Month: March 2019

Donna Boudreau, PSD Lead Speech-Language Pathologist, had the opportunity to represent the American Speech and Hearing Association at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, March 4th. She and her colleagues met with aides from the offices of Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner to talk about issues key to the American Speech and Hearing Association, one of which is increased funding for IDEA. Donna also met with Abbie Callahan, Legislative Correspondent for Joe Neguse, U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 2nd District.  Ms. Callahan graduated from Fossil Ridge High School in 2015. Donna enjoyed witnessing the success of a recent PSD graduate, along with the overall opportunity to participate in the legislative process that is available to all!
Donna Boudreau, PSD Lead Speech-Language Pathologist, visits the U.S. Capitol

From left: Kathy Boada, V.P. for Government Relations and Public Policy Board for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); Donna Boudreau, PSD Lead Speech-Language Pathologist; Laura Campos, Colorado’s representative to the Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Council for ASHA.

“This year has been a crash course in democracy for me, and a formative experience in building my confidence about constituents’ power to effect change.

“This fall, I emailed my wonderful state representative Jeni James Arndt about a state statute with which I saw an issue, just on a whim. Not only did she listen, she ran with it. She took it on as one of her bills for the year. I, along with some of my school psychologist colleagues, Brittany Hutson (PSD), Brad Reimers (PSD), and Sacha Mittelman (BVSD), had the honor of supporting her as HB19-1036 made its way through the House and the Senate. We got to see Representative Arndt and her co-sponsors argue passionately about school psychologists’ value and advocate on our behalf for parity in compensation. We got to speak at the Capitol (twice!). Today, our bill was passed by the general assembly and is one step away from being a law. (The bill was signed by Governor Polis on 2-28-19; becoming law.)

“It is a small bill. It gives certain school psychologists a yearly stipend. It still feels really special, and I am grateful.”

~Melanie Potyondy
PSD School Psychologist

Find more information on the Bill HERE.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signing HB19-1036 on 2/28/19.
Behind Governor Polis, from left: Representative Jeni James Arndt (Co-Sponsor); Representative Barbara McLachlan (Co-Sponsor), PSD School Psychologists Brittany Hutson, Melanie Potyondy, and Brad Reimers; Representative Cathy Kipp (former PSD Board of Education member).

 

 

Dear Poudre School District Staff, Parents, Students, and Community Members,

March is a month to celebrate our social workers as it is National Professional Social Work Month! Poudre School District has many social workers supporting our students! Their work is integral to our students’ success, engaging the students, families, staff and community to assure alignment of resources and interventions. On any given day, we can find our social workers conducting individual and group sessions, collaborating with staff and community members, supporting others in meetings, engaging in meetings to find good solutions for students, managing a crisis, celebrating successes, etc. Our social workers make a difference daily!

Find out more about school social work at https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/School-Social-Work:

“School social workers are an integral link between school, home, and community in helping students achieve academic success. They work directly with school administrations as well as students and families, providing leadership in forming school discipline policies, mental health intervention, crisis management, and support services. As part of an interdisciplinary team to help students succeed, school social workers also facilitate community involvement in the schools while advocating for student success.”

Celebrate your school social worker today!

Sarah

Sarah Belleau
Director
Integrated Services
Poudre School District