I’m sitting in my office looking out of the window and it’s snowing sideways. It has been snowing on and off for weeks already and today is only December 1st. Winter in Northeast Ohio this time around is going to seem two years long again. “At least I have a window in my office,”I say to myself. This optimistic self-dialogue, along with occasional lunches with my colleagues filled with hearty bouts of laughter, is how I maintain a positive professional attitude at work. Let’s face it, the responsibilities of school psychologists—regardless of where they practice—seem to range from moderately overwhelming to darn near incapacitating the vast majority of the time.

Our profession works hard at fostering resiliency in the students in our charge but I wonder—how much time do we take to foster resiliency in ourselves? I think that it is analogous to the instructions on the drop-down oxygen masks on commercial airliners. Although seemingly counterintuitive to parents, in the event of an emergency, persons traveling with young children are instructed to affix their masks to themselves before assisting the little ones. The reality is that you’ve got to be able to function at a certain level or you won’t be any good to the people counting on you.

On that note, I offer some unsolicited general wellness recommendations: sleep more and eat less, try to do fewer things but do them better, get your daily coffee consumption down to single digits, talk to a student in the hallway who wasn’t referred to you, bring bagels or pastries to your building and bask in the glow of an appreciative staff, call a friend you haven’t talked to in a long while, undertake a new hobby or simply read a book for pleasure. The list could go on and on but it’s the idea that counts; be cognizant of keeping yourself physically fit, mentally healthy, and spiritually grounded so that you can function effectively in this very demanding profession.

I feel that this is more important now than in almost any time in recent memory. We are awash in economic uncertainty and global terrorism continues to rear its ugly head. While your 403b may have recently been bashed like a piñata at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, some of your students’ parents may have lost jobs and homes in the current economic downturn. Just like in any good behavior plan, we are told that things are probably going to get worse before they get better. We will be facing a host of challenges in the foreseeable future, not the least of which may be a reduction in monies flowing into education. In tough economic times, children suffer and we need to be there and be strong for them.

Finally, on a more positive note, I would like to thank all of you who attended our annual Fall Conference and especially those behind the scenes who made it happen. It was very successful from an attendance, content, and overall enjoyment standpoint. Thanks, too, to all of you who joined committees at our wine and cheese reception. I know that you will grow in professional and personal satisfaction by lending your abilities to this wonderful organization. With the New Year upon us, please remember that OSPA is always here to support your efforts in serving the children and families of Ohio.

The snow is finally letting up now and I’m just reflecting on what a privilege it is to serve as President of OSPA. Be well and let’s get out there and do some good.

Dear friends and colleagues,

This is my final President’s Message and,as such, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on my time at the helm of this fine organization. Over the course of the past year, the Executive Board and I took a good hard look to the future. The first OSPA Scholarship was awarded this past fall and, under the guidance of Mrs.Valorie Wolcott Mendelson, we enlisted the help of the Columbus Foundation to ensure that it be awarded in perpetuity. Ann Brennan continues to not only advocate tirelessly for intern funding in the face of across-the-board budget cuts, but also other matters critical to the future of Ohio school psychology. Our Technology Chair, Mr. Jeff York continues to move our website toward user interactivity and an interactive test webpage has been successfully piloted. This process lays the groundwork for online membership renewals, conference registration, and even on-line voting – stay tuned, or more appropriately, stay connected. We also added the officer position of Treasurer-Elect to the Executive Board to smooth the transition from our stellar outgoing Treasurer, Lynn Brumfield to our incoming Treasurer, Michelle Hathorn. This model will be employed for all future such “passing of the bucks,” so to speak.

The Executive Board and I also gave a nod to the past with reestablishment of the OSPA Historian position, now held by Mr. Erich Merkle. Among other projects, Mr. Merkle will facilitate the archiving of OSPA’s records with the Archives of the History of American Psychology at The University of Akron (www.uakron.edu/ahap). As part of this process, all available issues of The Ohio School Psychologist will be digitized and placed in a searchable database. Most importantly, our founding documents, the contributions of our predecessors, and the work of current members will be archived for all posterity and our storied history will not be lost.

But most of the time, as healthy people and organizations do, we lived in the moment. Together we revised the Executive Board’s meeting procedures, revised the Operations Manual, and streamlined the organizational structure from 17 committees of various levels of (in)activity to 9 committees that are, or will very soon be, functioning effectively. Our Wine and Cheese Committee Reception at the Fall Conference was a huge success. The Crisis Committee alone, chaired by Mr. Brian Hill, signed on 22 new members! By the way, the Fall Conference, coordinated by Jay Bahnsen and Sue Johnson, set an all-time OSPA conference attendance record and many late registrants unfortunately had to be turned away. Finally, as you see immediately before you, got a new editor in Dr. Robert Kubick. The new format and increase in both content and features have been met with universal accolades.

As I reflect on all of this I can’t help but think “Wow, what a year it has been!” I’m actually more reluctant to vacate this office than I was when I considered running for it. I’ll be forever grateful for my wife Jamie’s support in not letting me back down from the challenge. It has been such an honor and pleasure to serve this anization. My only consolation comes from being able to turn over the reins to my highly competent and worthy successor, Dr. Linda Neiheiser—who will no doubt maintain (or much more likely, increase) the momentum generated this year. I want to thank each of you for your support and encouragement. But most importantly, I’d like to thank each of you for all the good that you do day in and day out for the children and families of Ohio. Keep up the good work.
Terry