This year, Hello was thrilled to work with three SLPs during their Clinical Fellowship year – Brianna Brown, Aaron Waxenfelter, and Nina Simons. They each brought professionalism, optimism, and amazing clinical skills to their practice. In fact, it is a little embarrassing to think upon one’s CFY and remember one’s… shall we say… aspiration to be the professionals that these CF’s have exemplified this year. But, I digress! Here’s some background on each CF, and why we are so lucky to have them working with Hello this year.
Brianna started her CF with Hello last March at a high income, well parent-supported school in SW Washington. Sounds nice, right? Well, since September she has worked at probably the most challenging placement one could wish for a CF. Despite a difficult placement, Bri managed to maintain positive relationships with staff, collaborated with parents, and connected with each child to make sure they received the services they needed. We can only imagine how awesome she will be in her next venture!
Aaron, a former special education teacher, is one of the kindest, most patient clinicians in our group – and that’s saying a lot, considering who we are:). He is always prepared with therapy plans that directly target each goal for each student that he sees, and is engaging and fun during therapy. Aaron works at a bilingual immersion school, and has implemented many therapy procedures to target Spanish language and articulation, even though he doesn’t speak Spanish. His modest, low-key personality is calming for students, and they trust him and want to work for him.
Nina has worked at two middle schools this year, not a placement many of us would covet. In her language groups, Nina often facilitates discussion of current novels and articles relevant to adolescents, integrating common core vocabulary into her therapy. She models use of difficult vocabulary using simple terms so the students can apply what they’ve learned to classroom assignments. During a recent session, Nina’s language group was debating the pros and con of video games, developing a “thesis,” “citing evidence,” and “formulating counter arguments.” Ahem, I admit I’m stealing her lesson plan for my high schoolers next week….. 🙂