For our very first School Psychologist Spotlight, we chose 8-year school psychologist, Lindsay Fjelland, who is an Iowa native working in the same schools she attended as a child. Lindsay is a school psychologist in Heartland AEA serving two Johnston elementary schools with students in developmental Kindergarten through 5th grade.
Lindsay graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with her BA in Psychology and minor in Family Studies. After college, she got married and moved to Wisconsin where she attained her M.S.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She returned to Iowa to complete her internship at Heartland Area Education Agency, and she has served various districts within Heartland AEA over her career. She and her husband, who is a teacher, have two children, Mckinsley (age 5) and Crew (age 3).
Lindsay wrote that her role revolves around a number of different responsibilities, from collaborating with teachers regarding data and student needs, both academically and behaviorally, working directly with students for evaluation purposes, working with a variety of school staff to create and model behavior intervention plans, participating in the school’s PBIS teams, collaborating with parents, completing needed paperwork, as well as providing some professional development for the agency in verbal and physical de-escalation.
As with any school psychologist, her role is varied and her days are busy. She wrote that she loves to see students make progress – academically and behaviorally. “When parents are excited about how far their son/daughter has come – that is the best. Because as a parent, I know I would want that if it was my child.” Lindsay also wrote that she loves that her job is never boring and there is always something different every day. We asked what she would change about her job and she wrote, “My favorite days are when I get to work directly with students. However, with our work there comes the responsibility of documentation. Sometimes, the paperwork requirements pull me away from having as much time as I would like to work with the students.”
Finally, we asked what advice Lindsay could give new Iowa school psychologists. She wrote, “That first year can be challenging. There are always times, even after eight years, where you are in a tough situation. So my advice would be to rely on your resources, especially your teammates! Build those relationships with your co-workers. They do the same work you do, so they are a valuable resource! The colleagues I work with use a team-approach and we collaborate well. I couldn’t do it without them!”
Thank you, Lindsay for all you do for kids, schools, and school psychology in Iowa!