Conference Speakers and Presentation Material
School Safety & Threat Assessment
Joe Wright is the Director of Security for LPS. Joe is responsible for leading the district’s safety and security to create safe evironments in all district buildings. In 2013, Joe created a threat assessment program for the district aimed specifically at violence prevention. He is an ATAP Certified Threat Manager (CTM). Prior to his work at LPS, Joe served the City of Lincoln as a police officer retiring at the rank of captain. At the request of the University of Nebraska’s Public Policy Center, Joe created a training for Nebraska law enforcement: Behavioral Threat Assessment (BETA), which is still in use today.
Allyson Headrick is a LMHP and CMSW on the LPS Threat Assessment Team. She received her Bachelor's Degree UNL and her Master's Degree from UNO. In her role as Safety Social Worker, she is primarily responsible for management and monitoring of threat assessment cases in the district, which entails psychosocial evaluation of student risk and safety, developing mitigation strategies for reducing risk, and facilitating psychosocial interventions to enhance the monitoring of safety concerns. Allyson also provides consultation for student safety planning and collaborates with district leaders to align interventions with MTSS.
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Joe Wright
Director of Security for Lincoln Public Schools
School Safety and Threat Assessment.pdf
Allyson Headrick
Safety Social Worker for Lincoln Public Schools
School Nursing Advocacy 6_2023.pptx.pdfSchool Nurse Advocacy
Robin Cogan, New Jersey School Nurse and author of The Relentless School Nurse. Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN, FNASN, FAAN is a Nationally Certified School Nurse, currently in her 22nd year as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. Robin is the NASN Director for New Jersey State School Nurses Association. She is proud to be a Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellow and past program mentor. Robin is the honored recipient of multiple awards for her work in school nursing and population health. She serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing. Robin writes a popular blog called The Relentless School Nurse. Her extensive work in school nursing was included as a case study in the National Academies of Medicine Future of Nursing 2030 report. You can follow Robin on Twitter at @RobinCogan. Robin will be presenting virtually on Tuesday afternoon on a topic she is very passionate about: School Nurse Advocacy.
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Project Adam
Dr. Matt Sorensen is one of the new Cardiologists at Children’s. He is originally from Utah where he completed his degree in biomedical engineering and attended medical school at the University of Utah. Since then, he has completed his training circuit in the Southern United States including Dallas Texas for Pediatrics Residency, Atlanta Georgia for Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship and Nashville Tennessee for Electrophysiology. He joined the Criss Heart Center in 2021 as the third Electrophysiologist in our growing group of cardiologists. Matt enjoys being at the forefront of new medical technologies particularly in their application for our pediatric heart patients. He is the Medical Director of our local chapter of the National “Project ADAM” Organization, and is passionate about helping schools across Nebraska to prepare for cardiac emergencies.
Kim Castellano is the Coordinator of Project ADAM for Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. In her current role, she is initiating the program within the state of Nebraska. Mrs. Castellano’s passion for the organization stems from her own personal journey with congenital heart disease. At the age of three, Kim was the first child in Nebraska and third in the nation to have a pacemaker implanted. After nearly 30 pacemaker and lead replacement surgeries, she defied the odds, grew up and served as a teacher and building administrator for over 33 years. She recently joined the Criss Heart Center team to support Cardiology and the Transplant Program.
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Is Your School Heart Safe-NE School Nurse Association.pptx.pdf
Dr. Matthew Sorensen
Pediatric Cardiologist, Children's Hospital and Medical Center
Kim Castellano, Senior Administrative Assistant and Project Adam Coordinator for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center
Trauma & Resilience
Espen Schofield-Smith (They/Them) is the Trauma Matters Omaha Coordinator through Project Harmony. They have been in the social work field for the past 8 years, and have experience working in emergency shelters for children, treatment facilities for people recovering from co-occurring substance use disorders, case management in child welfare, as well as helping children and their families gain access to quality mental health therapy through the Connections Program. Espen joined the training department at the beginning of October 2021, and enjoys using their past experiences to help others who are working with people who have experienced trauma.
504, IHPs, IEPs
Amy Rhone is the State Director of The Nebraska Department of Education, Office of Special Education, Amy’s primary role is to provide leadership, coordination, and oversight to The Office of Special Education Team. This includes, but is not limited to general supervision, accountability, administrative duties, fiscal and data management, assessment, dispute resolution, and professional learning opportunities to the NDE team, districts, and parents, and families within the state. One of her main roles includes the oversight of the Nebraska Administrative Code specific to Special Education and Federal Regulation compliance. Additionally, Amy oversees the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B – school age, Part C – Birth to age three programs and services, and Parent/Family advocacy and support. This includes the supervision of team members in the development of programmatic support, compliance and monitoring, related services, and transition coordination to name a few. Within this capacity she also serves as the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) State Lead, providing statewide coordination around development and implementation. Amy has been with the Department of Education since 2015 serving in the role of Assistant Director for three years before being named the Director in March of 2020. Before joining the Special Education Team, Amy served as the Statewide PBIS Director within the Department of Education. Before her roles at the Nebraska Department of Education, Amy was an Administrator of an Elementary School as well as a Local Special Education Director in Arizona.
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Amy Rhone NDE (504, IEP, etc).pptx.pdfSchool Interventions for Anxiety & Depression
Dr. Brenda Leggiadro is School Counseling Supervisor for Omaha Public Schools. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Chadron State College and her PhD is from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to assuming her current role, she served as district supervisor for the school counseling and school social work programs in Lincoln Public Schools and before that was a high school counselor in both rural and urban settings. Brenda believes that school nurses are an essential part of school teams that collaborate to support students.
Megan Lytle has been a school nurse for eight years serving Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is currently a Coordinator for Health Services. Professional interests focus on trauma-informed care, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), social-emotional wellness and student empowerment. In addition, Megan serves as the Technology and Communications Designee for the Nebraska School Nurse Association.
Sara Stoner has been a school nurse with Lincoln Public Schools for 6 years, currently serving Goodrich Middle School and also a team leader. Sara is very involved with MTSS planning and implementation to help create a positive Health Office environment and to support students’ physical and social-emotional needs. Sara has been a member of NASN and NSNA for 6 years. This is the first year she has served on the conference planning committee.
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School Interventions for Anxiety and Depression.pdf
Brenda Leggiadrio
School Counseling Supervisor, Omaha Public Schools
Megan Lytle
Health Services Coordinator, Lincoln Public Schools and Technology & Communication for NSNA
Sara Stoner
School Nurse & Team Leader, Lincoln Public Schools
State Data Team
Andrea Riley is the Nebraska State School Nurse Consultant and the School Health Liaison at Children’s Hospital in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education. Since starting in the fall of 2019, she has worked to engage school nurses in data collection by starting a school nurse data steering committee and publishing 3 school health data reports. Andrea is an Executive Board member of NSNA, a member and past VP of the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants, and member of the American Academy of Pediatric’s Council on School Health. She lives in Lincoln with her husband and two kids, one in elementary and the other in middle school.
Julie Frederick has been a school nurse with Lincoln Public Schools for 21 years. She is currently serving as a Health Services Coordinator. Julie is the NASN State Data Coordinator and enjoys helping school nurses learn how to collect, analyze and use their data to advocate for school nursing. She is also the liaison for NCSN and has been a nationally certified school nurse for 8 years. Julie has been a member of NASN and NSNA for 20 years and is a past president.
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Taking Flight Using School Health Data to Improve Nebraska School Nursing 2023.pdf
Andrea Riley
State School Nurse Consultant and School Health Liaison
Julie Frederick
Health Services Coordinator, Lincoln Public Schools and State Data Coordinator for NSNA
Nebraska School Nurse Pandemic Response.pdfNebraska Student Information Systems.pdf
Pediatric Emergencies
Dr. Ross Mathiasen, is an Emergency Medicine and Sports Medicine Physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He also serves as Chair of the American College of Emergency Physicians Sports Medicine Section and the Nebraska School Activities Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
Emergency Talk 2023.pdfUnderstanding Cultural Perspective
Oscar Rios Pohirieth serves in the capacity of Cultural Specialist and Coordinator for the Bilingual Liaison Program at Lincoln Public Schools, a position that he has held for the past 24 years. During this time, Pohirieth has focused his efforts in providing support and creating programs, through community partnerships, that can support newly arrived immigrant and refugee students and their families as they make Lincoln their new adopted home.
Pohirieth, an immigrant himself, came to the United States 32 years ago and since then, his passion has been creating open lines of communication through cultural connections, partnerships and community collaboration. Pohirieth has served as Chair of Boards of Directors for various community organizations such as The Hispanic Community Center, CLIA (Center for Legal Immigration Assistance), UNL Extension Office, and currently serving as a Chair of the Board of Directors for Nebraska Crossroad Festival. Pohirieth has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the following Organizations: Lied Center for the Performing Arts, Nebraska Human Resources Institute, NAFT (New Americans Task Force), the Mediation Center, E. N. Thompson Forum on World Issues, and the Governor’s Communication Task Force. I have also had the opportunity to serve as the Founding Member for Boy and Girls Club of America Lincoln Chapter and Bluestem Health Clinic formerly known as Peoples Health Center and CLIA.
The main purpose for his volunteered participation in every organization mentioned above has been to give back to a community that opened its harms while welcoming him to his new home. Now it is his turn to serve and welcome immigrant and refugee families as New Americans in the community he serves.
As a Cultural Specialist for LPS, Pohirieth is responsible for helping immigrant and refugee students and families make cultural and personal connections with members of their new adopted community. Pohirieth oversees the Bilingual Liaison program for Lincoln Public Schools and he currently works with 27 Bilingual Liaisons who speak 13 of the major languages spoken in the District.
Bilingual Liaisons serves as a link between the school, families and the community to build communication as an integral part of students' and families' educational process. Liaisons provide cultural and language services through ELL assessment, placement and enrollment and across all LPS department to resolve language and cultural issues. He also works with staff and administration to further engage parents and serves as a cultural ambassador to bring cultural awareness to schools and the district.
Pohirieth's dream is that every child regardless of their ethno-racial and socioeconomic upbringing, will have the opportunity to be seeing and valued as a human person.
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The Immigrant and Refugee Experience.pdf
Poster Presentations
