This year Phil was nominated for the NASP lifetime achievement award by the Florida Association of School Psychologists. In supporting his nomination, four colleagues wrote letters of support. Here are excerpts.
Gene Cash, NASP Past President wrote:
“In addition to Phil’s commendable professional and work-related attributes and experience, he is extremely responsible, skilled interpersonally, and highly dependable. It is rare to find in one individual a blend of remarkable trustworthiness, outstanding professional competence, and stellar interpersonal relationship skills. That, however, is exactly the blend which is present in Phil. He is well-liked, highly respected, and admired by everyone who knows him. Yet, with all these positive characteristics, he is not full of himself. He is an outstanding representative of school psychology, and he puts the well-being of his students and clients before his own.”
When school psychology was threatened in Miami-Dade County and when 41 positions were eliminated, Phil helped lead the charge to get all the positions reinstated and as a result the DASP President wrote in support.
Gil Lopez, President of DASP and Florida School Psychologist of the Year wrote:
“Fortunately, Phil came to our first planning meeting, listened carefully, encouraged all the school psychologists, sat down with the Executive Board of the DASP and detailed a working plan.
At that meeting, I will never forget that he told us that we were all advocates; that we fight to get services for children every day of our career. We have more knowledge of psychology than anyone in education and more knowledge of education than anyone in psychology. He told us that out of any profession in the schools, we were the most prepared to be advocates and that we had the knowledge, skills, and diplomatic acumen to accomplish our goal. He told us that decision makers were making decisions based on lack of knowledge and that is was our responsibility to ensure that they had a more thorough understanding of what we do in the schools and the economic impact on the school system if they let us go.
He helped encourage and rally us and I asked him to be our spokesperson. Phil appeared in the media; he was interviewed for our newspapers, and spoke on radio and television. He wrote letters to all the school board members, helped us formulate strategy and spoke eloquently and passionately to our school board during their meetings. He told us that our best and most ethical strategy was not to be or appear self-serving and instead focus on the needs of the children—especially special needs youngsters and the most vulnerable ones.
Eventually, all the 41 school psychologists were reinstated; all his Florida International University interns were later hired as soon as school opened. Even when further budget cuts were implemented, we were not included. We are now more respected than ever and I heard a number of school psychologist tell me that they never felt prouder to be a school psychologist. He has taken the profession to a higher level than it ever has been in south Florida.
As a result of his contribution, I was honored to present Phil with the DASP Award for Distinguished Service to our community.”
Scott Poland, NASP Past President wrote:
“During the terrorist’s attack on September 11th, Phil was serving as the Chairperson of our NEAT team (a position he held for three years). Along with the NASP staff, he was responsible for both writing and coordinating all the materials that appeared on the NASP web page during the weeks that followed. I know he was holed up in his office and was working night and day to get all the materials out as soon as possible. During this time, I have been told that the NASP web site had over 3 million hits. As a result of this work, he was given the NASP/NEAT “Dare to Dream” Outstanding Contribution Award. His work made a big difference and now whenever a tragedy strikes, our members and our affiliate organizations are expecting the same level of quality and timeliness of our materials.
Following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, Phil took on the responsibility of leading the NEAT response in Mississippi and in New Orleans. He and members of NEAT along with Gene Cash traveled throughout Mississippi to help train school and mental health personnel in the aftermath of these natural disasters. In 2006, he received the NASP Certificate of Appreciation and the NASP Presidential Award for his work in providing crisis intervention services. Moreover, he has led or served on FASP and NOVA crisis response teams following other hurricanes such as Charley, Frances and Ivan as well as responded to numerous tornadoes and school shootings.
I have now lived in Florida for four years and have the opportunity to see first hand how Phil is viewed in the field of school psychology in the state. He is widely appreciated as one of the best Florida Association of School Psychologists (FASP) Presidents ever. Phil has a vision for school psychology and sees the big picture and the need to work with important stakeholders at the legislative, state and county planning level. It is for those various reasons that Phil has been selected to serve on the FASP Executive Committee Board for many years and was recently presented in a special ceremony, at our fall conference, with the FASP Willard Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
I compliment the FASP Executive Board for nominated him for this award and he has served as a true leader in the field. I am proud to call Phil a close friend and seek out his advice and guidance on school psychology issues very often. Dr. Phil Lazarus is truly a friend of children, and he has devoted his entire career to the field of school psychology, and has impacted the field at the local, state and national level.
Nicole Kojkowski on behalf of the Florida International Community wrote:
“My name is Nicole Kojkowski and on behalf of the school psychology students at Florida International University, it is with sincere respect and eagerness that I write this letter of support for Dr. Philip J. Lazarus for the NASP Lifetime Achievement Award. I can state with confidence that he is most deserving of this award. Dr Lazarus values his students highly. He was informed that he needed a letter from his present place of employment and he could have asked a faculty colleague, the Department Chairperson, or the College Dean but he felt the letter should come from a current student and I am honored to have been selected.
Closer to home for his Florida International University family, Dr. Lazarus has been a dedicated and enthusiastic Director of the School Psychology Training Program. He commits his full focus towards the program and his students. Close to 100% of our graduates receive job offers right after graduation and many have become school psychology leaders in Florida. Overall, he is an excellent teacher and mentor who is committed to training school psychologists and advocating for children.
I am extremely fortunate to have Dr. Lazarus as a mentor in my field and have absolutely no doubts as to why he was nominated by FASP for this award. Dr. Lazarus is not only a great man to his personal family, but to his Florida International University family as well, serving as a remarkable role model and an extraordinary Program Director.”