School Psych Spotlight – Halsey Darling

 

Our January spotlight, Halsey Darling, who serves our Keystone AEA, was raised in a small town in the northeast corner of Iowa. After spending a couple of years in Chicago and getting her School Psychology degree at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, she prioritized finding her way back to the area she loved in Iowa. She loves to serve the students and families of her old stomping grounds.  And when she is not working with her students, she is spending time with her husband, Adam and their two kids, Pearl (2 years old) and Will (6 months old).

Halsey is in her 6th year as a practitioner and states that she is “very fortunate to have begun my career at Keystone.” It was her first choice of employment following graduate school and she is grateful every day that she gets to work in such a wonderful and supportive environment. Her main role at Keystone is fulfilling Child Find duties within her school districts, however she does find time to consult with teachers on a daily basis. She is also part of building and district level special education teams where they discuss specific needs of teachers and students.

The best part of her job is working with the kids. “I love working with kids,” she says. She enjoys seeing the students she works with develop skills and grow. She also cherishes the relationships she has built with teacher, administrators, and parents. Although there are many great aspects of school psychology, less paperwork would be even more ideal in Halsey’s role! When she does have a more difficult day she keeps in mind the advice she would give to new practitioners in the field, “Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day! On those hard days, remember why you got into this profession and don’t be afraid to lean on your colleagues for advice and support.”

School Psych Spotlight – David Duff

SpOtLiGhT! David Duff

Our next spotlight comes from the heartland where David Duff was home grown here in Iowa. David grew up in central Iowa and stayed through his undergraduate career at Iowa State University before moving to Columbia, Missouri to attend graduate school at University of Missouri-Columbia for school psychology. David and his wife stay busy with their two sons, Nolan (2.5 years old) and Landon (9m). When David gets down time from his work and family responsibilities he enjoys staying active and being outside in any capacity. Specific hobbies include running, cycling, kayaking, camping, and canoeing. He also enjoys playing the guitar.

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School Psych Spotlight – Patrick Lussenhop

Our School Psychologist Spotlight psychologist, Pat Lussenhop, works for Grant Wood AEA. Pat has worked for GWAEA for almost nine years. He currently works in Linn-Mar schools and also supports Grant Wood’s mentoring and induction program for new employees. Pat lives in Marion with his wife, who is a school counselor, and their two kids. His family enjoys heading north to the Minnesota lakes in the summer.

Pat is a transplant from Minnesota. The state of Iowa was lucky to have him cross that boarder in the Fall of 2007 when he started graduate school in the UNI School Psychology Program. After graduation, he started working for GWAEA and has been with the agency ever since. Throughout his career at GWAEA, Pat has worked in Linn-Mar and Marion schools in addition to supporting private and home school students in the Cedar Rapids area.

Currently, Pat’s main responsibilities are within the child find process for both academics and behavior. He also supports the special education teachers in his buildings providing assistance with ongoing IEPs, re-evaluations, and other special education related tasks. Further, Pat is a part of building and district level teams focusing on child find, interventions, data collection, and problem solving.

When asked what Pat loves about being a school psychologist he said, “I enjoy working with the students and getting to seem them make progress and grow over time. I also like working with Grant Wood and school district co-workers and problem solving together. The variety that the job brings on a day to day basis is great and helps motivate me to improve and expand my practice all the time.” While Pat enjoys many of his roles and responsibilities, he reported that he would like to have more opportunities to provide direct services to students, especially those who have mental health related concerns.

To new school psychologists, Pat offered this advice, “Explore multiple areas within the job and seek out a variety of experiences (elementary, secondary, behavior, etc). Seeing students and systems in different settings and at different levels helps to create a well-rounded practice and helps you to feel more confident in general.”

Thank you, Pat, for all you do for Iowa schools, teachers, and students.