School Social Worker

Shelly provides school social work services to K-12 students who are eligible for special education services at several area school districts. She provides individual and group sessions focusing on emotion regulation, social skills acquisition, and strategies to enhance academic performance. She is part of the multidisciplinary team process that is responsible for conducting special education eligibility evaluations. As a school social worker, Shelly provides consultation and collaboration with teachers and other staff, community agencies and organizations.  Shelly also participates in program development and coordination of school and community services. Specific areas of interest include the integration of mindfulness and yoga-based behavioral health interventions and advocating for the implementation of trauma-infomed practices within the education system.

Shelly's experience in the behavioral health field includes work with a variety of populations such as school-based, community mental health, and substance use. The majority of her career has been spent in the Keweenaw Peninsula where she gained extensive clinical experience while working for Copper Country Mental Health, first as a case manager for adults with severe mental illness, and then moving in to supervisory roles including as program manager for Acute Services which provided 24 hour emergency services across four counties. After working in the CMH system, Shelly moved in to education where she has worked at both the ISD and district levels. While working for the Copper Country ISD she was part of the MTSS implementation team and was responsible for introducing mindfulness and yoga-based programs into area schools. Shelly has also worked as part of a team responsible for initiating trauma-informed practices at the district level.