“in this program I found a cohort:” SMHAPP Students Tell Their Story (Part 3)
Editor’s Note: I’m re-posting all 3 of these Zoom webinars from our SSWN YouTube channel, as they show the power of the SMHAPP in action, as SMHAPP cohort members talk about how the program helped them find a supportive learning community that equipped them with the tools and evidence-based interventions to carry out a school-change project for their school. Applications are open for the 2021 Cohort of the Loyola University Chicago: School of Social Work School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP)! 2 years, 15 credits, 99% online, taught by school mental health experts and all within a supportive professional learning community (our 3rd cohort is pictured, and to date we’ve had school clinicians from 11 states in the SMHAPP). Learn more information here:http://bit.ly/SMHAPP6
Loyola SMHAPP 2020 Graduates Angie Halstead & Gabriela Ramirez (pictured above as part of the 2020 SMHAPP Graduating Cohort) talk about their experience in the School Mental Health Advanced Practice Program (SMHAPP). Last month, I put together short Zoom webinars with the SMHAPP grads who had worked together in our “dyad” format as part of their 2-year cohort. They spoke about their experiences overall in the SMHAPP Certificate, but mostly I asked them to talk about each others’ work and what they learned from their time together. As Gabriela put it so beautifully,
“ I was feeling pretty burned out at school, you know, working as a school social worker. I was feeling like I was spinning my wheels and I didn’t have. I felt like I needed support I needed more tools. And so in this program I did find that I found a cohort, I found a cohort of other school social workers that have been extremely supportive and then I also learned so much about evidence based and evidence informed programs.”
I’ll be posting all 3 of these Zoom webinars from our SSWN YouTube channel, as they show the power of the SMHAPP in action, as SMHAPP cohort members talk about how the program helped them find a supportive learning community that equipped them with the tools and evidence-based interventions to carry out a school-change project for their school. In this third session, we hear from Angie about Gabriela’s work to bolster and enhance the parent groups and supports she designed for the parents of her special needs population, and Gabriela talking about Angie’s innovative work to build a community coalition to address attendance issues in her rural Nebraska context.
Angie Halstead & Gabriela Ramirez,
2020 Loyola SMHAPP Graduates
Gabby, I just want to say, has been a great dyad partner. I think she and I are very similar in that we tend to be more on the quiet side so we really had to come out of our, you know, get out of our own comfort zone in order to push ourselves to be a little bit more. Oh, I’m not that outgoing so I just really appreciated her–she’s so even-keeled, and so laid back and I think that she would be awesome to work with as a colleague in my district.”–Angie Halstead on Gabriela’s quiet determination to do her work to support parents in her school
Supporting Parents Who Have Kids With Special Needs, (Gabriela Ramirez)
And she’s been a social worker doing it all by herself for many, many years. So I know Angie, you just recently mentioned that your district hired another social worker. So there will now be two social workers for, you know, over 4000 students. So that’s very impressive, what you’ve been able to do.–Gabriela Ramirez on Angie’s longstanding commitment to her school district
A Shining Example of Collective Impact in Small-Town Nebraska, (Angie Halstead)
HERE’S THE FULL CONVERSATION I HAD WITH THESE 2 AMAZING SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS.
Applications are now open for our 5th SMHAPP cohort and are due August 1st–apply today and watch for upcoming SMHAPP events in July 2020 and always follow us @SchoolSocWork and read our SMHAPP students’ work here at www.schoolsocialwork.net
