Summer Interns Lend Support
to Local Special Needs Students
Photo courtesy of Tom Kelly
The Bronxville School in Bronxville, NY, welcomed three rising HM seniors as summer psych interns to support their summer programming for special needs students. Dylan Leftt '25, Pauline O'Hara '25, and Amaris Christian '25 committed a substantial portion of the summer to learning about psychological evaluations, the assessing of speech and language needs, the proscriptive use of occupational and physical therapy, as well as the academic assessments used to guide the creation and implementation of each student's individualized education plan.
In addition to their time with each clinician, Dylan, Pauline, and Amaris spent time in each of the classrooms working with targeted students on everything from life skills training to site reading to grade level instruction in math or science. Dr. Joyce Vastola, a Bronxville school psychologist, was beyond impressed with the knowledge possessed by each of the students participating in the internship program. Dr. Vastola said, "This summer's interns asked and answered questions well beyond the level of the graduate students I am accustomed to supervising. Their exposure to the field of psychology and their appreciation of what good teaching looks like was awesome to experience." Mrs. Christine Dowd, the Director of Special Education at Bronxville, added, "The kids across all of the summer programs adored working with the girls. Not a day went by when the kids weren't asking if the girls would be back the next day, and I'm so grateful for their willingness to not only come in and work with the kids more than they were assigned, but also to host a party for the kids showcasing the Walter's Hot Dog Truck."
Photo courtesy of Tom Kelly
In light of the increased interest in social sciences as evidenced by student participation in the UD course offerings, this was the first summer Horace Mann School offered a coordinated psych intern program. "It is always humbling to hear from those not directly affiliated with HM how thoughtful, how empathetic, how committed our students are, before we hear how smart they are," said Dr. Tom Kelly, Head of School at Horace Mann School.