SPSA Newsletter

FALL 2011 CSULB

Alex Speaks: A Message From Our Fearless Leader
Hi everyone! Hope that your semester is off to a great start. Welcome
to all of the first-year students, you’ve made a great decision to come to
CSULB for your School Psychology program. I remember the over-
whelming feelings from the first few weeks of class….don’t forget to
take advantage of all the support there is for you (advisors, mentors, and
each other). To the second and third-year students, I hope that you all
have been having great experiences with your fieldwork so far.
SPSA is here to provide opportunities beyond the classroom for your
professional and personal development, so I strongly encourage you all
to become involved. Throughout the year we’ll be putting on events to
provide you with the opportunity to be involved and make connections
with students in the other cohorts. These events include guest speakers,
socials, philanthropic events, fundraisers, the annual holiday party, the
intern/practicum meeting in the spring, and an end of the year BBQ. In
addition, we have monthly meetings to discuss upcoming events, and
everyone is invited to these meetings to share their input on upcoming
events.
For the most up-to-date information on upcoming events you can look on our website,
csulbspsa.weebly.com, or on our Facebook page (CSU Long Beach – School Psychology Student Associa-
tion). You’ll also receive email updates throughout the year.
Everyone involved in SPSA wants to make sure that the events
we have are beneficial to everyone, if you have any questions or Inside This Issue
feedback, please don’t hesitate to email me at
Meet Your Board 2
aleonard06@gmail.com
I am looking forward to getting to know all of you this year! 1st Year Welcome 2
Hope you all have a great semester! Where are they now? 3
Alex Leonard
Tips from the grads 3
SPSA President
Important Deadlines 4
Upcoming Events 4
Congratulations Mary Quick & Meg Linn Back-2-School Social 5
Mary Quick and Meg Linn will both be presenting at NASP, which
is to be held in Philadelphia, PA, on February 21st-24th, 2012.
NASP/CASP info 5
Meg’s project comes from the research grant at Franklin Classical All About Brenda 5
Middle School, focusing on the implementation of the mentoring
program “Check and Connect.” Mary is looking at CBM progress
Surviving Black Friday 5
monitoring for at-risk algebra students at the high school level.
Great work, both of you!
 Mary Quick Tamara Teffeteller

Vice President

Secretary/Web
Alex Leonard
President
Meg Linn Jamie Meacham
Treasurer

Philanthropy Chair
Nitika Batra Jessika Rowley
Membership Chair

Social/Mentorship
Katie Pettersen Brenda Camarena Veronique McCarthy
1st year Rep.
Publicity Chair

1st year Rep.

Jose Arias Mashid Haghighi Katie Pettersen

Tiffany Beattie Jose Jaramillo Rebeca Ruiz
Brenda Camarena Debbie Kim Francesca Ryon
Gabby Contreras Ashley Laucis Charlotte Stute
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Megan Curtis Pamela Lin Brittany Williams

Natali Gonzalez Veronique McCarthy Lindsay Wilson
Alecia Gross Fatemah Mithani
 Bonnie Aquinaga - Did Comps; works as a school psychologist at Oka
Elementary School in Fountain Valley School District, and as the district Pre-
school Psychologist for Huntington Beach City School District!
Jamie Bye - Did Comps; works part-time for both the LACOE Head Start
Division and Monrovia Unified School District. At LACOE she is a lead
school psychologist for both pre-academic and social/emotional support
for students; in Monrovia, she is a school psychologist working in both ele-
mentary and preschool settings.
Kara Evans - Did Comps; works as a RtI school psychologist at both Can-
yon View Elementary and University Park Elementary in Irvine Unified
School District.
Arpita Mandal - Did Comps; works as a full-time school psychologist at
El Rancho Charter School in Orange Unified School District.
Pamela McQueen - Did Thesis; plans on getting involved in the interna-
tional school in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where she moved last month.
Samantha Milner - Did Comps; works as a school psychologist at Lin-
coln, Laurel Wood, El Gabilan and the preschool of Salinas City Elementary
School District.
Barbara Monaghen - Did Comps; is in her 2nd year at the University of
Minnesota’s school psychology Ph.D program. She is working as assistant
project coordinator for a project called “Formative Assessment Instrumen-
tation & Procedures,” and is currently doing her dissertation .

―Give yourself varying experiences during practicum &
internship—work with at least two different districts over
those 2 years so you have knowledge & experience with
what different districts expect from their psychs.‖
―Get to know people you work with & show them what
unique skills you bring to the table. Also, build relation-
ships with people you work with, as many job offers will
come from people within your network.‖
―Invest all you can in CSULB’s program & in your practi-
cum/internship experiences. Relax & feel confident in
your knowledge & skills because you will get a job :)‖
―Use faculty’s knowledge & expertise to get feedback on
your work, especially report writing. Focus on growing as
a school psych, not as much on grades. Present at NASP if
you can‖
―Take advantage of every professional development oppor-
tunity & make of the most of your practicum/internship.
Challenge yourself by seeking out & taking as many varied
tasks/responsibilities as possible. It will all come up when
you’re on your own & you want some knowledge to pull
from. Stretch yourself & your time as much as possible;
always think about what will make you more marketable
when finding a job.‖
―Gain experience with different populations (ED, Autism,
etc), create a specialization for yourself if possible, and
don’t be afraid to make mistakes.‖
―I wish I had known the importance of being bilingual.
Many job openings this school year required applicants to
be bilingual (English/Spanish).‖
Page 3
 Important Upcoming*Events!
Deadlines
Make sure you are staying on top of the docs you
need to have filed for the program & credential!
October
Year one  3rd
3rd--NASP Convention Registration
Registration--Check online
Nov.1st to sign up for Volunteer passes (more
 November 23rd—Calyx Memo must be submit- info on Page 5)
ted to your advisor for approval before Thanks-
giving holiday. Advisors will review Memo & ad-  26th
26th--COESA Fall Mixer
Mixer,, 11am
11am--2:30pm, Loca-
dress any concerns/questions tion TBD
TBD——Free food, drinks, great way to pro-
 December 16th—Obtain Certificate of Clear- mote the School Psych program to undergrads.
ance (Click Livescan for more info) Contact Veronique McCarthy if you’re interested
 March 1st—Thesis Application Deadline for in helping with tabling.
Summer & Fall enrollment in Thesis classes

November
 March 1st—Comprehensive Exam Application
Deadline for Summer & Fall enrollment
 March/April—Begin looking for practica site &
call districts to obtain applications 19th
 19th--Fall Philanthropy Event with Basket Bri-
 May 18th—Open Credential File at the Creden- gade
gade——Volunteer Shifts: 8am
8am--1pm & 10am
10am--3pm
tial Center—ED1 - Room 42 (or all day). Both shifts get to deliver baskets of
 Advancement to Candidacy—Recommended food to families in need. Check your inbox soon
to be done one semester prior to applying for for upcoming emails, or contact Jamie
Comps & immediately after all requirements Meacham
Meacham..
have been met. Requirements: All prereqs com-
pleted & 6 units of the core classes/grad 23rd
 23rd--27th
27th--Thanksgiving Break (No Class!)
courses; passing score of WPE or exemption;
enrollment in at least 1 core course during se- Guest Speaker
 Speaker--Details still in the works, but the
mester of advancement guest will speak on the topic of Autism Identifi-
cation
cation,, so plan on attending this informative and
interesting event!
Year two
 Spring Semester Class registration
registration——Check
 October 1st—Comprehensive Exam Application MyCSULB Student Center for more info.
for Spring Enrollment (taking exam in the
spring)  Fundraising Social —Be on the look
Social— look--out for
 October 1st—Thesis Application Deadline for emails/Facebook events regarding our upcom-
Spring Enrollment in theses courses ing fundraiser dinner, held at a delicious res-
 October 1st—Recommended Request to Gradu- taurant around the LB area!
ate deadline for Spring/Summer graduation
 October 15th—Actual Request to Graduate


deadline for Spring/Summer graduation
February-April—Internship Application Dead-
December
lines; varies by district
 March 1st—Request to Graduate deadline for  12th
12th--16th
16th--Finals
Finals!!
Fall graduation
 Annual Holiday Party
Party--Great way to hang out
and relax with your fellow school psychology
*This should be used as a guide - Please refer to classmates and faculty. More info coming soon!
your student handbook for specific information

Page 4
 Back to School Social NASP Convention
When: February 21-24, 2012

September 29th, 2011 - Tilted Kilt Where: Philadelphia, PA

Who: Meg & Mary will be present-
ing!
How: Register online! Early registra-
tion deadline is Nov. 16. Sign up to
volunteer and get in free! For more
info, Click Here.
Why: Amazing opportunity to see
current research in the field of
school psychology, and meet all the
incredible researchers we read
about!
CASP Conference
When: March 22-23, 2012
Where: Costa Mesa, CA
How: Check out Casponline.org for
more info!
School Psychology students from all three cohorts attended the Back to School Social, the first SPSA event of Why: A great way to learn about
the year, to meet up and have a nice relaxing night of pool, good food, and great company. First year students meeting the social, emotional, &
were lucky enough to chat with the second and third years in attendance, gaining valuable information re- behavioral needs of California’s
garding upcoming program deadlines and what to look forward to. Great work to our Social Chair, Jessika, for students.
helping put on this fun-filled welcome event! This is only the beginning of many more great events to come.

Surviving Black Friday:

5 Tips to get through the shopping rush unscathed!
1.Do Your Homework. Peruse all ads on Thanksgiving Day; mark what
you’re interested in so you know exactly what you’re going for and
where. Pay attention to timelines, too: not all sales last all day.
Brenda’s Cookbook

2.Prioritize. Figure out which purchases are most important to you

and which ones can be pushed to the back burner if necessary.
3.Bring Backup. Great for waiting in long lines, and for splitting up
and covering more ground once you get inside.
Straight from

4.Power up. Pack snacks and fuel up on coffee often. Keep in mind
that your local Starbucks usually opens early on Black Friday.
5.Check your attitude. Black Friday is crazy & intense, but if you’re
not having fun with it, you might as well not go.

Introducing: Brenda
Our Clinic Grad Assistant Extraordinaire!
As many of you are probably
aware, the Community Clinic, lo-
cated in ED-2, recently hired a new
Graduate Assistant, Brenda Cama-
rena. And as I’m sure you’ve al-
ready realized, Brenda is AWE-
SOME!
Brenda is always willing to go the
extra mile to help out the many stu-
dents and faculty who use the
clinic resources, and always with a
smile on her face :)
Thank you Brenda for all your hard-
Page 5

work in making the clinic a great

resource for everyone in the com-
munity!