Announcing Betsy Winkle, Director of Evaluation Services!

We are thrilled to introduce Betsy Winkle, S.Psy.S., as All Belong’s new Director of Evaluation Services! In this role, Betsy will lead our team of five school psychologists to continue to help our partners know students most excellently. After nearly forty years of service as All Belong's Director of Evaluation Services, Doug Bouman will step into the role of All Belong's Director Emeritus of Evaluation Services. Doug has played an incredibly crucial role in shaping our organization's perspective on students and learning. We are thrilled he will continue to share his wisdom and expertise with the families and schools All Belong serves.

We invite you to get to know Betsy and her journey in the blog post below!

After joining the All Belong team in 2016 as a School Psychologist, Betsy Winkle stepped into the role of Director of Evaluation Services in September 2018.

My pursuit of a career in school psychology began with a meeting over twenty years ago with my predecessor, Doug Bouman. As a Calvin College junior exploring my career options, my advisor directed me to schedule a visit with Doug, the School Psychologist at what was then known as the Christian Learning Center (and today, All Belong). I was familiar with the organization as a student at Grand Rapids Christian High School. In this CLC partner school, students of all abilities were included in a variety of my classes. When Doug shared his passion and joy of working to understand students most excellently, I was hooked on a career as a School Psychologist and began searching out graduate schools.

Flash forward to today, and I am humbled to step into the role of Director of Evaluation Services, previously held by Doug Bouman. I have been working as a School Psychologist for All Belong since September 2016; it has been a privilege to join the talented, experienced, and welcoming team of School Psychologists and Teacher Consultants.

It is a blessing to be part of a staff that believes God’s Kingdom is made complete when space is made for everyone.

Much has happened from my first encounter with Doug as a college student to joining the staff at All Belong. After completing my graduate work at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), I worked as a School Psychologist for the better part of the past eighteen years, primarily in public education. Initially, I worked in a small school district outside of Grand Rapids, supporting students from age three through high school with various learning, behavior, and social-emotional needs. I then worked at a Grand Rapids-area charter high school for homeless and at-risk youth.

It was the adoption of our two youngest children that began both my personal and professional desire to understand how trauma impacts young children and their education. My family’s experience strengthened my interest in working with a different type of vulnerable population.

In my new role at All Belong, I look forward to continuing to partner with families and schools to know individual students most excellently, working to identify, develop, and wrap the needed supports around a student so they can thrive as children of God. I am also excited to think about and engage more systemically in the support All Belong provides to our partners—the ways we can best advocate and support the work of creating and sustaining inclusive schools and churches.