Awards

School Social Worker of the Year

Samantha Hess, MSSA, LSW

Samantha Hess, MSSA, LSW, is currently the School Social Worker for Midview Middle School and High School through the ESC of Lorain County. This is her 5th school year working in the district and during that time she has worked in grade levels K-12. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Kent State University and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with her master’s degree, concentrating in School Social Work. Samantha joined OSSWA in 2019 and served on the board as secretary until she became president of OSSWA in summer 2023.

At Midview, Samantha works with students individually, facilitates mental health and coping skills groups, presents classroom lessons for students on social emotional topics and provides professional development to staff. She helped launch a clothing closet as a resource for students and families and has assisted with revising and developing suicide protocols. Samantha’s favorite part of being a school social worker is developing positive relationships with students to provide them with an empathetic listening ear when they need it most

The Midview High School Counseling team shared the following: "Sam always goes above and beyond for students, parents, and staff members. When other staff members believe we have done all we can for a student or family, Sam finds a way to provide additional support. She never hesitates to help others and always has a positive, uplifting attitude. Students at Midview High School constantly seek Sam’s support. On a typical day, Sam’s office is filled with students every class period."

Leah Berdysz who worked with the Midview District team to nominate Samantha said: "Sam is an incredible social worker and person. She recently stepped into the role of President for OSSWA and has taken on a tremendous amount of work. Her resilience and leadership within this role is truly remarkable. She is thoughtful, dedicated, and diligent. Sam rarely complains and is always looking for solutions to become more effective and efficient in her work, as well as support others. I feel blessed to be able to work alongside Sam on the OSSWA board. Any team would be lucky to have Sam as their school social worker! 10/10 recommend for school social worker of the year." 

Friend of School Social Work

Cathy Papp, MSW, LISW-S

Cathy Papp, MSW, LISW-S, is the Wellness and Prevention Program Coordinator at The Educational Service Center of Lorain County. As program coordinator, Cathy provides professional development, coaching and consulting on social emotional, mental health, and prevention for Lorain County school districts, county agencies, and community partners.

Cathy has been a true advocate for not only school social workers, but for mental health in school districts throughout Lorain County (and beyond). She had worked to be able to provide CEUs for social workers through the ESCLC and is always willing to provide professional development or trainings, speak to administrators or school boards, etc. to provide insight and data regarding the importance of mental health and how school social workers play a vital role within districts. Cathy has dedicated her time to applying for grants in order to provide districts with assistance at no cost, especially in the fields of suicide/non-suicidal self-injury protocol and CSTAG. Her knowledge, experience and overall existence is incredibly important and helpful for the greater good of social workers, students, and families.

Cathy said, "I feel incredibly honored and grateful to Sarah McCall and the Ohio School Social Work Association to have been selected to receive this year’s Friend of School Social Work Award. Having spent most of my career working in schools, it has been a privilege to spend the later part of my career focusing on prevention and advocating for macro level change for school social workers, as well as the larger educational community."

Champion of Children

John Brown

John attained his Bachelor’s Degree from Bowling Green in and earned his Master’s Degree in Administration from Baldwin Wallace. Mr. Brown is in his 31st year in education with 20 of those as an administrator. He started as an assistant principal in Midview Local Schools in 2004 and then as the principal of Midview Middle School for 15 years. John is now in his second year as assistant principal at Keystone High in LaGrange, Ohio.

John Brown has been described as the fiercest advocate when it comes to student mental health and well-being. While you would typically associate an assistant principal position with discipline and attendance, John goes above and beyond to holistically serve his students and to cultivate deep relationships with students who are struggling. He is quick to reach out to all stakeholders that could potentially help students and to collaborate on cases with our mental health team here at Keystone to produces results for our students and families.

John has gone out of his way to be proximate to individuals that could teach him the ins and outs of the mental health field and has worked hand in hand with those individuals to streamline the collaboration of the school mental health team with other stakeholders to promote student mental health. Advocating to spend money on mental health personnel in our district is not usually seen as a priority to the majority of the administration team John works on, so taking that stance is often met with frustration and dismissal, but John keeps showing up. It is because of administrators like John that mental health professionals can have an impact within their schools and are encouraged to grow their programs as beneficial resources for their students.

School Social Worker of the Year

Allison Craig, MSSA, LISW-S

Allison Craig is first and foremost a Christian, a wife of over 32 years to her husband, Robert and a mom to her sons, Robert & Andre. She is also a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Training Supervision Designation & a Certified School Social Worker through the Ohio Department of Education. Allison has worked as a social worker for over 35 years. Her career started with Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services. After a few years with the county, Allison worked as a pediatric hematology-oncology social worker at Rainbow Babies & Children Hospital, an experience that molded her and forever changed her outlook on life, including always having hope, being quick to forgive and remaining grateful.

In 2000, Allison was hired by the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district and remains there to date. As a school social worker, she has been able to impact the lives of many students, families and even staff members. Allison shares, "So much of what my colleagues and I address socially & emotionally, helps our students to move from one stage in their lives to the next and achieve academic success. We do this work because we believe in it and believe in our students. They cannot open their minds up to full learning capacity if they are stuck in a place of sadness, stress and turmoil." Allison also works in private practice and has done so periodically for over 15 years. She is a deacon in her church, sits on a non-profit board and helps with the family business. She enjoys reading, traveling and most of all, spending time with her family, close friends, and the family dog, Star.

Champion of Children

Dr. Antionette Miranda, PhD

Antionette Miranda, PhD worked as a school psychologist in urban, suburban, and rural districts. She has been in faculty at The Ohio State University since 1988. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University and a Professor in the School Psychology Program. Her research interests include developing effective interventions with at-risk children in urban settings, consultation services in urban settings, as well as system level change that include practices that work to close the opportunity gap. Antionette was elected to the Ohio State Board of Education in November 2016 and was re-elected in November 2020.

Thank you for this award and it is a tremendous honor to accept it. My passion for education and the most marginalized and vulnerable is unwavering. I will continue to advocate for all children in the state of Ohio.

Friend of School Social Work

Dr. Cassandra Johnson

Dr. Cassandra Johnson has 28 years as an educator. Prior to coming to Bedford City School District to serve as the Assistant Superintendent for the past 4.5 years, Dr. Johnson served as a teacher at Grizzell Middle School in Dublin City School District for 5 years, an Assistant Principal of Emerson Middle School in Lakewood City School District for 3 years, an Assistant Principal of Parma Senior High School for one year and the Head Principal for 6 years before being promoted to Director of Human Resources for the Parma City School District where she served for 6 years. In addition to teaching and administrative roles, Dr. Johnson is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, currently serves as President Elect of the Ohio Association of School Personnel Administrators, has served as the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators Zone 6 Director for several years, is the former President of Cleveland Area Minority Educator Recruitment Association, a proud member of Metro C.A.B.S.E., and a member of the OASSA Women’s Leadership Conference Committee. She has served as an adjunct professor for Baldwin Wallace and Concordia University Chicago and is a current adjunct for Walsh University

Although in partnership with Beech Brook for many years, in the 2018-19 school year as an Assistant Superintendent Dr. Johnson welcomed 3 School Social Workers and 2 Mental Health Therapists into the Bedford City School District to help remove/decrease social and emotional barriers to academic success. With things headed in the right direction as Interim Superintendent, Dr. Johnson listened to the learning community and her heart for the need for additional support for student and families, she created a position for 6 full-time SEL Interventionists in the 2022-2023 school year. To sum it up the Bedford City Schools District's SEL team is made up of 2 MHT, 4 Social Workers, 6 SEL Interventionists, 12 Counselors, and School Psychologist.

I would like to thank you for this award. It is such a blessing to serve such a wonderful learning community. I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to represent BCSD and I thank the Board of Education for their support of the recommendations to build such an amazing SEL team and Facilitator of the department. The dedication to support the needs of the whole child is apparent.

School Social Worker of the Year

Lara Ruffing, LISW-S

Lara Ruffing has been a school social worker since 1993, and has served as the Mental Health Team Leader in Worthington Schools for 15 years and counting. She is a Level 1 Trauma Informed Certified social worker, and she has been a member of OSSWA for many years. 

Lara earned her MSW at Wayne State in Detroit, MI, and started her school social work career in Dearborn, MI many years ago. Moving back to the Columbus area in 2005 Lara started working for the ESC in 2006.  Over the next few years, Lara increased her service time with the Worthington School district eventually becoming a full-time behavior consultant, supporting all of the schools pre-K thru high school. 

Lara has been integral in bringing more mental health support to the students of Worthington over the years. She currently supervises a team of ten social workers and counselors in the district - a team that she helped advocate for and hire. Additionally, Lara is a full time Mental Health Specialist at Worthingway Middle School. She has been on the district’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Team both at the district level and building level, implementing MTSS with fidelity throughout the district. In particular, Lara excels at focusing on Tier 1 interventions in schools to make each of our buildings better places for all students.

Lara helps evaluate student behaviors, and make plans to support students with behavioral disabilities. She has even earned the honor of being recognized for her work in Margaret Searle’s book Causes & Cures: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems. Lara continuously creates and implements teacher and parent training, such as those that focus on executive functions, best practices in supporting our LGBT+ students, and managing student anxiety, to name a few. Lara serves in our district as a Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) trainer, and she also serves as an important member of the district’s Academic Achievement and Professional Learning Committee.

Champion of Children

Senator Nathan Manning

Ohio Senator Nathan Manning, Senate District 13 serving Lorain and Huron Counties, has supported school social work during the past ten years. 

Prior to his election to the senate, Senator Manning served his hometown region as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. In both positions, Manning has supported meeting the needs of students and families in the state through school social work. Senator Manning’s personal history with education and the work of school social work is related to his mother as well as his wife’s experience as teachers in the area.  

Senator Manning previously worked as an attorney in domestic relations and juvenile justice.  Senator Manning has worked to support restorative practices for students who exhibit chronic and habitual truancy, as well as an advocate to employ more school social workers in our public schools.  

Senator Manning has offered information, advice and support to the Legislative Committee of OSSWA in its efforts to advocate for and expand the role of and funding for school social work in the state of Ohio as well as expand access to behavioral health services for students exhibit suicidal or homicidal crisis but have parents who are disengaged or detached from the importance of crisis services.

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School Social Worker of the Year

Coming soon! 

Friend of School Social Work

Dr. John Marschhausen, Ph.D

Dr. Marschhausen was nominated due to the impression he made with the Vimeo message he sent out to his Secondary staff. 

In this video, he stressed the importance of meeting students’ social-emotional needs and helping them with dealing with trauma in their lives, due to the COVID pandemic.  He recognized the importance of students’ mental health issues and gave them permission, or more of  “a directive”, to not get through all the content and curriculum.  In his address, he also encouraged his staff to slow down and definitely recognized the stress and workload anxieties of staff.  Dr. Marschhausen emphasized the “need to take care of our kids and ourselves” and gave staff permission to support each other; “grace to grieve.”