The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools presents the first Signature Event of the 2018-19 academic year, featuring Nancy Gonzales, foundation professor of psychology and dean of natural sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.
Graduate Student Q&A with Cassie Hermiller
Name: Cassie Hermiller
Hometown: Ottawa, Ohio
Program: School Psychology
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: Concussion and mTBI Management Traineeship
What have you been doing with the project?
With the traineeship, I have been learning about various aspects of concussions and accommodations in school for kids with concussions. We visited the Brain Injury Conference in Kearney and spoke with concussion and TBI survivors and other practitioners in the field, and learned what it was like to live or work with survivors.
Graduate Student Q&A with Renata Trefiglio Mendes Gomes
Name: Renata Trefiglio Mendes Gomes
Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil
Program: Early Learning Network
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: My Ph.D. project is “Professores e Pais como Parceiros: A Cross-cultural Adaptation and Implementation Effectiveness of the Teachers and Parents as Partners Program to a Brazilian sample.” As a graduate research assistant, I am supporting both the Early Learning Network and the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research.
Graduate Student Q&A with Megan Conley
Name: Megan Conley
Hometown: Coahoma, Texas
Program: School Psychology
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: Traineeship in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Management
What are you doing with the project?
The goal of the traineeship is to educate future school psychologists about concussions and brain injury, emphasizing how brain injuries — even mild ones, like concussions — can affect student learning. Our goal is to advocate for students who have sustained a brain injury and bring awareness to those working with students, such as teachers, parents and coaches, to ensure a smooth transition back to the classroom.
Graduate Student Q&A with Hannah Scholes
Name: Hannah Scholes
Hometown: Liberty, Missouri
Program: School Psychology
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: Toddlers with Autism
What will you be doing with the project?
I am a trainee at the Autism Care for Toddlers (ACT) Clinic in Omaha. We work on understanding, diagnosing and creating interventions for children with ASD. The goal of the traineeship is to educate more professionals in schools to have knowledge and understanding on diagnosis and interventions for these students.
Graduate Student Q&A with Katelyn Loogman
Name: Katelyn Loogman
Hometown: Kearney, Nebraska
Program: School Psychology
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: School Psychology Specialization in Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
What will you be doing with the project?
I will be learning about the integral role school psychologists play in managing concussions in schools, including involvement in assessing baseline and post-injury functioning, progress-monitoring during recovery and facilitating a safe return to regular activity.
Research aims to battle adolescent bullying, peer threat
Take a moment to recall a particularly overwhelming day.
Morning comes way too early after a restless, worry-fueled night of tossing and turning. A knotted, roiling stomach makes eating breakfast difficult. Deadlines loom, with too much to do in too little time.
Graduate Student Q&A with Wesley Kobashigawa
Name: Wesley Kobashigawa
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Program: Counseling Psychology Ph.D.
Year: First year (just completed)
Project: Building Bridges
What will you be doing with the project?
I help oversee the high school prevention program and provide individual and group counseling for at-risk ninth- and 10th-graders. I also collect pre- and post-treatment data to assess the efficacy of our treatment approach.