Aloha Notes: My career as a School Psychologist in Hawaii

IEP meetings stressing you out? Try dancing... http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/04/dance.aspx Trust me. It's research based. :) KT

Hi there!! So, February has been one interesting month so far. Between the food fight at Kaiser High School (which by the way, was reported on the local and national news! see below) and the helicopter landing at Koko Head , my complex has kept me on my toes.------------------------- Planned food fight sends spaghetti flying at Kaiser High - Hawaii News Now 2/8/11: At Kaiser, a planned food fight left the cafeteria a mess and administrators on a mission to find out who was behind the chaos. The high school students may not even realize or appreciate that they have one of the only air conditioned cafeterias in the state.  The 1,100 students had to eat lunch outside for the rest of the week. Principal John Sosa sent the following letter home to parents informing them of the incident and pledging to track down who was involved: February 8, 2011 Kaiser High School Students, Parents, Staff  ------------------------- This letter is to inform everyone that there was ...

Applying for a position in Hawaii: I had applied in November of 2008, waited patiently for confirmation of my online application, and after months of not hearing anything, I began to call human resources to see if they had received my application and when they would let me know if they would consider me for the position.  Interviewing  It was June, 2009 when I received an email stating that I would have an opportunity to interview with Honolulu School District . ((GASP))) I was finishing up a horrific year of interning, waiting on my PRAXIS results, wrapping up my Masters Thesis paper, applying for positions, and preparing myself for interviews. In the next two couple weeks I would receive more emails  other school districts within Hawaii Department of Education  for interviews.  California and Hawaii- Interviewing differences . California  Black suit, hair done, nervous smile, sat at the end of a long table with eight ver...

I had no idea what a complex school psychologist meant or how it would be different than my training in California...but it's really not as "complex" as you may think.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- District:  The statewide school system is divided into seven administrative districts, including Oahu’s Honolulu, Central, Leeward and Windward districts; the Big Island’s Hawaii district; Maui District has Maui, Molokai and Lanai; and the Kauai district. Within each district, smaller areas are divided into 'complex' areas, based on the high schools and all the feeder schools .  Honolulu School District:  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Complex:  The complex I work in is called Kaiser Complex and is in the East side of Oahu. There are four elemen...

Beginning my career as a School Psychologist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will never forget the feeling I had walking off that plane last year. It was a Thursday in late July, 2009 and I was terrified, excited, and well...lost (in more ways than one ).  I didn't know one person in Hawaii, only friends of friends.  I got off the plane with two large suitcases. That's it. No one was there to pick me up or greet me...   I didn't know where I was going to live and was relying entirely on a craigslist.org housing ad for shelter... Honolulu School District introduced me to the "Spirit of Aloha" when they sent Lynette, Honolulu's head School Psychologist. She met me at the airport, helped me with my car rental (my first time EVER renting a car), and then I followed her to the address I had found online (craigslist) to a room I was potentially going to move into.   I was astounded..where else you...