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The LINK's purpose is to highlight exciting happenings in SCRED and our member districts, as well as share helpful resources to improve student outcomes. To receive more frequent updates, be sure to follow SCRED on social media.
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Adrianne Blazevic, Special Services Supervisor (Rush City & Pine City Schools)
Education/Training: I am currently working towards my Master's in Educational Leadership and Administration from St. Cloud State University, where I also studied Special Education earning licensure in Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. In addition, I received my graduate certificate from University of St. Thomas in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Professional Experience: I began my educational experience as a volunteer in an ECSE classroom in Cambridge, MN where I fell in love with the profession. Since then, I have worked in many capacities in education including support staff roles, Resource Teacher, Lead Autism Teacher, Special Education Building Lead TOSA, and more recently for the past three years, District Program Facilitator for Minneapolis Public Schools
Goals: I look forward to learning and growing with the spectacular educators and practitioners at SCRED. I can't wait to serve my districts and hope to bring an equity and inclusion lens to partner with schools, leaders, families and students to co-create an equitable educational experience for all.
Fun Fact(s): My husband, son, dog and I just uprooted ourselves from Minneapolis and bought a fixer-upper in Scandia in March that consumes most of our time at the moment. Another fun fact, education is my second career - I used to own and run a small coffee shop in Cambridge, MN called Cafe Caffeine (a lifetime ago!).
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Sarah Hawn, School Psychology Intern
(Rush City Schools)
Education/Training: I graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 2016. I then obtained an M.S. in School Psychology and am currently completing my Ed.S in School Psychology at MSUM, beginning my internship here at SCRED!
Professional Experience: I worked for 2 years as a Direct Support Professional where I assisted children and adults with disabilities in learning new skills and supported them in reaching their goals. More recently, I worked as a teaching assistant for our program and was co-representative at MSUM for the national and state School Psychology organizations.
Goals: I am very excited to be joining the SCRED team and look forward to building positive relationships with both students and staff! I am also looking forward to learning how to be most effective in my role as a school psychologist.
Fun Fact(s): I love hiking and being outdoors. I also have a cat named Karl, named after a famous Timberwolves basketball player!
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Kate Krzenski, Special Services Supervisor (Hinckley-Finlayson & East Central Schools)
Education/Training: I received my B.A.S. in Psychology and Post-Baccalaureate in Special Education (EBD/LD) from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. I received my M.A. with emphasis in Autism from the University of St. Thomas. I am working on my Director of Special Education licenses for UST as well!
Professional Experience: My most recent professional experience is a Program Facilitator at Intermediate School District 916.
Goals: I have a goal to infuse and utilize an equity lens in all decisions that I make, both personal and professional.
Fun Fact(s): I love to ice fish, run marathons, and chase my almost 1 year old around! My husband, who also works for SCRED, and I are passionate about education and have worked together in all 3 school districts throughout our careers!
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Kevin Krzenski, Social Behavior Services Coordinator (RC/PC/HF/EC)
Education/Training: I graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis on Social Studies and Psychology. I earned my Master of Arts degree in Special Education: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders from the University of St. Thomas.
Professional Experience: This is my 9th year in education. Majority of those years were spent working with students with a variety of disabilities and needs within Northeast Metro 916 as a Federal Setting 4 Special Education Teacher and an Instructional Coach across multiple programs supporting Elementary, Secondary, and Transition age students.
Goals: My goals this year are to connect with families and stakeholders in the communities of our students as well as actively support my own community with Social and Emotional Learning needs.
Fun Fact(s): A fun fact about me is that I love to build and create stuff. In fact, my wife and I built our own house (minus a couple of things we aren't licensed to do of course) in Askov, MN!
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Katie Langer, School Psychologist
(NBAMS & NBAEC)
Education/Training: I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the College of Saint Benedict in 2018. I earned my Master's and Specialist degrees in School Psychology through Minnesota State University - Moorhead.
Professional Experience: I completed my internship year at Cambridge-Isanti Schools where I served Early Childhood-8th grade. In graduate school I worked as a school psychology teaching assistant and was Vice President of our university's school psychology organization. My research in graduate school focused on early mathematics instruction.
Goals: I am so excited for the opportunity to build relationships with students, staff and families at my buildings as we start fresh after a school year like no other.
Fun Fact: My "summer gig" for the last 7 years has been teaching the percussion section at Minnetonka High School's Marching Band. I've been involved in music, in some capacity, for most of my life and I love being able to continue to make it part of my life and play a part in helping my students to be the best musicians and people they can be.
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Katy Nasvik, Braillist/Vision Support Specialist
Education/Training: I received my degree from Inver Hills Community College. This past year I have been taking online courses to become certified as a Braille Transcriber.
Professional Experience: For the past 8 years I have been a Reading and Math Interventionist at Chisago Lakes Primary School. I worked with Kindergarten students mostly, but also had several 1st grade student groups as well.
Goals: My goals are to continue working towards my certification and gain more experience and education on how to best serve the student(s) I work with.
Fun Fact: I am a "foodie"! I love trying new foods especially when traveling to different places!
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Emma Perreira, School Psychology Intern
(CLHS & TRIO Wolf Creek Online HS)
Education/Training: I graduated from Drake University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. I completed my Master of Science in Education in 2020 and will complete my Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology in 2021 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Professional Experience: As an undergraduate, I worked at a behavior clinic and assisted in ABA sessions. After graduating, I worked as a special education paraprofessional in elementary and middle schools. This past year, I had school psychology practicum placements in Minneapolis Public Schools, Intermediate School District 917, and Independent School District 196.
Goals: My goal is to create connections with staff and students at Chisago Lakes High School and TRIO Wolf Creek while continuing to build my skills as a school psychologist.
Fun Fact: I had a close encounter with a whale while canoeing in Hawaii!
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Breaking Down Instructional Barriers
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Care and Maintenance of Assistive
Technology Tools
This month’s Spotlight on AT continues to try and break down instructional barriers for students and teachers and looks at ways of providing care and maintenance of assistive technology tools.
With the start of the school year, some of us may be finding difficulty in gathering the previously used, missing, or broken assistive technology tools. There are some strategies that we can get in place annually to help make use of assistive technology as seamless as possible for students.
- Review the environment for students annually to see if the assistive technology device is still appropriate for the student's needs in the new environment.
- Check computer hardware in new settings to see if the student's needed software is compatible. Also check access to new printers and Internet connections, if needed.
- Create an AT storage system for your students: clearly labeled for each item (not student-owned), and package with student's name, manuals, chargers, technical support numbers, customized accessories, and a list of trained users as resources for new staff.
- Collect the assistive technology devices at the end of each school year, clean, remove regular batteries, and store in your storage system. (Regular batteries should be removed from devices for long storage periods).
- Plan for any needed repairs for maintenance required before leaving for the summer; some repairs can take a couple of months to get AT device returned.
- Plan for renewal of subscriptions required for assistive technology to be renewed.
- If a student is transitioning to a new building, case manager, or teacher; make sure to pass the assistive technology device and all supporting materials and information along, so it is ready to go in the next environment.
- Consider documenting the student's use of assistive technology and independence level, successful teaching strategies, battery needs and how often to change, to add to the storage system.
- Consider providing the next school year teachers opportunities to see the student using their assistive technology devices (potentially videotape student use).
- Remember to use new batteries at the start of a school year; many devices require 8-24 hour charging before they can be used. Plug those devices in a few days before they are needed by students to make sure they are in working order.
- Make sure teams have an understanding of summer/storage plans and transition plans for assistive technology devices and that each knows who is accountable for the device and summer/storage plans.
- Whenever possible, provide access to training in the use of the device before the students need them, so new staff are ready when the student is ready for school year use.
With a little planning and consideration, we can make students' transitions to new environments, with their assistive technology devices, smoother for everyone.
Bonus Infographic for students: Taking Care of Your Chromebook
AT Networking Nights - Virtual Asynchronous
Register on the SCRED Website for our Assistive Technology Nights! The registration link can be found in the 2021-22 School Year PL Catalog. This is a great opportunity to research and examine potential AT supports.
Dates for 2021-22 - Mark Your Calendars!
October 12th, 2021 4-8pm
February 2nd, 2022 4-8pm
April 7th, 2022 4-8pm
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