Alanna Bebech, EdS
School Psychologist
Trumbull County ESC
Northeast Ohio School Psychologists Association (NEOSPA) is the newest OSPA regional association, approved by the OSPA Executive Board at the Winter 2021 Executive Board Meeting. NEOSPA is excited to serve Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning, and Columbiana Counties.
The idea of a new regional association originated from meetings through State Support Team Region 5 (SSTR-5) created just for School Psychologists in the region. Patricia Dreher, SSTR-5 consultant, worked with local School Psychologists to create a region-specific professional development sessions over the last three years. Mrs. Dreher has increased access to ODE initiatives and guidance while providing access to various speakers’ bureaus through State Support Team Region 5.
A regional task force was developed with eight school psychologists representing the four counties that would become the new regional association. The task force worked collaboratively to survey local school psychologists and began to create the framework of the association. The task force was fortunate to have the participation of Staci Direnzo, who previously served as the president of the former North-East Ohio School Psychology Association. She has provided information about the former regional, which served the same area after which the new regional was named. Mrs. Direnzo and Melanie Shipman, the school psychology supervisors at Mahoning County ESC and Trumbull County ESC, respectively, have both been a part of the task force from the beginning, collaborating and connecting the pieces regarding identifying options for physical meeting location spaces and providing speakers with expertise on relevant topics.
The task force has also connected with Dr. Richard VanVoorhis from the School Psychology graduate program at Youngstown State University. This partnership with YSU continues to add stability and access to regional, state, and national speakers. We are also excited to collaborate with YSU to not only recruit student members but to also provide them with the ability to connect with professionals in the field.
The mission and purpose of this new regional association will be to promote professional growth and communication by sharing ideas, methods, and current research in the area of school psychology and related disciplines. Additionally, we will work and support changes in local, state, and federal policy and legislation that are in the best interest of children, their child development and mental health. The overall goal is to provide Mahoning Valley school psychologists with the opportunity to connect with colleagues and form new relationships. There are estimated to be more than 110 school psychologists practicing within the four counties.
We have many exciting plans in the works! The first is providing trainings that are more difficult to find locally; some ideas that have been brought up include ADOS Training, NASP PREPaRE training, and featuring various test publishers with new and/or updated assessments. In addition to providing professional development, we hope to host events for professionals to connect, formally and informally, to continue to build relationships. Another potential future event features an opportunity for all practicum students, school psychology interns, and their supervisors to celebrate the students’ growth at the end of the school year! The task force is working to develop additional ideas, but we are most excited to be able to grow and gain momentum as a new region with all of you!
As we continue to kick off the creation of this regional association, please consider joining NEOSPA and running for office including: President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary, OSPA Representative, or Public Relations Chair! In order to have a seat on the OSPA Executive Board, the region must have at least 10 members who are also voting members of OSPA. We would love to benefit from your knowledge and expertise as we continue to develop NEOSPA. If you are interested in joining or running for office, please email neohiospa@gmail.com