“I’m deeply passionate about reducing the stigma surrounding mental health in Indian Country, and in this role, I can be a consistent source of support for students while giving a voice to those who may not yet be able to speak up for themselves,” Peterson said.

When she began working there near the end of the last school year, she explained her role as someone who helps students with their feelings, friendships, and learning.

“It is my job to make sure you feel safe, happy, and able to learn,” she told the students. “I work with your teachers and parents/guardians to ensure you are receiving the best support to be successful at school. I focus on things like behavior, mental health, academics, and school systems.”

During her four-year graduate program, Peterson worked at six different schools ranging from high school to elementary school throughout San Diego County. Peterson said she always knew she would return home to serve her Tribal community.

“Being able to come back and work with and for my own relatives is one of the greatest blessings I could ask for,” she said. “In our culture, we are taught to take care of our relatives, and this work is my way of giving back to the community that raised me.”

Peterson is the first school psychologist at the preschool. Noli has had a contracted school psychologist who would come to provide specific services for certain students, but this is the first time one has been housed on campus.

“Working as a school psychologist across two schools allows me to experience the full range of my role, from conducting psychoeducational assessments at Noli to fostering social-emotional learning at the preschool,” she said. “Having the opportunity to work with two different age groups has been a truly rewarding experience.”

At the preschool most of her work is centered around developing social emotional skills whether that is emotional regulation skills, coping skills, conflict resolution, relationship building, and/or decision making.

“Our students are at the age where they are learning how to interact with peers and adults as well as learning new emotions and how to regulate those emotions in a healthy way,” Peterson said. “Early social emotional learning is an investment in your child’s emotional, social, and academic future. At both schools I collaborate with teachers to provide academic and behavioral interventions for those students who need additional support and are struggling in any of these areas.”

Peterson facilitates weekly SEL lessons with each class at the preschool. To decide which topics to focus on with each class, she consults with teachers to narrow down what areas of support they feel their students will benefit from most. She has implemented a few schoolwide mental health activities.

“We have done lessons on kindness, characteristics of a good friend, emotional regulation, and coping skills,” she said. “We recently had a kindness week where I facilitated an activity/lesson with each class every day of the week. Students participated in interactive activities that focused on kindness with friends, family, animals, and ourselves. I am currently working on starting an annual mental health fair at the preschool.”

At Noli, the majority of her role currently consists of conducting psychoeducational evaluations for special education. This includes consulting with teachers, parents/guardians, the special education teacher, and students. She also collaborates closely with the school counselor to implement mental health supports, activities, and social-emotional learning initiatives.

She is developing a series of workshops that focus on educating Tribal families about special education and their rights as parents/guardians. “My goal for these workshops is to provide a safe space for families who currently have students in special education or families who want to learn more about the process,” Peterson said.

She said students are always welcome to stop by her office at any time during the school day if they feel the need. At Noli, she works closely with the school counselor so if she is at the preschool when a student needs support at Noli, they are referred to the school counselor. She also receives referrals from teachers and parents when they have concerns about a student or believe additional support might be helpful.

Peterson graduated from San Diego State University in the School Psychology graduate program where she earned her Master’s degree in Counseling and her Educational Specialist in School Psychology. She was also a scholar and mentor on the SHPA (Supporting High-Intensity Mental Health Needs of Native and Indigenous Youth) project at SDSU. She was introduced to the field of School Psychology during the last year of her undergraduate at Cal State San Marcos.

“What really piqued my interest in the program was the SHPA grant which focused on mental health needs of Native and Indigenous youth,” she said. “School psychology wasn’t something I had planned on pursuing in the beginning, but it became a career that gave me the platform I needed to support our Native children.”

A school psychologist specializes in mental health and behavioral issues along with conducting psychoeducational assessments and developing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). School psychologists work with both general education and special education students but focus on students who need more intensive support by providing intervention or assessments when needed. Peterson said a big part of her job consists of collaborating with teachers, administration, school counselors, and families to help the students succeed at school.

“I am so grateful to have so much support from parents and families since starting at the preschool and Noli,” she said. “I have received positive feedback, especially from parents who have shared that they feel more comfortable with having a Tribal member and familiar face helping support their child at school.”

Peterson is deeply grateful to her Tribe for supporting her pursuit of higher education, an opportunity that helped her grow personally and professionally.

“Growing up, we were taught that when you take, you must also give back,” she said.
“Reciprocity is a core value that was deeply instilled in me, and it continues to guide the work I do today.”

National School Psychology Week is Nov. 3-7. This week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of school psychologists and raise awareness about the important role they play in supporting students’ mental health and academic success. 

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She said the conference shows Native youth the importance of being an activist and how important it is to not allow society to put you in a box or limit you to a certain category.

“Uniting together as one people is how we can achieve and create the change we all need,” she said, adding that she hopes the attendees learned the importance of speaking up for themselves and their people.

The United National Indian Tribal Youth’s mission is to foster the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native youth, and to help build a strong, unified, and self-reliant Native America through greater youth involvement. This year’s theme was Voice of H.O.P.E., which stands for Native youth engaging in Heartfelt conversations, Open dialogue, Promoting resources and Encouraging change.

A logo contest, inviting designs that reflect the richness of local Native cultures, was held and the winning concept came from 15-year-old Reese Mitchell of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, whose artwork helped inspire a final design that pays tribute to Kumeyaay culture and the conference theme. UNITY partnered with the Local Planning Committee and OXDX Clothing—a renowned Indigenous fashion label founded by Diné artist and UNITY alum Jared Kee Yazzie—to bring Reese’s vision to life.

The youth-led annual event drew more than 2,500 Native youth from around the country to participate in days filled with general sessions, regional caucuses, workshops, a career/education fair, and fun evening activities that provided hands-on leadership development activities.

Soboba Tribal TANF’s Andrew Salgado, 18, has attended the conference in the past and enjoyed joining several of the workshops that focused on physical, mental and social development.

“I learned that climate change is melting the ice and affecting different peoples’ reservations,” he said. “I learned how to communicate with other people with a better approach.”

A highlight of the conference for him was participating in the UNITY Intertribal Social Dance held on the final night, June 30.

The first full day of workshops focused on college and career readiness topics, such as “Against the Odds: Turning Struggles into Strength and Dreams into Reality” presented by Jason Amador. The workshop was designed to equip youth with the mindset, daily habits, and self-belief needed to overcome adversity and pursue their goals with purpose.

“My favorite part was meeting new people and building stronger connections with those around me,” said Christopher Lagunas, 14. I also really appreciated seeing the opportunities that the future holds for me through events like UNITY.”

Christopher was also pleased with all he gained from attending the national conference for the first time. “I learned how to communicate with others in a more appropriate way and with a better mindset,” he said. “I also learned that it’s important to embrace and accept others and their customs and traditions.

There were several workshops that were popular among many of the Soboba TANF youth. One of those that was well attended was “Girls Flag Football, 2028 Olympic Sport” presented by Keith Vasquez. His purpose was to introduce Native Americans/Indigenous youth to the fastest growing sport in the United States.

Zachary Guacheno, 18, enjoyed the workshops because of the learning opportunities. He also appreciated discovering the different ways of helping his tribe. “You can advocate for yourself and your community,” is something he said he will share with others.

A fun workshop that focused on health and wellness was the candy jar making session with Ashley Johnston. “You’ll decorate your own jar and fill it with your favorite sweets, because self-care should always be sweet and simple,” she said.

Mazie Countryman presented “Sagebrush & Bingo: Native Plants of Fort Hall” where youth learned as they played Native plant bingo and won prizes while deepening their connection to the land.

Hearing about culture games, such as “Creator’s Game: Building a Pathway to the Future” presented by Edison Red Nest III, were also enjoyed by the youth. The workshop was used to discuss the origins of Creator’s Game and how it can be used to better themselves. Also covered was how Lacrosse is being utilized to send Native youth to college.

The newly inducted class of Earth Ambassadors offered a workshop session covering various topics related to culture and environmental stewardship.

Nowaniiki Resvaloso, 14, attended UNITY for the second time with Soboba Tribal TANF. He said he learned the difference between Native cultures and how to communicate with others. He enjoyed all the workshops he attended and learned new things from each of them.

“The world is changing fast because the ozone layer is getting warmer so it’s causing the ice in Alaska to melt,” he said.

Nayeli Brittian, 12, was attending the UNITY conference for the first time and looks forward to sharing some important messages with family, friends and classmates. “I would tell them about every time you think you can’t do something, try anyway,” she said. “I learned that to pursue your dreams you need to actually try.”

The Talent Night on June 29 at 7 p.m. was a favorite and memorable event for her.

David Marquez also enjoyed the Talent Night show. The 17-year-old said he was interested to learn how climate change can be prevented or treated. “I also learned how to communicate ideas with others,” he said.

Agustin Salgado, 15, was also attending for the first time. “I learned about the importance of collaboration,” he said. “One important takeaway was the emphasis on community engagement and collaboration across diverse groups.”

Although the conference was filled with many valuable workshops and exciting activities, the group was able to venture off to Mission Bay beach and enjoy some beach time. “We also visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum as well as the San Diego Natural History Museum at Balboa Park,” Tucker said.

For more information, www.sobobatanf.org.

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