workers. Don’t miss
the opportunity to show and tell others about school
social work.
Summer has passed, and with the fall, comes our annual
conference. Ann-Marie McBride, our vice-president, and
her planning committee have been extremely busy, putting
together an awesome three day event, October 28-30th.
We are concerned about attendance and we are aware that
most attendees will be paying their own way. That being
said, we have tried to plan a conference that will be
worth every dime spent. The Pinehurst location could
not be better. We have a great room rate and if you
share a room (and the rooms are marvelous) you will only
spend about $50.00 a night. Highlights of the
conference include Terrie Williams, a nationally known
youth advocate and author of several books, including
Black Pain: It Only Looks LIke We Aren't Hurting,
which addresses depression in the African American culture; a
journey to find a Native American teacher whose
influence impacted two young men; and a collaborative
give-away between Feed the Children, the North Carolina
Homeless Education Project (SERVE), and our
Association. In between these special events, there
will be networking with the best of the best school
social workers and terrific breakout workshops. It will
be a memorable conference. Please try to attend.
There is an important piece of legislation that we, as
school social workers, need to be aware of.
HB 1089,
the Study of Social Work in Schools, passed and it calls
for an in-depth study of various aspects of school
social work.
We will be collecting data for the study during the
networking session at fall conference. There will be an
action alert call for interested social workers to
testify before the legislative committee once we have
dates and committee members. NCSSWA wants to fully
participate as experts in this study and we want
involvement from school social workers across the state.
I have been honored to serve as President of NCSSWA for
the past two years. The Association has grown to over
270 members, but that is not nearly enough when we look
at the work we need to do. NCSSWA needs your support.
As we move into the future, make a commitment to your
profession and become more involved in the Association.
I hope to see you all in Pinehurst, on October 28th.
Best regards,
Anne
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