School psychology has changed over the years, and the Colorado Society of School Psychologists' 2014 School Psychologist of the Year shared just how.

Dr. Andrea Clyne was asked a list of questions in an article on Chalkbeat.org. The first question asks, "Why did you become a school psychologist?"

"I was in my undergrad program at the University of Colorado-Boulder and I was taking a summer seminar course for seniors and a lot of different types of psychologists came in and spoke to our class about careers. When I heard about school psychology I got really excited because I’d never heard of it before," Clyne said. "I’ve always loved children. I found out I could start working with a Master’s degree and I came from some more humble beginnings so the idea of making some money before getting a Ph.D. appealed to me."

The second question was: "What is a typical day like for you?"

"A typical day involves a lot of consultation with kids and with the adults. I work a lot with the counselors and our administrators around system-level things… I consult with them about mental health concerns that students have, talk with them about parents who are needing support," she said. "I work with students individually, with different social concerns… if they’re really struggling in different classes, doing some problem-solving. [With the counselors] we give social-emotional lessons to the entire school in small group assemblies. We do that eight times a year."

Another question was, "What do you see as the biggest challenges that school psychologists face today?"

"We come from very rigorous training programs so we’re prepared as school psychologists, and probably the biggest struggle is just the sheer number of students needing our consultation and our support, and families," Clyne said. "I would love … to be here full time. I would love to also have a social worker here full time because there’s plenty of work for everyone to support students trying to succeed academically and socially. That’s nothing new and that’s not a real easy thing to solve. In terms of the profession, we really have a huge problem, especially in the western states, with shortages of school psychologists."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor