April 18 Webinar to Explore Mental Health Supports for Principals
This article has been updated to reflect new presenter information.
On Wednesday, April 18, AACTE will host a free webinar on principal leadership, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of the Association’s ongoing partnership to disseminate the latest research and practice innovations in principal preparation. Please join us from 3:00-3:45 p.m. EDT for Leveraging Community Resources to Strengthen Clinical Practice: Mental Health Support for School Leaders.
New principals must not only learn to seamlessly integrate curriculum, lead change, and manage personnel; they must also become first responders in times of tragedy and grief counselors, while supporting their own mental health in high-stress jobs. This webinar will discuss –
- Ways principals can lead support efforts for students’ mental health
- How to help teachers who are facing mental health issues
- Strategies for new leaders to support their own mental health
We proudly introduce our presenters:
Barbara Fisher is manager of Employee Assistance Services for Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado. Previously, she was codirector of the Rocky Mountain Marriage and Family Center in Fort Collins, where she supervised therapists; worked with individuals, couples, and families; and provided an Employee Assistance Program for a local company. She has been a professor of graduate education at Colorado State and Purdue universities and served on the national and state boards of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Commission on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy. In her current district, Fisher is part of the employee health and wellness team that focuses on providing integrated care for the physical and mental health of employees and their family members.
Samantha Haviland is director of counseling and college access for the Denver Public Schools (CO). She also serves on the board of the Colorado School Counselor Association and currently teaches school counseling students at the University of Northern Colorado. After completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in counseling and career development, Haviland entered the school counseling field in 2006 and completed a Ph.D. in psychology in 2016. Since 2013, she has directed counseling support services in Denver Public Schools, where she supports approximately 150 individuals trained in mental health, academic, career and college counseling. Haviland’s publications relate to trauma and school safety.
Tarrell Awe Agahe Portman is dean of the College of Education at Winona State University (MN). A licensed mental health counselor, Portman has worked over 30 years in education, with 14 years as a school counselor and teacher in U.S. public schools. She was one of two school counselor educators who served on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ school counseling standards development committee. Portman is an international and national presenter with many professional publications in journals, books, and multimedia. Her research and publications focus on school counseling and counseling issues among American Indians. Currently, Portman is leading the way on transforming teacher education and the construction of the Education Village at Winona State University.
Please register here to join us for the April conversation! You can also view the recordings of our previous webinars in the series here in the AACTE Resource Library. You won’t want to miss the timely content from last month on Partnering with Legal and Social Services, in which presenters Elizabeth Lindley, Jennifer Roth, and Suzanne Reed-Baum shared the importance of developing student relationships to identify needs. This webinar would work well as a discussion tool in principal preparation programs.
You can also mark your calendar or register here for the final webinar in the series:
May 16 at 3:00 EDT
Crisis Management
Tags: AACTE partner organizations, principal preparation
