Presidential Perspective 

Greetings ISPA Colleagues,

As we close out the calendar year 2025 and enter the winter holiday season, I continue to have hope in the power we as school psychologists have in making a difference for our students, families, schools and communities where we work and serve. I am grateful for the resiliency shown by all of you in what has been a challenging start to this school year whether you are in a rural, suburban, or urban area.

ISPA’s theme this year is Building Connections, Creating Community. Our goals are for Organizational Excellence and Supports to School Psychologists. These two areas are what guide the activities of the organization. We are seeking to create sustainable practices to ensure the organization is here for future generations of school psychologists, support those in the field and advocate for the needs of our students, families and school communities through the work we do.

The fall was a time of connection with our University Training Programs. Your volunteer board visited 5 of the 9 programs in the state. Visits are typically conducted by the Regional Director (RD) for the area where the university is located and we invite other board members to attend as well if available. Jyoti Kolodjiez, Immediate Past President and former RD2, hosted a brown bag Lunch and Connect with Northern Illinois University (NLU) while Susan Whitney, RD 11, visited Loyola University (LUC) and The Chicago School (TCS) during September and October. In November, visits were held with National Louis University (NLU) by Jim Loerzel, RD 10) and Western Illinois University (WIU) by Kathy Loomos Ostry (ISPA President). A special thank you to our other board members who took time out of their schedules to also attend the university visits: Michael Cermak, Richard Harley, Gabi Garibay, and Gina Robuck. We hope to connect with our other training programs during the spring semester after NASP.

Also during the fall, we hosted our ISPA 2025 Fall Conference, the first in-person since the pandemic. We were excited to have our NASP President, Shawna Rader-Kelly, who provided a keynote at our luncheon (Leading Today, Redefining Tomorrow) and a session on Chronic Absenteeism. She inspired us to harness our work as leaders from the middle and the impact we make in the day-to-day work we do in our settings. In addition to having phenomenal speakers, we got the chance to reconnect with colleagues and share our challenges and successes in the field. It was wonderful to meet our early career psychologists who have such enthusiasm for their new profession and are the future leaders of ISPA. The energy at the conference was a reminder of why ISPA exists. We strive to foster community, support growth and strengthen our collective impact.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge those individuals who make the magic happen at Fall Conference. I’d like to highlight the work of the Convention Committee (Shirley Pitts, Kathy Martin, Anthony Adamowski) for continuing to bring us high quality, low cost professional development with speakers that are nationally known and sought after to present. Additionally, the work of the Professional Standards Co-Chairs, Carla Ordonez and Mary Satchwell, are the reason we are able to provide the continuing education that we need for our license renewal. This committee works behind the scenes to submit the required paperwork to ISBE and IDFPR needed for you to obtain your continuing education credits. While NASP cannot provide ISBE-approved professional development hours, ISPA continues to provide both ISBE and NASP-approved continuing education. Because of the work of the Professional Standards committee, we are also able to offer continuing education credits to our allied professions such as social workers, counselors and clinical psychologists.

At the fall conference, we hosted our first Coffee and Connect Raffle with two ISPA Members (LaTisha Smith and Mallory Miller) being the recipients of a $20 coffee gift card to take a practicum student, intern or colleague to coffee. (Hoping to see pictures soon of their coffee connection). We rolled out our ISPA StoryCorp initiative to capture the voices of school psychologists and the recordings will be stored in the Library of Congress. Many thanks to Kaysa Pelofske, member and BPD Co-Chair, for having the vision, presenting the idea to the board and undertaking this project. We will continue this initiative at our Winter Convention (Jan. 15-16, 2026). Come ready to share a 30-180 second recording to answer the question: How has a connection helped to build community in your school psychology life?

This fall has also increased the deep challenges many of you face daily. Across Illinois, we have seen the impact of shortages, caseloads rising, increased social-emotional needs among students as well as community stressors such as the impact of funding cuts to education and the immigrant enforcement which adds to the complexity of our work.

The struggle is real and I know that many of you are stretched thin. Yet, as I connected with students at our university training programs and practitioners at our fall conference, I’ve seen the passion you have for making a positive difference for the individuals you serve. It gives me hope to see how you have adapted, advocated and held space for students in need. Your commitment to equity, well-being and access for all is a powerful testament to the importance of our profession.

As we look ahead to 2026, we have a number of exciting events on the horizon. To kick off our year of connections and community, in January, we will be at the Embassy Suites - East Peoria for our Job Fair and Winter Convention and in February you are invited to the largest gathering of school psychologists across the country in Chicago.

The Job Fair (January 14) event is open to all.. This event offers individuals looking for internships or considering a career move to access recruiters from across the state as well as surrounding states that are seeking to fill vacancies. Our in-person event offers you the chance to make a face-to-face connection and impression with those hiring school psychologists. Immediately following the Job Fair, we will be hosting a special pre-conference session as well as the ISPA Governing Board meeting that evening.

Our Winter Convention (Jan 15-16) provides you with the opportunity for you to get professional development aligned with your role as a school psychologist in Illinois. Not only do you get the chance to learn from nationally-renown speakers but you also get to connect with your colleagues from across the state. During the conference, we will be hosting our Poster Session, our All Association Party including School Psych Bingo and Trivia, School Psych Pals initiative, Awards Ceremony and annual Business Meeting. Come ready to learn and connect!

Following this, in February, NASP (Feb 24-27) is coming to Chicago and will give you a chance to engage with colleagues from across the country and raise the visibility of our profession in Illinois.

Many thanks in advance to our Professional Standards Committee who has already begun working on the paperwork and materials needed to provide you with your continuing education credits for the Winter Convention and NASP.

What can you do as a member of ISPA? We are only as strong as our members and your membership matters and is the reason we can provide relevant professional development, advocate at the state level collectively and support each other.

I encourage you to share your stories. Our Communications Committee (Brian Apollo and Sanita Saengvilay) are continuously seeking content for our monthly ISPA Now and quarterly School Psychology in Illinois (SPII). Perhaps your a practitioner and have a success, a challenge or a creative way of supporting students…perhaps you are a graduate student and did a project or reviewed and article for your class that would benefit the greater school psychology community in Illinois…perhaps your a graduate educator and want to share the research you are doing…we’d love to publish you.

Consider joining or leading one of our committees or workgroups. We want to offer our members peer support and a sense of community during these challenging times so you can continue to have hope and be energized in the work you do.
Be an advocate locally. Share with your district leadership, school boards and community partners the importance of school psychologists and not just for assessments but the broad training and skills we have around mental health supports, prevention, and student well-being.

The work we do is never-ending. Remember your self-care and peer care. If you are feeling overwhelmed, connect with a colleague, use ISPA and NASP resources and consider peer-support. Did you know we have a mentorship program through our Career Services Committee and your participation as a mentee or mentor provides professional development credits?

In closing, thank you! Thank you for showing up, even when it’s hard. Thank you for advocating, supporting and believing in the power of school psychology. As your ISPA president, I am honored to represent you and advocate for your needs so you can continue to do the really important work that you do every day - making a difference in the lives of students, families and communities across the state of Illinois.

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and looking forward to seeing you in 2026.

Kind regards,

Kathy

Kathleen Loomos Ostry, Ph.D.
President, Illinois School Psychologist Association