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Our Team

The School Social Work.net team is comprised of school social work practitioners and researchers. You can read more about each team member below.

Interested in joining our team? Send us a message.

Abby Duran

Ms. Abby Duran is a SSW Intern in District 15 in Palatine, IL, and a MSW candidate at Loyola University Chicago.

Adriane Van Zwoll

Adriane Van Zwoll, LCSW is the Clinical Social Worker working full time at Loyola University Chicago’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing's school-based health center at Proviso East High School in Maywood, IL. Ms. Van Zwoll has extensive experience working with adolescents in various settings including juvenile probation, adoption, foster care, residential treatment and schools. She is a Certified Trauma Specialist and has a Clinical Practice Certificate in working with LGBTQ Youth. Ms. Van Zwoll graduated from Western Michigan University in 2006 with degrees in Criminal Justice, Social Work, and a minor in psychology. She also has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Jurisprudence in Children’s Law and Policy from Loyola University Chicago.

BreeAnna Stegall

BreeAnna is a School Social Worker with Black Hawk Area Special Education District in Illinois. She has been working as a School Social Worker for 5 years after getting her MSW at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She currently is a student in the Loyola University SMHAPP program. She has a passion for helping students learn self regulation and to advocate for themselves.

Charles Barr

School social worker by trade and writer by choice. Founder of Common Ground Education Podcast. My interests include social emotional curriculum, school building culture, mindfulness, poverty, school district polity and all things special education.

Dorey Delikowski

Dorey Delikowski has a Master of Science in School Psychology. Dorey has been a School Psychologist since 1997 in diverse school districts across the country, including Washington State, Connecticut, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. She is presently a school psychologist in Rosholt, Wisconsin, and is currently in the 2nd year of the Loyola SMHAPP certificate.

Erin McSweeney

Erin McSweeney MSW is a school social worker and 2019 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work.

Frances Leonard

Frances Leonard is a School Social Worker and MSW Graduate of Loyola University School of Social Work, Class of 2019.

Janet Kester

Janet Kester LCSW is a school social worker in Rosemont, IL, where she has worked for 15 years. She is in the second year of the Loyola School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP) certificate, where her project is focused on improving the use of student data at team and grade levels in her school.

Jennifer Hollander

Jennifer Hollander has over 26 years of experience as a school social worker and is currently employed by the Huron Valley School District in Milford, Michigan. She earned her MSW from Jane Addams School of Social Work at UIC in 1991. Always passionate about discovering new ways to engage students, Jennifer integrated the principles of Cultures of Thinking (CoT) into school social work, combining Thinking Routines and Social-Emotional Learning. She received advanced training in CoT with Ron Ritchhart the founder/author of the model. Since 2015, Jennifer has facilitated multiple Cultures of Thinking presentations in her own district, at the county level, at the Michigan Association of School Social Workers State Conference, and at the 2018 National School Social Work Association of America Conference. Jennifer was awarded the School Social Worker of the Year award in Oakland County, Michigan in 2017.

Laura Montiel

Ms. Laura Montiel is a school social worker at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Palos Hills, Illinois. She is a MSW graduate from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC. She was born and raised in Chicago by a family of Mexican immigrants and is a bilingual school social worker. She is entering her second year in the Loyola SMHAPP certificate.

Marjorie Colindres

I am a Bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been working within school settings since 2012 with K-12 grade students in the Chicagoland area. Additionally, I work in a private practice setting with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and seniors. I also work part-time as an adjunct instructor at Loyola University Chicago and I teach School Social Work Practice and Policy. This year, 2019, I have assisted in coordinating the IASSW conference for professionals in the field of school social work. My Bachelor's degrees are in Spanish Literature and Psychology from Loyola University Chicago, Master’s degree in Social Work with a School Social Work Type 73 Professional Educator License from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Type 75 Professional Educator License with a General School Administrator Endorsement from Lewis University. As a school social worker, I personally enjoy being able to develop a positive relationship and empower my students to overcome challenging situations by identifying their strengths. My therapeutic style depends on the need of students as I use an eclectic approach (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Task-Centered Practice, and Play Therapy).

Mary Difino

Mary Difino is a graduate of Jane Addams College of Social Work and currently works as a CPS social worker on the West Side of Chicago.

Megan Tracy

Ms. Megan Tracy Trent has been an Itinerant School Social Worker for Ogle County Educational Cooperative in NW Illinois since 2012. She is also a 2nd year student in the Loyola School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP) Certificate, where her project is focused on building strong referral and service delivery criteria for school social work services.

Melissa Holmes

Melissa works as a school social worker in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) using yoga and mindfulness with her students. She chairs the Chicago Teacher's Union Clinician's Steering Committee, working for clinicians in CPS towards a healthier work environment and more realistic workloads. After working in the non-profit sector, Melissa obtained her masters degree from Jane Addams School of Social Work at UIC. Her passion lies in making sure that each child is supported, challenged and cared for in their school environment and brings that passion to school daily.

Michael Flood

Mr. Michael Flood is a school social worker at Old Orchard Junior High School in Skokie, IL. He is also a student in Loyola Chicago's School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP), where he is focused on using screening data to help his team better deliver services at Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels.

Michael Kelly

Michael S. Kelly PhD, LCSW is the Lucian and Carol Welch Matusak Professor and Director of the School Mental Health Advanced Practice certificate and Family and School Partnerships Program at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work. Prior to coming to Loyola in Fall 2006, he was a school social worker, family therapist, and youth minister in the Chicago area for 14 years. He has authored over 80 journal articles, books, and book chapters on school social work, evidence-based practice (EBP), and positive youth development. He is a fellow of the Oxford Symposium for School-Based Family Counseling, co-Chair of the Society for Social Work & Research SSW Special Interest Group, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of School Social Work, and Associate Editor of School Mental Health. He has recently brought his work on school mental health and EBP to researchers and practitioners in England, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Canada, Chile, and Japan.

Michele Patak-Pietrafesa

Michele Patak-Pietrafesa, LISW-S is a PhD candidate in the College of Social Work at the Ohio State University. Her dissertation research explores teacher perceptions and how these relate to various outcomes for students of color. She teaches both in-person and online courses in research and statistics in the BSW program at OSU and conducts trainings and guest lectures on topics related to evaluating social work practice, school social work, and anti-racist practice.

Nadia Gomez-Moran

Nadia Gomez-Moran LCSW is a School Social Worker at Addison Trail High School in Addison, IL, where she has been working since 2014. She says, "Prior to practicing in a school, I worked in child welfare for four years and have done extensive volunteer work with survivors of sexual assault. My passion is working with at-risk youth to overcome barriers and reach their full potential."

Natasha Bowen

Natasha K. Bowen is a professor at the College of Social Work at Ohio State University. She maintains a comprehensive social environmental assessment (called the School Success Profile, SSP) that schools use to better understand risks and protective factors in students’ lives and choose best practices to support students. (More information about this free online assessment, which has elementary and secondary versions, will be shared soon.) Natasha’s research has included extensive testing of the quality of questionnaires, but helping schools use information collected to support student success is her primary interest. She hopes to continue sharing useful, high-quality assessments with school social workers.

Park Guthrie

Park Guthrie is a middle school teacher in Sonoma County, California. He founded Schools for Climate Action (S4CA) in 2017.

Richard Cleveland

Dr. Richard Cleveland PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS is Associate professor and School Counseling Program Coordinator in the Counselor Education program at Georgia Southern University. He left a career in aircraft maintenance to pursue education, specifically school counseling.

Ruth Orme-Johnson

Ruth Orme-Johnson is a school social worker at James Giles Elementary School in Norridge, Illinois. She earned her MSW from Boston University in 2012 and a Bachelors of Education in Social Policy from Northwestern University in 2009. Prior to school social work, Ruth was in non-profit fundraising for five years.

Scott Carchedi

Scott Carchedi is the founder and co-editor of SSWN. Scott provides technology support and consultative services to school social work associations across the US. Scott is also a practicing school social worker in the western suburbs of Chicago, serving grades 9-12.

Steve Whitmore

Steve Whitmore is a School Social Work Consultant for Oakland Schools Special Populations Capacity Building Unit and works with school social workers and educators in the areas of time study, student engagement, technology use, social media, and IEP development. Currently, he serves as the webmaster for and sits on the state board for the Michigan Association of School of Social Workers (www.masswmi.org). Steve had been a direct service school social worker for over 13 years. He has experience in public, charter and parochial schools. He has served served on the state committee that drafted the current Michigan School Social Worker Rules. Steve was awarded 2010 MASSW School Social Worker of the Year in Macomb County and the 2014 MASSW Innovator of the Year.

Susan Antonini Affinito

Ms. Susan Antonini MSW (Loyola Chicago SSW 2017) is currently a school social worker at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL.

Tessa Kamp

Ms. Tessa Kamp is a 2nd-year MSW student in Loyola Chicago School of Social Work's SSW Specialization, and an intern at Deerfield High School for the 2018-19 school year.

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