For those of you that know me or who have been following along for some time now, you know that I went back to school to obtain my license to practice school psychology. Because it is a respecialization program – specifically for individuals who are working full time in the field in some capacity – we are responsible for figuring out our own practicum and internship experiences.

The full-time track for this program is two years long. Which means you get that first summer quarter under your belt and then BAM! Time for practicum.

Just for context, during the first year of this program, you’ll do coursework and ALSO work on gaining exposure in the field through practicum. It is expected that we should have 320 hours of practicum experience before the school year is over. And then, the following year, is our internship year. We are not supposed to also be working full time as the internship will be our full-time job.

Anyway, Ankur and I were still living in Harrogate while I was frantically trying to find a practicum supervisor. Everyone in my program is also working full-time (e.g. SpED teachers, speech therapists, counselors, behavior specialists) and most of them had found a supervisor in their building or, at the very least, within their school district.

So, back in April/May – when I knew where I’d be working in Knoxville – I started reaching out to the Director of SpED and the Director of Psych Services to see if they could help me find a practicum supervisor.

Of course, there were initial concerns that this would impact my “day job” as a SpED teacher and there couldn’t possibly be a way that I could do both simultaneously. (This county is used to people coming in for their practicum experience from a local university. Practicum students who aren’t, also, working full time).

That was in May.

I was able to get someone on the phone back in May. She expressed her concerns and I directed her to my program director at the university. Suggesting that they talk it over.

A few days went by and I didn’t hear from her. “The end of the year can be crazy,” I thought. Maybe I’ll give it a week.

I contacted her a week later, only to be met with her secretary who said she’d pass along the message. Another week went by and nothing.

I sent e-mails. Made phone calls. I went down the list of school psychologists in the county and started reaching out to individual people just to gauge their interest. I did everything I possibly could to try to get someone to work with me to help me figure out a way I could do both things.

Then it was August. Still no practicum supervisor and still trying to connect with this lady who wasn’t getting back to me. I was beginning to think she was intentionally ignoring me because she didn’t have an answer.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have the time to chase her down because school had started and, if you remember my posts from August/September, I was D-R-O-W-N-I-N-G. There were many days that I felt like I bit off more than I could chew. I had no idea that my job would be so demanding and overwhelming. And, had I known, I may have considered going back to school at a later time. So, I just let it go. I let my program director at EWU take the reins and told myself that if I couldn’t complete my practicum this year, it would be OK and that it would all work out the way it was supposed to. I just had to focus on the kids in front of me and there was very little energy left – at the end of my day – to try to chase people down.

On October 26th, I had a Zoom meeting with my university supervisor and my program director to discuss my practicum options. My program director had been trying to work with my county and the Board of Directors here to develop a Memorandum of Understanding so my university could partner with my county and take me on as a practicum student. But we were halfway through the fall quarter and I hadn’t heard any new information. So, I just assumed it wasn’t going to work out. I felt a pit in my stomach as I sat down in front of my computer, preparing to hear them tell me that I’d have to postpone practicum until next year and it would take me an additional year to complete the program.

When I logged into the chat, my program director began talking and explained what had transpired over the past few weeks.

“Well, you’re definitely NOT going to be able to get your practicum hours in with your current district,” she stated confidently.

I must have appeared confused because she immediately followed it up with, “Yeah, it’s not going to work out. Essentially there is a line in our paperwork that states that our university protects the rights of the LGBTQ+ population. The Board of Directors in your county has stated that this is not a federal requirement and the only way they’re going to sign off on the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] is if we remove that line.But that’s just not an option for us so we’re going to have to figure out another way around this.”

My jaw dropped.

I mean, I know Tennessee might not be one of the most progressive states. But when you imagine a group of people sitting around a conference table discussing school-aged students, you don’t imagine them saying that 16-year old Kayla shouldn’t feel safe or protected because she is a transgender student.

I guess I’m naive to think that kids are the exception.

I couldn’t believe it and I could feel my body tense up as she was explaining the back-and-forth. To this day, I still feel my blood boil when I think about why it didn’t work out with my county.

Don’t get me wrong – I work with some level-headed, compassionate, progressive educators. But evidently, our hands are tied when the tippy-top believes that all students aren’t entitled to the same protections.

Now you can see why I feel so strongly about my internship placement for this upcoming year.

Anyway, long story short, they gave me a ton of suggestions – one of which was to reach out to smaller districts that would allow me to complete my practicum experience without necessarily having to sign an MOU.

Fortunately for me, I was able to partner with a smaller neighboring school district and complete all the required hours.

It feels all-the-more urgent to complete this program and be in a position where I can, hopefully, contribute to systemic change.

We need to boot out these narrow-minded people from our conference rooms and recalibrate the education system. Creating safe and empowering spaces for LGBTQ and gender-diverse students.

I’m happy to be shifting into a role that will allow me to do this. While gaining experience from those who do this work every day.