SDE looks for new communications director
State Department of Education communications director Karlynn Laraway is leaving for a job in the private sector. The department is offering her replacement a salary of $79,040 to $83,200 a year.
Laraway moved into the communications job last June after serving as the state’s director for assessment and accountability for years. She earned a salary of $86,840 in the job, replacing Scott Phillips, who left the department to join the Idaho Department of Lands as communication chief in May 2020.
Laraway will finish at the department next week.
Robin Corder wins Idaho School Psychologist of the year award
Robin Corder, a former special education teacher turned psychologist, was named Idaho’s 2020 school psychologist of the year by the Idaho School Psychologist Association in January.
Corder is currently a clinical account manager for PresenceLearning, which provides counseling services for the Oneida School District. Oneida special education director Jill Daniels nominated Corder for the award. Corder also works with children around the state remotely through the Idaho Home Learning Academy.
“What I found with online counseling is some of the kids — not all — are more willing to open up to me knowing that they’re not going to see me at church, they’re not going to see me in the grocery store, they’re not going to see me walking on the street,” Corder told EdNews. “Teletherapy is great when there is no one around that can help. It’s great to talk to someone, even if it’s over the phone.”
Registration open for Ybarra’s Prevention and Support conference
The State Department of Education’s 27th annual Prevention and Support conference, focused on trainings geared to help educators keep Idaho schools safe, will be held virtually on April 12 and 13. Registration costs $40, and the first 400 registrants will receive a copy of the book “Fostering Resilient Learners.”
Session topics include burnout, mental health in Idaho schools and roundtable sessions on community schools, suicide prevention, equity, staff appreciation and retention, and virtual program delivery.
“The social, emotional and learning challenges resulting from the long pandemic make this conference more important than ever, and organizers have chosen a great theme: New Prevention in a New Reality,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said in a news release.
