BOOK CLUB
What is the #MASCAReads Book Club? The #MASCAReads Book Club is a fun and educational way to stay on top of trends and network with other school counseling professionals. It allows school counseling professionals and graduate students to learn new information, share common experiences, and participate in a professional development activity outside of their school community. Participants have the opportunity to earn PDPs for their participation in the Book Club.
How does it work? #MASCAReads is an online club that discusses books related to school counseling. It meets two or three times a year, usually in the early evening. All book club discussions will be held on Zoom, an online video conferencing service. Participants do NOT have to be MASCA members although members will find it easier to get notifications of the book selection and date and times of the Zoom meetings.
How does one participate? Book club members are welcome to participate in any—or all—of the meetings, held on Zoom. Titles will be announced at least three weeks in advance of each meeting. Members can order online, use an audio book app, or visit their local library or bookstore to obtain a copy of the selection.
Who coordinates the Book Club? Shanelle Fernandez (fernandezs@merrimack.edu) and Ben Greenwood (ben.greenwood@schoolsofwestfield.org)
How will book club titles be selected? #MASCAReads participants are encouraged to submit titles for consideration to the Book Club coordinators. Titles will be selected with an eye for books that appeal to a broad cross-section of members and offer plenty of opportunity for discussion. Selected titles may relate to school counseling, self-care or general K-12 education. Selections do not imply endorsements. Whenever possible, we will try to get the book author to join us for a Zoom Meeting.
Get Involved! For more information or to become involved, please contact one of the Book Club coordinators listed above.
Announcing the Fall 2025 Selection-
FALL 2025 BOOK ANNOUNCED
For the time period of October 2025 - December 2025, we will be reading Redesigning Schools to Be Antiracist: A Systemic Change Approach for School Counselors and Other Leaders, 1st Edition by Stephen Sharp.
The statistics are real: Black students are more likely to be suspended, more likely to attempt suicide, and less likely to attend college than their white peers. What can we do to change these realities? Do you want to just talk about race, or do you want to make real change in the lives of children and what they experience every day?
Antiracism is the design and implementation of practices to address, mitigate, and dismantle racism. In Redesigning Schools to Be Antiracist, author and public school counselor Stephen Sharp shares a new framework for implementing effective and sustainable systems change to counter racism and redesign education.
The Zoom meeting times are as follows:
- Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 4:00 – 5:00 pm
- Wednesday, November 5, 2025 - 4:00 – 5:00 pm
- Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 4:00 – 5:00 pm - Author's visit!
You can earn 10 PDPs by completing the following:
- Read the book.
- Register for the October - December Club
- Attend 2 Book Club meetings via Zoom to discuss the book.
- Attend 1 additional Book Club Zoom meeting with the author.
- Complete a pre and post learning activity based on the book content
If you wish to participate in this upcoming Book Club selection, please fill out this brief Google form. This will allow us to keep track of who is interested in participating.
The link for all three Zoom meetings is here. No pre-registration is necessary.
If you have any questions regarding the Book Club, please contact Ben or Shanelle.
PREVIOUS BOOKS INCLUDE:
Spring 2025 - 15-Minute Counseling Techniques that Work: What You Didn't Learn in Grad School - by Allison Edwards
Fall 2024 - Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline by Lori L. Desautels, Ph.D.
Fall 2023 - The Use of Data in School Counseling 2e: Hatching Results (and So Much More) for Students, Programs, and the Profession by Trish Hatch & Julie Hartline.
Spring 2023 - School Counseling to Close Opportunity Gaps A Social Justice and Antiracist Framework for SUCCESS by Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy.
Fall, 2022 - 101 Solutions for School Counselors and Leaders in Challenging Times by Stuart F. Chen-Hayes, Melissa Ockerman and Erin Chase McCarthy Mason
May 2022- The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
March 2022- From Behaving to Belonging: The Inclusive Art of Supporting Students Who Challenge Us by Julie Causton & Kate MacLoed w/ companion Article: "Ready...Set...Success: A formula for leading schools with Love" by Julie Causton, Kate MacLoed, Kristie Pretti-Frontczak
October 2021 & January 2022 - Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators - by Elena Aguilar.
May 2021 - The Gifts of Imperfection - by Brene Brown
March 2021 - Trauma Doesn't Stop at the School Door - by Karen Gross
January 2021 - The Self Care Prescription: Powerful Solutions to Manage Stress, Reduce Anxiety & Increase Wellbeing - by Robyn Gobin
October 2020 - All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond - by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher and Dominique Smith
July 2020 - Interrupting Racism by Rebecca Atkins and Alicia Oglesby
March 2020 - The Energy Bus, by Jon Gordon
| Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc. |
MASCA deeply values its diverse membership and is fully committed to creating an organization where each individual is welcomed, included, respected and empowered. No person will be excluded from MASCA on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation or military status, or for any other discriminatory reason. These activities include, but are not limited to, appointment of its Governing Board, hiring or firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and the providing of services. This policy is fundamental to the effective functioning of MASCA as an organization that supports counselors and promotes equity in our schools, districts and the Commonwealth.