Avon Lake School Psychologist Wins Regional Award

From Avon Lake City Schools:The Avon Lake City Schools are pleased to announce William Richards has been named School Psychologist of the Year from the Elyria Lorain Area School Psychologists Association (ELASPA). As a regional winner of the School Psychologist of the Year award, he is now nominated for the Ohio School Psychologist Association’s (OSPA) Ohio School Psychologist of the Year award. The winner of the state level award will be announced at the OSPA Fall conference in Columbus in the spring.

Richards has been with the school district since 2000. He previously worked for the Heath City Schools (suburban Columbus. He currently works with students at Avon Lake High School and Learwood Middle School. He holds a bachelor, master and educational specialist degrees from Kent State University. He obtained his Administrative License from Ashland University. His mother was a clinical psychologist, but his true calling for entering the profession himself came
while he was an undergraduate in college. “I worked a summer job for the Kent City Schools mowing the grass,” Richards said. “The director of special education offered mentoring opportunities to work as a teacher’s aide in the special education rooms. That’s when I fell in love with the kids and with special education. I met the school psychologist there and knew that’s what I wanted to do for my career. I like being able to see kids make progress. I have worked at different levels. I see kids struggle when they are younger, then I see them after they graduate and they are happy working or in school.”

Richards has witnessed first-hand the changes in students and education over the years. “Academic expectations are higher now,” he said. “A very problematic thing is the social/emotional well-being of kids with regards to social media. We see a lot of students struggling with bullying and peer pressure, or just the stress of everything being online. Things are talked about and posted so quickly online. We never had to deal with all of that connectivity when we were kids.” Richards also very much enjoys helping students navigate the transition from high school to post- secondary education or work.

“Many students do not know what they want to do for the rest of their lives,” he said. “I like to see teams take a look at helping students find out what their interests are regarding work and life.” In his spare time, Richards enjoys traveling, boating and restoring antique boats. He also enjoys spending time volunteering as a mentor to men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer that he meets through participation in various prostate cancer support groups such as the Gathering Place in Westlake and USToo (International Prostate Cancer Education & Support Network). Richards was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 and is doing well. He and wife, Stacie, reside in Avon Lake. National School Psychology Awareness Week (SPAW) is November 12-16, 2018.

Image via Avon Lake Schools