Juliette Madigan, MEd
Scholarship Co-Chair
School Psychologist
Alanna Bebech, EdS
Scholarship Co-Chair
School Psychologist
Trumbull County ESC
Which came first the Scholarship or the Raffle? The Raffle of course! Without the Raffle there would be no Scholarship Fund.
OSPA began holding the Scholarship Raffle in 2000 to raise funds for what today is the Valorie Wolcott Mendelson OSPA Scholarship(s). You, as members have contributed to the scholarship fund over the past 22 years so that this year we are able to recognize our 21st recipient.
Let me introduce to you our newest scholarship recipient: Angela Kladias. Angela is a graduate of Otterbein University and is currently a second year graduate student at the University of Dayton. She is the current President of SPUD (School Psychologists of the University of Dayton). Angela is also an active member in our FSPO group and a student member of NASP.
Angela has brought a rich background to her studies at Dayton. Angela has worked as a Mental Health Specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Dayton where she worked in the Child Inpatient Psychiatric Unit providing support and therapy to children in that setting.
Angela has done a practicum at Centerville City Schools working with Brianna Sarr-Kermon, School Psychologist there. Ms. Sarr-Kerman said of Angela: “Angela’s prior experience as a Mental Health Specialist allowed her to bring new insights to teams working through student social, emotional and behavioral needs and provide another lens on student behavior in the school setting. She is smart, organized and thinks on her feet.”
Currently she is a Graduate Assistant working in the Brain Health Collaboratory at Dayton with Dr. Susan Davies. Dr. Davies reports that Angela is an integral part of the Brain Health Collaboratory (BHC). The mission of the BHC is to be a dynamic research community that advances brain health. It’s a transdisciplinary research that leads to improved prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of neurological issues. Dr. Davies says: “Angela has been a vital part of this group, designing its website, leading a substantial asset mapping project for TBI resources in the Greater Dayton area.”
Dr. Elana Bernstein has said that Angela is thoughtful and insightful in her contributions and remains calm in chaos . Her work is of the highest quality. Dr. Bernstein also said: “ after the past two years of challenging work amidst the pandemic, Angela was a bright light of energy week after week for me this past school year. When I was stressed or overwhelmed, she was a reliable source of calm.”
Congratulations Angela Kladias on receiving the VWM OSPA Scholarship this year; we know that you will be a bright light of energy in the future as well.
This year the scholarship committee met with a new challenge. We had selected our second recipient for the award; however, because of overwhelming financial constraints, that applicant felt the need to return the scholarship and withdraw from the school psychology program. Since the award had already taken place, the committee decided that no other action would be taken this year. Next year, we will again offer two scholarships.