Greetings From Ellen Krumm
New Mexico Delegate - NASP
I consider it a pleasure and honor to serve as the New Mexico delegate and believe that with your continued help and support, we can make a difference for the state of New Mexico. I want to thank all of those who voted for me, and for viewing me as a person who is capable of serving in this role.
As the New Mexico delegate, I want to continue to be an active member of NASP and NMASP and advocate for issues such as cultural sensitive practices. I will continue to submit articles to the New Mexico Review that reflect concerns/issues that are specific to New Mexico and our practice across the nation. I will also strive to keep all NMASP members informed about the latest developments and legislation in our field and hope that NMASP members will inform me regarding their concerns. As an advocate for children, I will continue to support programs that improve the mental health and educational proficiency of all students. Activities such as writing letters to senators and members of congress that support NASP initiatives are effective methods of advocating for students and NMASP members. These are activities that I use and will continue to utilize. Finally, as the state delegate, I will work hard to complete the PREPARE training (train the trainers) as currently; there are no school psychologists in New Mexico who have completed this training. I would also like to help train others who would like to become NASP certified crisis responders. This is a critical issue, as New Mexico needs to be prepared for a variety of possible traumatic events.
Some Updates on NASP and NASP Offerings
There are some exciting new resources available for NASP members that enhance your membership value. The new online NASP Communities provides an opportunity to exchange ideas on a specific topic or get feedback from other NASP members. This resource will allow any NASP member to share and receive ideas and feedback in any of more than 20 relevant areas (www.nasponline.org/communities/default.aspx).
Another member only resource that is now available is the "Best Practices V" Online Resource Center. The resource provides links to related web resources, current research, bibliographies, discussion questions, and more than 30 CPD modules aimed at assisting you in transforming concepts in the book into competencies in your practice. This is an ongoing project (www.nasponline.org/profdevel/cpdmodules/bpfive.aspx).
NASP has also created a resource that allows everyone to become active in promoting diversity awareness and outreach (www.nasponline.org/membership/getinvolved.aspx). You can post a message to the Multicultural online community or submit a convention proposal on a diversity issue. NASP members who are fluent in any language/s other than English can complete an application to be included in the online Directory of Bilingual School Psychologists.
I encourage you to learn about the updates regarding the APA’s proposed model licensure act (www.nasponline.org/publications/cq/mocq366ml.aspx). The APA task force is reviewing the comments received from NASP members and other concerned parties. It is unlikely that there will be any further public action from APA until 2009. APA contends that the Model Licensure Act (MLA) will only change our title but not our practice. NASP disagrees with this and is actively addressing the concern as well as other common misconceptions about the proposed MLA.
Thank you for being a member of NMASP and for all that you do to help teachers, students, and families.