SPSA Newsletter

SPRING 2012 CSULB

Or at least it was for our professors and fellow students, who were
lucky enough to fly to the beautiful city for this year’s NASP Convention!
The convention, held February 21-24th, was a wonderful experience for eve-
ryone in attendance. Our own Meg Linn and Mary Quick were both selected
to present their work at the conference as well. See Page 3 for Details!

Inside This Issue

Congrats 2012 Grads! 2
NASP Notes 3
NASP Photos 4
Practica/Internship Info 5
CASP info 5
Important Deadlines 6
Upcoming Events 6
Events & Fundraisers 7

We’d all like to give a heartfelt thank you to Pamela Lin for her hard work in organizing an SPSA Ed Code
workshop. The Deaf & Hard of Hearing workshop was held on Monday, 2/27, and featured a panel of D/HH
experts. This included Ryan Burns, a school psychologist and D/HH Program Support; Charlie Malone, a Deaf
and Hard of Hearing Specialist/Teacher; and Ivonne Bogen, a mother of a 3 year old child who was born deaf.
Dr. Gamble graciously gave up his class time in order for us to be able to participate in this amazing event. After
a wonderfully informative PowerPoint presentation by Pamela herself, we had the opportunity to ask the panel-
ists many important questions regarding working as a school psychologist with D/HH children and their fami-
lies. The presentation also inspired a lot of the attendees to want to learn ASL! What a great night!
 Yessica Aranda-LACOE
Drew Balcom-LAUSD
Nitika Batra-Burbank USD
Monique Broomfield-Irvine USD
Veronica Cohen-LACOE
Kristin Connor
Jillian Donegan-Santa Monica USD
Cardiff Hamilton-San Marcos USD
Lilliana Hernandez-Santa Monica
USD
Leticia Montalvo-Downey USD
Maria Montalvo-Downey USD
Thuy Nguyen
Yesenia Prieto-Garden Grove USD
Andi Reed-Escondido USD
Gabriela Rodriguez-Irvine USD
Mayra Rosales-LACOE
Heather Shew-El Segundo USD
Lisa Uemura-ABC

Jessica Baeza Ashley McAdams

Jessica Barragan Jamie Meacham
Tasia Brown Manuela Moskovitz
Silvia Rodriguez Francisco Perez-Pineda
Luis Ceballos Mary Quick
Courtney Jacob Jessika Rowley
Alexandra Leonard Tamara Teffeteller
Megan Linn Araceli Urena
Briana Ly Page 2
 My favorite symposium was
“Instructional Variations to Accommo-
date Individual Differences in Mem-
ory.” My favorite Featured Session was
“Creating Safe Schools 101” with Kevin
Jennings. My presentation went well.
We had half a dozen attendees from
our program (Thank YOU!) plus 10-12
from other programs. Everyone seems
very in- terested in the Check &
Connect program and
how to assess treatment
integrity of other pro-
grams.
Meg’s Presentation!
I enjoyed meeting other students
and working professionals in our
field. My favorite session was a small
discussion table around Problem
Solving meetings in schools. I was
able to interact with SPs from NY,
Kentucky, & Minnesota. I was truly
impressed with Minnesota’s knowl-
edge of RTI. Favorite sight had to be
the Van Gogh exhibit after
running up the
Rocky stairs!
Page 3
NASP was great! My
favorite presenta-
tion was from an
Alaskan school district
on implementation of universal
screening using AAIMSWeb meas-
ures. It was great to hear about
school psychs taking the initiative
to implement RTI in their schools. It
was filled with practical informa-
tion on what worked, what didn’t,
and how they used their data.
Plus, they gave out zip drives and
lanyards!
Mary’s Presentation!
I had a great time!
Highlights of the con-
ference include a
presentation on imple-
menting universal screening
throughout a school district and using
the data; a presentation on improving
the school climate for LGBTQI youth; and
another presentation on doing a func-
tional behavior assessment for anxiety.
My favorite sight-seeing spots were the
Van Gogh exhibit at the Museum of Art
and the Eastern State Penitentiary.
 Important Upcoming*Events!
Deadlines
Year one March
 7th
7th–– Practicum/Internship Informational Ses-
 Calyx Memo– Should have been signed by your sion
sion——Come hear from members of many differ-
advisor and submitted before Thanksgiving. ent surrounding school districts about openings
 Thesis Application– Deadline was March 1st and learn how and when to apply!
for Summer and Fall enrollment to theses
classes.  22nd
22nd--23rd
23rd——CASP Convention
Convention——Meeting Social,
 Obtain Certificate of Clearance– Should have Emotional, and Behavioral Needs of California’s
been completed during your first semester. students
 Open Credential File– Complete during your
first year; no specific deadline.  23rd
23rd--SPSA Meeting
Meeting--8:45am @ Beach Hut. All
 Advancement to Candidacy—Recommended are welcome to this fun meeting. Get an insider
to be done one semester prior to applying for look at how events are planned, and brainstorm
Comps & immediately after all requirements ways in which YOU can get involved with us!
have been met. Requirements: All prereqs com-
pleted & 6 units of the core classes/grad  26th
26th--30th
30th--Spring Break (No Class!)
courses; passing score of WPE or exemption;
enrollment in at least 1 core course during se-

April
mester of advancement.
 Practicum Site– Begin to look for practica site
and call districts to obtain application. Dead-
lines are usually in March and early April.  18th
18th--Spring COESA Mixer —12
Mixer— 12--2pm
2pm--Get to
know other students in the CED, and talk to
Year two undergraduates about our amazing program!
Location TBA.
 Comprehensive Exam Application– Deadline
was Oct. 1st for Spring enrollment (will take the  Be on the lookout for more amazing fundraisers
exam in the spring); March 1st was deadline for to help SPSA give you the best experience possi-
Summer and Fall enrollment. ble!
 Thesis Application-Deadline was Oct. 1st for


Spring enrollment in theses courses.
Advancement to Candidacy– Should be com- May
plete by now. It is recommended that it be com-  Get on the Bus! Our spring philanthropy event
plete prior to application for Comps and imme- will involve helping children to visit their incar-
diately after all requirements have been met. cerated parents. More info to come!
 Request to Graduate– Deadline was Oct 1st
(recommended), Oct 15th (actual) for Spring or  4th
4th--California Diagnostic Center Training
Training——
Summer graduation, March 1st for Fall gradua- 12:30
12:30--5:30pm. This event is a great way to learn
tion. more about comprehensive assessments and
 Calyx Memo– Was due during the first semes- special education assistance.
ter before Thanksgiving.
 Credential File– Complete if not yet completed  14th
14th--18th
18th--Finals
Finals!!
 Internship– Find your districts as application
deadlines began in February and will most  Annual End of Year BBQ
BBQ--Wrap up the success-
likely continue through March, possibly early ful year with a BBQ with your fellow school psy-
April. chology classmates and faculty. More info com-
ing soon!
*This should be used as a guide - Please refer to
your student handbook for specific information

Page 6
 Fall Philanthropy
Fall Guest Speaker - Dr. Laurie Stephens was with Long Beach
Basket Brigade! 1,000
baskets were assem-
bled in less than 1.5
hours. The Long Beach
families who received
a meal basket were
all very grateful—and
just in time for
Thanksgiving! Thank
you for organizing
this awesome event,
Jamie!

Our Domenico’s
Fundraiser was
Dr. Laurie Stephens from the Education Spectrum Organization delivered a high quality a success!
training on Autism, specifically as it relates to intervention, identification, and assess- Great work,
ment in school settings. She has been working and training in the field of Autism for Meg!
over 20 years, and we were honored to learn as much as we could from her.

Ugly Sweater Holiday Party

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