WSCA Conference

Pre-Conference Sessions

About Pre-Conference

WSCA's Pre-Conference sessions offer participants the opportunity to explore topics in-depth. These three-hour sessions allow participants more time to leverage the presenter's knowledge and expertise. Please note that due to the specialized nature of these sessions, they are not included in the regular conference registration rate. An additional fee applies. [Learn more]

Pre-Conference Sessions At-A-Glance

Scroll down for complete session descriptions and speaker bios.

9am-12pm

Issues of Abuse and Mandated Reporting for School Counselors
Presented by Dr. Cher Edwards

High in Plain Sight: Current Alcohol, Drug, and Concealment Trends and Identifiers
Presented by Jermaine Galloway

Teach the Brain, Change the World: 30 Trauma-Informed Tools for Tier 1, 2, and 3 Supports (Part 1)
Presented by Lyndsay Morris

1pm-4pm

Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention
Presented by Dr. Cher Edwards

Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors: Beginning Skills to Advanced Techniques
Presented by Dr. Reagan North

Teach the Brain, Change the World: 30 Trauma-Informed Tools for Tier 1, 2, and 3 Supports (Part 2)
Presented by Lyndsay Morris

Issues of Abuse and Mandated Reporting
for School Counselors

Join Dr. Edwards as she presents, Issues of Abuse and Mandated Reporting for School Counselors. This session meets state requirements. Course content will include training related to identification of physical, emotional, sexual, and substance abuse; the impact on learning and behavior; the responsibilities of an educational staff associate to report abuse or to provide assistance to victimized children; and methods of teaching about abuse and its prevention.

Dr. Cher Edwards

Dr. Cher Edwards has been a Counselor Educator for over 25 years and is currently on faculty at Seattle Pacific University. Before moving to Washington, she was a counselor and counselor educator in Ohio, where she served on the State Board of Education and held leadership roles in several professional associations.

In Washington, Dr. Edwards has served on the national board of Counselors for Social Justice, founded Washington Counselors for Social Justice, and has held leadership positions with the Washington School Counselor Association (WSCA). She also advises the Sigma Phi Upsilon chapter of Chi Sigma Iota.

Her scholarship focuses on school counseling, supervision, multicultural competency, and social justice. She is the co-author of Group Counseling in the Schools and has published widely in counseling journals, book chapters, and reviews. She has presented at state, national, and international conferences, and received the O’Hana Award from the American Counseling Association for her social justice advocacy.

High in Plain Sight

This workshop is for educators, prevention providers, coalition members, law enforcement, probation officers, school administration, treatment providers, nurses, health care workers, and counselors. This workshop can cover alcohol and drug clothing, alcoholic energy drinks, prescription drug abuse and misuse, alcohol and drug concealment methods and containers, drug paraphernalia, drug related music and groups, logos, stickers, new technology, youth party tendencies, party games, non-traditional alcoholic beverages, social networking sites, synthetic drugs, OTC drugs, inhalants, marijuana concentrates, E-cigarettes, and popular party drugs, including opioids, Adderall, and ecstasy. This session can also cover common stash compartments that can be used to hide weapons inside everyday clothing containers and other items, in addition to the impact on traffic safety. In addition, the Tall Cop reviews the emerging trends of Xylazine, legal “gas station heroin” products, and Opioids.

This session is unique, in that it provides over 70 visual aids through photos and videos. In today's culture, everything is person-specific and has different meanings to different individuals. Meanwhile, certain items have gained popularity in the alcohol and drug scene - which changes every day.

Officer Galloway tailors this session to each community that he teaches in, and constantly updates this training to keep up with the current trends. This allows the community to know what is happening locally in their retail stores. Galloway also covers the impact of legalization, if this affects your state.

For each person to help prevent youth and adult substance abuse, you MUST know what is going on in your community.

Jermaine Galloway

Officer Galloway, a Texan, known nationally as the Tall Cop, has worked in substance abuse prevention and education for over 20 years. After playing Division I basketball and receiving his BA in Sociology from the University of San Francisco, he worked as a law enforcement officer for 18 years. His various assignments included: alcohol compliance and enforcement, CSI, DUI task force, officer mentoring, and a field training officer.

In 2007, Jermaine started the company known as “Tall Cop Says StopTM”. The Tall Cop has conducted trainings in every US state and Canada, and currently devotes thousands of hours each year to training professionals and communities on drug and alcohol prevention, education, and enforcement. The Tall Cop is unique in that he spends hundreds of hours with “boots on the ground” highlighting drug culture in various communities. To date, the Tall Cop has trained more than 800,000 professional and community members. He has trained across the U.S and in other countries such as Canada and the Bermuda Islands. The Tall Cop has conducted more than 8,400 community scans, identifying the drug culture and climate. His program, “High in Plain Sight”, is a nationally recognized program, that provides training, education, and enforcement strategies for community substance abuse issues.

Additionally, Jermaine Galloway has published articles, been referenced in books, and has been highlighted in many media interviews. The Tall Cop’s fast-paced and high-energy class provides attendees with an unparalleled learning experience!

At the end of 2023, Galloway Started a podcast to provide education to everyone. The Tall Cop Says Stop Podcast can be found on both Spotify and Apple platforms. Most recently, at the beginning of 2024, Jermaine has been certified as an International Instructor by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.

Teach the Brain, Change the World: 30 Trauma-Informed Tools for Tier 1, 2, and 3 Supports (Part 1)

What if the solution to rising stress, behavior challenges, and disconnection in schools was not more complicated systems, but simple tools you could use anywhere? Imagine a framework so practical it can be used in parent nights, attendance groups, guidance lessons, 504 plan meetings, staff wellness sessions, and interventions that teach peace instead of shame.

This pre-conference delivers that framework. You will experienced trauma-informed tools that empower students, staff, and families with essential skills—how to calm down, how to focus, how to communicate with compassion, and how to thrive. Each tool takes less than ten minutes, most less than five, making them easy to use in real time when challenges arise. This is not a curriculum to add to your plate, but a collection of evidence-based practices rooted in trauma-informed care, social emotional learning, and neuroscience. You will leave ready to put them into action immediately across Tier 1, 2, and 3 supports at school and at home.

Every participant will also receive a signed copy of Teach the Brain, Change the World to extend the learning and keep the practices alive long after the session.

Part 1 of the Pre-Conference covers:

Welcome + Shared Goals
The Science of Stress, Trauma, and the Brain
Connection and Emotional Regulation Tools
How to Teach the Brain to Staff, Students, and Families
Regulate, Connect, Reflect in Action
WOOP Goals and Real-World Application

Lyndsay Morris

Lyndsay Morris, M.Ed., is a global leader in human-first education, founder of Generation Wellness, and author of Teach the Brain, Change the World. A former teacher and school counselor, she helps educators implement practical, trauma-informed skills that improve focus, reduce stress, strengthen relationships, and build resilience. With more than half a million educators, students, and families reached worldwide, she is known for turning brain science into strategies that create thriving school cultures.

Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention

Seating Limited to the First 45 Registrants

Join Dr. Edwards as she presents, Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention. This session meets legislation (RCW 43.70.442) suicide prevention course requirements for certified counselors, focusing on suicide assessment and referral. Best practice recommendations related to prevention, response, and counseling practice for certified counselors including those providing supervision to counseling students or peers will be discussed. Participants will review legal and ethical expectations, learn useful strategies for the assessment and referral process, and practice assessment and referral skills.

Dr. Cher Edwards

Dr. Cher Edwards is a dynamic leader, author, and advocate with over 30 years of school and community counseling experience. A past president of the Washington School Counselor Association and Founding President of Washington Counselors for Social Justice, she champions equity, inclusion, and anti-racist practices in every facet of her work. Dr. Edwards co-edited Foundations of School Counseling with Dr. Mary A. Graham, an inspiring text that bridges theory and practice through the voices of diverse educators and counselors. Known for her engaging style and global reach, she has delivered impactful presentations on social justice and counselor education across ten countries. Passionate about empowering the next generation, Dr. Edwards brings heart, vision, and a fierce commitment to transforming the future of school counseling.

Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors: Beginning Skills to Advanced Techniques

How often does it seem like you are working harder than your students to bring about positive change in their lives? How often do you work with students to create a detailed plan only to find that they didn’t follow through? Before students can increase grades, build healthy relationships, or pursue career plans, they have to be intrinsically motivated. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based counseling style that helps students grow their own motivation to change for the better. Learn practical techniques to help students change their future trajectory for the better. In short, learn to motivate! The presenter will spend some time on MI basics and will continue with more advanced techniques and activities. After experiencing role-plays, real-plays, coaching, observations, videos, and other forms of experiential learning, attendees will be prepared to use MI to motivate their students.

Learning Objectives:

Build deep working relationships with students using powerful empathy skills
Use Motivational Interviewing skills to increase the chances students will move beyond the status quo
Employ advanced Motivational Interviewing techniques that help students build a vision for positive change in their lives
Experience MI techniques that can be used in small group counseling and classroom lessons

Dr. Reagan North

Dr. Reagan North trains future school counselors at Liberty University and Grand Canyon University. Prior to working in higher education, he was a high school counselor for six years. He has written a book entitled Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors and has presented on the subject at conferences, school districts, and universities throughout the country. His goal is to train as many school counselors as possible to use Motivational Interviewing.

Teach the Brain, Change the World: 30 Trauma-Informed Tools for Tier 1, 2, and 3 Supports (Part 2)

What if the solution to rising stress, behavior challenges, and disconnection in schools was not more complicated systems, but simple tools you could use anywhere? Imagine a framework so practical it can be used in parent nights, attendance groups, guidance lessons, 504 plan meetings, staff wellness sessions, and interventions that teach peace instead of shame.

This pre-conference delivers that framework. You will experienced trauma-informed tools that empower students, staff, and families with essential skills—how to calm down, how to focus, how to communicate with compassion, and how to thrive. Each tool takes less than ten minutes, most less than five, making them easy to use in real time when challenges arise. This is not a curriculum to add to your plate, but a collection of evidence-based practices rooted in trauma-informed care, social emotional learning, and neuroscience. You will leave ready to put them into action immediately across Tier 1, 2, and 3 supports at school and at home.

Every participant will also receive a signed copy of Teach the Brain, Change the World to extend the learning and keep the practices alive long after the session.

Part 2 of the Pre-Conference covers:

Interventions that Teach Peace (Tier 1, 2, and 3)
Video Case Study: 90% Decrease in Behavior Referrals
Parent Nights, Staff Wellness, and Teaching Peace in All Settings
Independent Planning for Immediate Implementation
Self-Care Tools to Prevent Burnout
The Importance of Closure + Closing Activities

Lyndsay Morris

Lyndsay Morris, M.Ed., is a global leader in human-first education, founder of Generation Wellness, and author of Teach the Brain, Change the World. A former teacher and school counselor, she helps educators implement practical, trauma-informed skills that improve focus, reduce stress, strengthen relationships, and build resilience. With more than half a million educators, students, and families reached worldwide, she is known for turning brain science into strategies that create thriving school cultures.

Clock hours will be granted to conference participants.