KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

Empowering Children, Educators, and Families

Edna L. Harrison Pioneer Award

The Edna Harrison award is named for one of the founders of KASP in 1964. Later at age 71, Edna Harrison served as the sixth KASP president. Throughout her life, she was well respected for her humanitarian work, her advocacy for children, and for exemplary practice as a school psychologist. She was truly ahead of her time and frequently had to persevere under difficult circumstances. This award helps to address the need to reframe the role of Kansas school psychologists as educational and mental health providers. The awards serves to validate those practitioners who are engaging in innovative health service delivery and working to meet the needs of children with increasingly more diverse and challenging needs.

Recognition as an Edna L. Harrison Pioneer is different and distinct from recognition as the KASP School Psychologist of the Year. The Edna L. Harrison award is designed to recognize many Kansas school psychologists, to help psychologist become more aware of their roles as health care providers, to enable school psychologist to gain knowledge about innovative models currently being implemented in the state, and to encourage school psychologists to be more proactive regarding children’s needs and school psychological services in their local communities.

Nominees should be individuals utilizing a form of alternative or innovative service delivery, which emphasizes health/wellness intervention and prevention. Some examples include: divorce recovery, community presentations on wellness issues, parenting strategies training, collaborative activities with other disciplines or crisis intervention programs, team leadership, work with legislators, parent/community groups, or newspaper articles on “kid-oriented” issues.

The Edna L. Harrison Pioneer Award will be given to individuals whose delivery of health services is outstanding. The criteria for selection as an Edna L. Harrison Pioneer include: degree of innovation, amount of positive impact on outcomes for all students, amount of positive impact on outcomes for at-risk students or students with diverse needs, number of student affected, amount of impact on systems change, and special recognition of success against all odds or perseverance in a hostile system. The award selection committee will select the award winner(s) and present the candidates to the KASP executive board for approval. One person from each of the four regions could be awarded this honor each year.

Any KASP member may nominate his/her self or another school psychologist for this award. A nomination form must be completed (see attached).

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