Farewell letter from past President (pdf)
President's Message
Greetings Fellow NMASPians,
What a wonderful opportunity to come together and increase our knowledge by attending this wonderful conference put together by Martha Gallegos and her team. It offers numerous opportunities to gain knowledge and increase our ability to meet the needs of New Mexico's students.
As you are well aware our profession is facing many challenges. With the tightening of budgets and the increase in student needs, the pressure is rising. BUT we can handle it because we are well trained and constantly improving our skills. Whether you are a school psychologist providing direct therapy or consulation, or an Educational Diagnostician evaluating the needs of students, we are all working to help our students and districts meet AYP. Sometimes I feel we are far removed from this concern, but in all actuality we are one of the groups who need to speak up as we have very specialized training to see the impact these requirements put before special education students. We need to be talking amongst ourselves and working toward a joint voice to share with our district leaders and state leaders. I know many of you are concerned about some of the changes that are taking place. We need to work toward educating educators and administrators in the needs of special education students. We need to help provide solutions to address these needs. I know this has always been our intention and purpose, but with the increased demands being put on students, staff, administrators, districts and the state we need to utilize our special qualities to help reduce stress and move us all forward.
My goals for NMASP in 2010-2011 is to increase our membership, to increase our voice. I want to improve our ability to communicate with one another around the state through website/online communication. I am not a computer wizard so I am looking for someone who can help me with this project. I want to know how we communicate with district and state leaders to provide information and help problem-solve concerns. I can not do any of these alone. I am looking for assistance from our membership.
I want to thank you now for stepping up to the plate and helping NMASP hit it out of the park.
Teresa Nance, PhD
2010-2011 NMASP President