Vision in Action

A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a white shirt, sitting at a desk examining a laptop, with a serious or concerned expression, near a window with green trees outside.

Meet Maria

Maria is 16 years old and about to start her junior year at a public high school in Chicago. She is the daughter of two parents raised in Portugal, she has an older sister, and participates in the Read to Lead program that supports local schools by tutoring elementary students.

As she considers her next steps after high school she thinks about her family - her father works in construction, her mother works as a nurse, her uncle owns a local coffee shop, and her cousin just started a job as a teacher. Sara would like to attend college yet isn’t sure how to choose a school or major. 

Maria took a psychology class in high school and enjoyed learning about how feelings and behaviors impact our decisions and life. She considers exploring psychology programs for college but doesn’t know what careers could be options if she pursues this pathway.

Front view of Provincetown High School building with brick facade, four large windows on each side, stone steps leading to a wooden door, three large columns, a clock on top, and trees partly framing the building.

Career & Community Connect

Maria and 15 classmates go to the NASP conference where they meet other teachers and students from around the city. They learn that school psychologists combine the work of a detective and a counselor.  In small groups they engage in a role-play activity where students are either a psychologist, teacher, or parent and discuss support a student may need to find success in school. After making some decisions based on the provided information, the group gets an update card on the students and discusses next steps. Each group then shares their approach, the outcome, and what they learned with the other teams.

Students then attend 2 of 4 optional breakout sessions held by different host organizations and lastly arrive on the conference floor to visit pre-identified booths to engage with professionals in this field.

All students leave with a handout that includes key skills for this career path, names of colleges and universities that offer strong childhood psychology programs, and ways to get involved while in high school. 

Group of students collaborating at a table with colorful sticky notes and markers, engaging in a team activity or discussion.

An Industry with Need

Education is a sector with a massive pipeline problem, 50% of schools - up 5%  from 2023 - report feeling understaffed. There is a massive teacher shortage and  many non-teaching roles are also hard to fill including guidance counselors, classroom aides, and mental health professionals.

Education organizations and school districts are aware of these gaps but do not have a strategy for getting more people interested in this career path.

The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has an annual conference in Chicago this year. A teacher asks Maria if she would like to attend a field trip that NASP is hosting.

A person's hand with red nail polish and a ring is writing on a pink sticky note with a black pen on a planner page labeled by days of the week, next to a laptop and various office supplies on a white desk.

Impact

Maria leaves this day excited about this career path, she sees connections between her tutoring work with Read to Lead and her psychology class. She begins working with her club sponsor and psychology teacher to build engaging activities to boost students' confidence during their tutoring workshops. She also learns that two midwest colleges - University of Michigan and University of Minnesota have very strong child psychology programs and is planning to apply next year. 


NASP has a list of students who are eager to learn more about this career path, they also share the stories of how this supported the community and local students, like Maria, on their social media to market this career path even further. Many of the exhibitors and presenting organizations are excited about supporting more youth to enter the field and are eager to become sponsors at the next NASP conference.