Episode 102: Landing & Starting Your First School-Based OT Job with Jhennylyn Rivera, MOT, OTR/L
- Jayson Davies
- Jun 5, 2022
- 40 min read
Updated: Nov 20, 2024
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Welcome to the show notes for Episode 102 of the OT Schoolhouse Podcast.
Are you a new grad OT practitioner ready to find your first school-based OT job? If so, hit play now!
In this episode, I am interviewing Jhenny Rivera about her recent experiences of searching for, finding, interviewing, and starting in a school-based OT position as a new grad OT.
Jhenny graduated from OT school in the summer of 2021, passed the OT boards in the fall, and landed her first school-based OT job in January of 2022. That is why I have asked her to come on the OT Schoolhouse Podcast to share how she achieved her goal and what she learned in the process. We talk not only about the hiring process but also about what the first few months were like as a new grad school-based OT.
Episode Transcript
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Amazing Narrator
Hello and welcome to the OT school house podcast, your source for school based occupational therapy tips, interviews and professional development now to get the conversation started, here is your host, Jayson Davies class is officially in session.
Jayson Davies
Hey there. And welcome to Episode 102 of the OT school house podcast. My name is Jayson Davies, and I'm excited for you to be here today, especially if you are someone looking to transition into school based OT, or maybe you just made that switch into school based OT, and you're trying to figure out where to go from here. You know, those first few months can be difficult. Landing a job can be difficult, even applying for a school based ot job can be difficult. Do you choose to go with a district or do you choose to go with a contract company? Those are the things we're going to talk about today in our episode with a new grad occupational therapist. Her name is Jhennylyn Rivera, and she is joining us today to talk about that transition that she went through. She actually passed the National Board of OT course, or not the course, sorry, the test about in November, I think it was. And then she went ahead and applied for a job in January, and now she's been working as a school based ot practitioner for about four months. And so she's going to share with us that experience from moving from graduation, going through looking for a job, trying to figure out who to apply for, what jobs to interview with, and all that. And then she's going to share with us the last three or four months how that's been going, what those first few evaluations were like, what those first few IEPs were like. She works for a contract company. So if you are looking at that direction, definitely listen to this. But even if you're in a district as a district ot position, there's still so much value within this episode. So be sure stick around. Jenny is amazing. You're gonna hear how positive she is. She is a self proclaimed extrovert. She even says that in the podcast today, so she is willing to share all so be sure put that phone in your pocket and just listen in. This is gonna be a great episode. So without any further ado, here is our guest for today's very amazing episode. Jenny Lynn Rivera, I hope you enjoy this interview. Hey Jhenny, welcome to the OT school house podcast, how are you doing this morning?
Jhennylyn Rivera
I'm doing good. Jayson, thank you.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. Thank you for waking up. I know Saturday morning here, I appreciate you waking up and doing this with me. I'm excited to talk to you about what it has been in your first few months as a school based occupational therapist. So how are you feeling? Is this surreal? Or how you doing?
Jhennylyn Rivera
I mean, it still feels surreal right now. I mean, it's it's been three, almost four months, and it's an up and down roller coaster ride. I came in in the middle of the school year, so imagine it's pretty rough transition, but I'm starting to get a the feel of the school based world.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And, you know, usually I like to start off by asking my guests to share a little bit about their background within occupational therapy, but you were, like, in the midst of creating your background in occupational therapy. So why don't we just kind of start off with school, a little bit ot school. What was that experience like for you?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Okay, I mean, I was actually planning to, like, you know, share about, like, my school, whole school experience so well, I mean, basically just a summary. I went to, like, LA City College for my associates, liberal arts. And then I want to talk about kinesiology in Northridge, because that is a huge part of my ot school that basically prepared me to, we know, kinesiology classes, even motor development. So basically, I got my bachelor's in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science from CSUN, yay matadors. I took a two year gap. I worked for the county parks and recs. I'm still supposed to be working there, but I got laid off during the pandemic. A lot of employees got furloughed, but during ot school breaks, summer, winter, Thanksgiving breaks, I would do part time work because, you know, as much as we can, we try to limit our student loans. So I did that two years from bachelors to OT school while I was working as a wellness coordinator and or slash rehab tech for an Ali or assisted living independent living facility in California, also while retaking my prerequisite classes and volunteering for Rancho amigos national rehab center in Downey. It's pretty big in the OT world, and that's where I pretty much learn more about OT and what we do. I was able to experience inpatient outpatient I even observed surgery, where you stand at the back of the glass.
Jayson Davies
I remember doing that watch. I remember seeing a rotator cuff surgery. I was like, Alright, I'm good. I don't need to see this ever again in my life.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yeah, it was fascinating. It was a really great facility to learn and to observe, and I'm glad I was able to do that before the pandemic, because I don't think they took volunteers, um, during COVID, I'm not sure right now, but so during that two year gap, I applied to two schools. I only applied to two schools because I didn't take my GRE. Yeah, interesting, yeah. So I got chicken now with a GRE.
Jayson Davies
Quick story on that for backstory for me on the GRE. I am a terrible test taker, and I scored below the minimum threshold on the GRE for USC, but I had already kind of been committed to USC, and so I was technically on probation while in the US C ot program, because, like, I was supposed to get 1000 on the GRE, and I got like a 950 or something like that. And so yeah, that's the only time in my life that I've ever been on academic probation. I've always been a great student, but because I got a low score on the GRE, I was on academic probation technically. So yeah, I'm right there with you. I didn't want to take that.
Jhennylyn Rivera
It is cool that they took it though, I mean, like, they got you in without, you know.
Jayson Davies
I was in a very, yeah, I was in a, I was in a special program. It's like the bachelor semesters program. So I was already kind of guaranteed a spot. It's kind of a formality that I had to take the GRE but, yeah, I'm just very fortunate that they didn't, like, turn me away once I got a low score.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Those were the days when the competition isn't really crazy. OT, but yeah, I'm speaking of competition. So like, I applied to two schools in Southern California, and the first year was not successful, but the admin in Loma Linda, which the school that I went to, she literally took time to look at my application and transcripts and advised me to retake my anatomy, physiology and statistics, which I did, because when I was taking those classes before I was a nursing major, and it's a funny stereotype, but it's true that my parents want me To be a nurse, and my heart wasn't really into it. I mean, I salute nurses and I really, really applaud what they do, but I feel like I'm gonna cry at the bedside. I don't think it's for me, because I would, you know, I want to work with patients in the rehab process when they're ready to get back to, you know, living and to provide or help them achieve a better quality of life. So yes, I took my I retook my prerequisite classes. The second year I applied, I got into Loma Linda University. That was January, 2018 and then the school started in June, 2018 I so went to school. Our program is two years and three quarters. So it was for Master's program. I know it's two years for most schools, but our school, we have religion classes and ethics classes, and we have, like, a five weeks off in the summer, which was awesome for my program. At least, I believe they got rid of the master's program. Now they only have the entry level. OT, so it's pretty accelerated, but that's basically my experience. I'm supposed to graduate March 2021, but due to field work placement challenges during the pandemic, I was delayed by three months. Um, ended up finishing in June 2021
Jayson Davies
that's not too bad.
Jhennylyn Rivera
No, actually, yeah. And I wasn't in a hurry, because when I graduated, it took like two, three months off, um, traveling. We my my fiance now bought a van during the pandemic, and we basically took a two week, three weeks a road trip. North, no North like West Side. So basically, California, Arizona, Utah, Yellowstone.
Jayson Davies
Wow, yeah.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Montana, Idaho. So basically, we toured down, yeah, west side of the US, and then spend time and family before tackling and passing the board's exam with me here today as an OT practitioner.
Jayson Davies
Yes, and congrats on on passing that. You know you reminded me, as you're talking, as talking about your student life, that I had completely forgotten about this, and you just made me recall it that you were awarded the OTEC Outstanding Student Award at the annual conference last year, right?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, I was.
Jayson Davies
Congratulations on that. What does that mean for you as what did I like? How did you feel? How did you respond as being awarded by the OT Association of California for being a great student?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Oh, well, thank you so much. First of all, it's an honor, and that during, you know that, like, well, I can't say like, the most difficult time for ot students, but you know, every everyone's experience definitely a difficult time. It was difficult time, and we transitioned from in person and then virtual. And I think what led to that is my participation in different activities, not just go to school, go home study and this and that. While I was in school, I volunteered for, you know, we call it possibilities in Loma Linda, where we have events for people with disabilities, we do 5k runs and, you know, ride bikes. I think it's a triathlon type thing. I also volunteered for the chapel over there. I'm not a Seventh Day Adventist, but I love music, so like, every like, probably a couple months, I would volunteer to play the piano, or, like, the drums or the cajon for the church over there, and while serving in the soda. So student ot Association, I started in the first year as a historian, and then the second year I became vice president, and I continued that leadership, leadership role. I got into ot I became a volunteer for the conferences, which was fun Pasadena, twice, 2018 2019, and then I became a ot membership, committee, board member, and then co chair now, so it's, it's, you know, it's a really great experience. And also on my other volunteers outside the church sewing face masks during the pandemic. I probably saw like 700 face masks and donated to like, differenthospitals, yeah, yeah.
Jayson Davies
that's crazy. And you know, well, first of all, kudos to you on earning that award from OT. It sounds like you deserved it. I know you are a very busy person, and I know from working with you right now a little bit, I guess I should point out that for everyone out there, Jhenny has been helping me behind the scenes, actually, at the OT school, off a little bit, and just working with her, I know that she is a a go getter, and she is so invested right now in being a school based OT, that's why I'm excited to talk to her now moving forward in the rest of this podcast. But she's just she is always going beyond the expectation, whether it's work, life and even when she was in school. So yeah, thank you also for continuing with OT and serving as an OT volunteer. We all need those, whether it's for our state organization or national a ot organization, we definitely need more volunteers so so thank you for that.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes. Thank you, Jayson, and you know, I'll take this opportunity to shameless plug. If any of you want to volunteer for OT, feel free to reach out to me.
Jayson Davies
Yes, absolutely, absolutely, or reach out to your state. If you're in another state, reach out to your state and say, you know, how can I help? We everyone. All the state organizations need, need support. All right, so let's go ahead and move forward a little bit. We've talked about your life as a student a bit. Remind me again. Did you have a school based ot field work?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, I did. I actually had two school based ot.
Jayson Davies
Pandemic mix up type of stuff going on?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Um, our school in general have a basically two level one field work. One is a different location. I was placed at a behavioral health inpatient site facility, and then the other one, everyone, all of us in our class, have to do a level one field work for the that quarter. Once a week we go to a school in San Bernardino area, and, yeah, get to experience basically, like, like a sneak peek. But, yeah, the level ones. It's really quick. I mean, it's a two week experience, but that experience was virtual school based for us, it was distributed for the entire quarter. Once a week we would go to schools, but I had my 12 week level two field work at a school district in Southern California. It was an interesting experience because it was hybrid. It was during the pandemic, um, January 2021, so we are in the process of going back in person, but not totally back in person. Like four days a week, I would do virtual and then one day I would do in person assessments and treatment prep, so I was able to see everything virtual and in person.
Jayson Davies
Such a unique experience, I'm sure. Yeah, all right, so you did have a little bit of experience in school based. OT, coming out of school, and that leads us now to, we're going to skip the NBC. OT, I know that's like a whole another conversation, but talking about moving into the professional world. Where did you start? Did you know you wanted to go into school based? OT, did you apply other places? Or kind of walk us through even just that mindset that you had when you decided, you know what it's time to apply for a job?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Well, deciding whether to go to school based, I didn't even know about school based ot when I started ot school, coming into ot school, I thought of, oh, I'm going to do rehab. And I was set in outpatient rehab, but then learning all the things that we learned in school, we have, our SI classes, our pediatrics quarter, and also my background in parks and rec, because I love working with kids. Working with kids. I coach youth sports, and I taught music in a private school before guitar, piano, so the love is there. And it's funny, because when I was young, I wanted to be a teacher. My grandma was a teacher. Three of my aunts were teachers, and I think it's our it's in our blood, and I've seen them. But you know, my my parents kind of want to, want me, wanted me to go for a medical based job. So I compromised medical field in a school based setting. And so that's, that's why I decided to go for school based and then meeting mentors in my field work setting as well, and you meeting and continuing to talk to you for like, the past, what two years now, I learned a lot. And you know, the community, like the OT world is a small world, and everyone knows everyone. So especially now with social media, you could easily reach out to mentors out there, and that's why, like, I made it a goal of mine to, you know, give back to the community and mentor like potential ot students and new OTs as well. Yeah, and that's what I decided to go for school based. And your second question is, how I landed with this job?
Jayson Davies
Well, let's talk about before you let's before they jump into that. Let's talk about what were some of the things you considered when you were looking for a school based OT, job. I mean, districts are all different. Sometimes there's contractors. You know, pay is different when you decided to apply, what were some of the key factors you were looking for a job?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Okay, so definitely, as a new grad OT, my main goal is mentorship. I know I could easily, not easily, when I was looking at jobs for districts, they put two years minimum experience, so that kind of scared me a little bit, and so I That's why I didn't really look into school district jobs. But it is interesting because when I started looking for jobs, I went to indeed, I turned in my resume, and within 24 four to eight hours, I got three messages from different recruiters in schools in Southern California. And basically, when I was looking for jobs, I look at, of course, the pay, mentorship, schedule, workload, case, load, the camaraderie, like, how how many OTs are there in the company? One of the companies that reach out to me, I was on the phone, you know, they're interviewing me, but I'm also interviewing them. And I asked, how many OTs do you have in a company? And they said, you're gonna be the first one. I'm like, as a new grad, I'm not gonna do that.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, I remember when you when you texted me that, like, yeah, that's a little scary, especially as a new grad, you know, you want to have an OT to bounce some ideas off of. I think I think I even told you, I was like, you know, you have me, you have your previous field work. Ci, so I know you're close to but still, you know when you're when you're diving in as your first year as an OT, you don't want to be doing it alone. I don't think.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, definitely.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. So okay, so you looked at caseload, you look at pay a little bit mentorship, you said was key quick question about the pay. Was it transparent, or was it hard to determine what you might be making when you were looking for my job?
Jhennylyn Rivera
It depends on the company. So I learned when I was searching for a job, some of them are straight to the point. This is how much we'll pay you. Some of them did not list it, so it has an estimated and it had to ask during my interview. Um, so it really depends.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, yeah. In my experience, what I've seen is that districts are straight forward because it's in their like board of education guidelines like this is how much you will make step one through step seven, or whatever it might be, versus contractors, it tends to be a little bit more secretive, and you get that range per se. The other thing that I've noticed is that districts, it's, it's salary versus contractors, it might be hourly, they kind of make it, they kind of make it a salary per se, because you're gonna get eight hours every single day for 100 and whatever days, but at the same time, it is technically still, still hourly. And so if you don't work a day, maybe holidays, or whatever it might be, then that's time that you don't get paid for. So yeah, that was that's one thing I've noticed. All right, so then, what did you ultimately decide on, how many districts did you apply to, and what was that process like?
Jhennylyn Rivera
So I did not apply to district jobs. So because all the experience kind of like daunted me, but like, even in OT school, actually, I was already eyeing this company, this company that I work for right now. I have two friends that are still in there. I had multiple friends that you know, that worked there before, so they're really known in OT in Loma, Linda. And this is a small, big company, like our big, small company. It's a small company, but they're big because they have over 100 OTs and, you know, a dozen PTS, and they have a main office in Fullerton, I'll just mention, like, the cities, and then we reach out all the way to, you know, 20 miles away to, like, All the way down south to Long Beach area. So it was a pretty big company, and they're known for their mentorship. And like what I said, pay, of course, we look at the pay and it's like a bit the biggest factor when you're taking a job. But me, personally, I went in for the mentorship, and if you would like me to talk more about the mentorship my job this company for new grads or new hires, especially for new grads, we are assigned with a one on one supervisor, so we have someone to text, to call you decide how often you want to meet The supervisor. But for me, right now. I We meet once a week for an hour, but if it's a high profile cases, we could be for hours. And also, we have a weekly mentorship meeting so new hires for the whole year, we meet with this specific mentor, and we talk about, like, our how our week went, What's, what's the craft that you did for this week? And, you know, the highs and the lows of the week. And if you have any questions, also, you have, like, what I mentioned there, they have over 100 practitioners, so you have access to 100 over 100 OTs for advice, resources, for questions. You could just send out a blast email to everyone if you have a like a random question out there that you can that your supervisor doesn't have any answers for. Yeah, so that's why, that's what I heard from my friend, and that's what I mean, what I'm experiencing right now working for that company.
Jayson Davies
That's great, because I know there are a lot of companies out there, both districts and contractors who kind of, yeah, we'll give you mentorship. And really, sometimes that mentorship ends up being maybe, like, a subscription to occupational therapy.com or like, they don't really provide the mentorship that they say they're going to provide. And from talking to you both just now and from what I've heard you speak about over the last few weeks, you know you are getting that. In fact, you even mentioned that as a new grad, you get like, an administrative day, right?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, wow, day. We have 14 hours of admin time per week, yeah.
Jayson Davies
14 hours. So that's like a day and a half. That's almost two days.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yeah, so my schedule basically it's eight o'clock to, let's say three o'clock, depending if you have an IEP, if it's a longer IEP, then. But at the end of the day, I have at least an hour of admin, and then I have a solid day of admin time for reports, organizing, treatment prep. If I do you know, when I started, they started giving me more kids. If I feel overwhelmed, I just have to, you know, reach out to admin or the owner and tell them, Oh, this is what I feel right now. And they were able to adjust my schedule. They took out or they didn't really force me to take kids and gave me that make sure that I have that 14 hours of admin time, because I need that right now, especially with report writing, and I'm still super slow three months in.
Jayson Davies
That's how it works. That is definitely how it works. It takes time to figure out what we're doing so that. But that's very cool, that your your company, recognizes the importance of giving you that time upfront as a business owner. I mean, I think of it as a way of investing in you. You know, they're making sure that you're learning the right way, because that way down the line, when you're working for them five years later, hopefully, you know that's, that's, of course, their their hope is that you'll stick with them long term. You're going to know what you're doing, and you'll be that person that that the new grads can reach out for help and provide the support that they need. So that's that's really great that they're giving you this time. Now I want to move on to our next subject, and I almost feel like we might have to split this episode up in two, because we are talking about so much, and I love it, but you talked about districts wanting more experience, and so you actually were scared to apply to those a little bit. I want to dive into that just a little bit deeper you touched on it, but explain a little bit more about what your what you were seeing in those job offers, and what how that made you feel.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Well, that is just my personal, you know, personal insight when I was looking at jobs, but for new grads out there, don't like take my experience, and you know, it's a subjective insight. I know someone and my previous field work, my level two, we had, when they came in, they had new employees, or two new employees, and one of them actually went to the same school that as I did, and she's a new grad, um, she had a field work experience in a unified school district in in the Southern California, LA, I believe, and she was able to get a job right away at this at the district. So it really depends. So that's one, but also two. I saw two years experience, minimum and certain certifications.
Jayson Davies
right? Yeah. So so that your your colleague that got that job, were they asking? Was that district asking for two years of experience? Do you know?
Jhennylyn Rivera
I believe yes they did.
Jayson Davies
So she decided to apply anyways, and lo and behold, even as a new grad, they were able to take her, okay.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, because I believe it really depends. I mean, the two year experience is just on paper, if you had a job before, I believe she worked for the school district as well before I was an ABA or some kind of position. So she is familiar with the school district and also how well you, did you do on an interview what kind of professional development you did before you applied. And so you know, you invest in yourself before, and that's why I'm telling the students that I meet right now, try to not just limit yourself to learn what you learn in school. Look at other opportunities out there, like your conferences or your state association conferences, they offer professional development classes that will help you learn things. Because I learned a lot of things outside classroom before I even graduated, which helped me get to where I am today. The resources, you know, 1000s and 1000s of files from my school based field work educator before. And yeah, so don't limit yourself out there.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. And honestly, if you're listening to this interview, then you've probably already listened to several episodes of the OT school house podcast, and I have had so many therapists reach out to me and say, You know what, because I've listened to your podcast, I was able to get a job. And I don't know, I don't. I've never had anyone reach out and say, like I listed it on my resume or anything, but just the knowledge that they get from listening to the podcast, they're able to better express themselves during the interview process and better answer any screening type of questions that might pop up in the in the application process.
Jhennylyn Rivera
So yes, and may I say, Jayson, like you're, you're, I'm not just telling this because you're my friend, but, well, I mean, in OT school, I listened to the podcast too, because school based OT, it's like a different world of OT, because we only got a quarter of learning in school based. But it's like you speak a different language when you go into school based. So there are terms that you don't really even even starting in the job, like, there are things that I still don't know. And the podcast, and I know you have a blog about this too. And when I was in my field work, I wrote five blogs about my experience, like, how to prepare yourself, you know, the the alien language of school based OT and yo, yeah. So I'm just just to, like, verify that information, like listening to OT school house has widened my vocabulary and my understanding of the school based ot world that and learn things that I didn't really learn out there.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you. I appreciate you listening, and I especially appreciate you coming on and sharing so much of what you've learned even through this process. So the whole point of this podcast was to get to your first three months of actually working as a school based OT. We haven't even gotten to that point like where you're hired yet, but I know this is going to be super helpful for anyone listening, especially students out there, anyone that's thinking about transitioning to school based OT, so I don't want to skip this part, and that is a little bit about the interview process. I don't want to go too deep into this, but what were you expecting, and what did it end up looking like going in and in doing that interview.
Jhennylyn Rivera
I guess I'll make it this brief, and because my experience is different, because, of course, if you apply for a school district, I heard that they asked, you know, school based ot specific questions, like, what's an IEP? Like, what to expect? How they give you case study, like, if this student has this, what are you going to do? My experience, this doesn't happen to everyone. I literally just came in because, I mean, I told you I was already looking at this company before I graduated, and they, my friends, already told me that you're not really interviewed for what you can offer as an OT, they're looking more in personality. So when I mean, we have some ot topics in there, but I was in there for two and a half hours, oh, wow, talking about my life, my interviewers life, and our connection in OT and, you know, yeah, so it's more of a personality interview. So it's, it's, it's, I can't, I'm sorry I won't give you much detail, because this is not helpful, because for other like, I don't know, like the district interviews would be something different that, like COVID OTs would experience. But I guess what I was trying to get into was, what was I trying to say? Of course, I came in with a folder. I researched, this is self information. I researched salaries for Glassdoor, indeed, ot salary.com and I was ready to negotiate during that interview. So this is one thing when it goes to your interview, get ready to negotiate. Have a list of questions. So I did have list of questions, of course, about your benefits, the workload, the caseload, mentorship. You know, expectations, how many hours a week you're supposed to work? What kind of everyday, activities as an OT, yes, I guess this way.
Jayson Davies
wait, I have a question. You went in with a folder ready to negotiate. Did you negotiate during your initial interview?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Not really, because I spoke to with an owner and it was an HR question, so I had to wait for my offer, like try to do that in negotiation after I got offered.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, yeah. What was so you did some homework, and I'm not going to ask you how much you're getting paid, but what was that range that you were finding for Southern California, that OTs were kind of, what were you kind of, what was that range you were expecting?
Jhennylyn Rivera
It was really a huge, wide range. It's funny because coming in an OT school, you're expected to pay, oh, this much. But it ranged from 65 to 120.
Jayson Davies
65 to 120 an hour an hour.
Jhennylyn Rivera
I mean, sorry, okay, a year, a year.
Jayson Davies
Yeah. Okay.
Jhennylyn Rivera
So it's a huge range. You know, it's like a double range. So it really depends. So of course, district will probably pay more, and contract companies are probably going to be pay lesser. But, yeah, that's the range, 65 to 120, per year.
Jayson Davies
And that's, of course, that's Southern California. It's very specific to region. You know, things change from from one place to another. So just want to clarify for anyone listening that? Yeah, it is definitely a Southern California area that she's talking about for 65 to 120 and that's what I've experienced as well in in my past. So All right, let's get now to you have a job, you are working for this company, and explain kind of how this looks the larger picture. You talked about it being a contract type of company. So so just kind of give us an outline of what that looks like for you.
Jhennylyn Rivera
So, contract company we have. Each company is different for us. We have a satellite office, our main office in Fullerton, and we service different districts. I think we have six or eight, and each of those strict districts depends too. So one district have two dozen employees, one district would probably lesser. Mine has 12, so different districts, and I'm assigned to one district in the LA, LA area, and I service three schools. I go to to, Monday, Tuesday, I'm in one school, Wednesday, Friday, I'm in a two different schools, and then I have my Thursday as admin day.
Jayson Davies
Gotcha. Okay, so three schools within one district. How far away are? How far away are your schools? About just general, five minutes, 10 minute drive.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Five to 10. I was, yeah.
Jayson Davies
Pretty close. I mean, you're in a very suburban area, so that makes sense. All right, cool. I just wanted to everyone to have a picture of what we're talking about, because other people might be in a much more rural area, and so what we're going to talk about will still apply, but keep in mind that it will be different than your experience. So now you figured out you're in a job. You've got your schools assigned to you, what were some of the first things you remember feeling like that you needed to do in order to get prepared to start working in those schools.
Jhennylyn Rivera
So I definitely went shopping. So as a school based OT, and that's the reason why I like one of the factors to why I went to school based because I'm I'm a crafty person. I love making stuff, and before even learning about how the stipend for the therapy materials that we have, I already went shopping for Play Doh on papers, pencil pencil grids. Because, from my experience in my school based field work, I mean, those are the things that I are. I encountered, and my supervisors actually gave me a gift at the end of my field work, and had some like essential therapy materials in there, which I build on. Um, I basically have my closet school based ot stuff. So I went shopping also. I reviewed my terms, my terminology for school based IP IE, who are the members of the IEP team. What do they do? How can we provide help as an OT? What do we do as an OT? So basically, I just refresh myself on the things that I would need. Also reach out to my mentors, I believe, like you know, if they have any advice for me, starting in the job, what to expect, what are the challenges that I and how to how do I overcome it? Yeah, yeah. So that's pretty much what I did. I mean, I also, of course, ot interview process, I looked in their professional development package, because I want to tie that in during the school year, because some companies I wasn't sure. For ours, it expires at the end of the school year, so I have to incorporate that in my schedule and when I should take and so this is also a promotion I'm not sponsored, but a shameless plug, shameless plug. But calling out, hi, Beverly, I'm going to attend the Size Matters handwriting program in June, and the company is paying for that, for that, well, a part of it, we're getting $300 for professional development, but also paid hours to attend it. So, yes, I looked at professional development, that I could take certification, that I could get a hold on, you know, like just to invest in myself, to give back to my my students.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, absolutely. And for anyone listening, if you haven't already, Episode 89 that was with Beverly Moskowitz of the Size Matters handwriting program, and that's the course that Jenny was just talking about. So check out episode 89 if you want to learn more about Bev. And all right, you had administrative time. How did you use that first week of administrative time to get prepared?
Jhennylyn Rivera
So first week, I did a lot of initial chart reviews, because I don't know anything about these kids. Definitely the first and the good thing about this company too, you know, I'm not sponsored, but the first two weeks, I was only shadowing my supervisor, the OT that I was going to replace, and she was there doing her routine, and I was just following her, asking questions, and I'm already paid on the clock and the admin time during those two weeks. I reviewed charts, I looked at reports, I treatment prep for the next week. So basically, that's what I did.
Jayson Davies
That's important. You know, you got to get organized. And knowing you, I'm sure you probably figured out some spreadsheets to put together and documents and got all the goals and organized in a very particular way. And I recommend doing stuff like that too. You know, take time to get organized, if you can. And you know what that might be, something that you need to speak up and tell your boss. Because a lot of companies, you know, they expect you to, day one, start seeing kids. And that's a very difficult expectation, because, I mean, as an OT, you know, I like to think that we are very ethical people. And, you know, it takes time to start to know what to work on before we should just be thrown in and working on it. Right? We need to develop a treatment plan. And it's hard to build, hard to develop a treatment plan if you don't know anything about the child you're about to work with. So speak up to your boss and say, you know, what? Can I take a day or two just to look at the files and get organized a little bit? Definitely. Yeah. All right, so I just want to ask you about the first couple experiences that you had. And maybe we, I mean, I don't know. We'll see how it goes. First evaluation or two. Tell us about the first few evaluations you did, the experience that you had with that.
Jhennylyn Rivera
So wow, in three months, I already done a lot in my company. We don't do initial evaluation as a as a new grad and as a new hire, which is awesome, but I've done a lot of tries. It was, it's, I guess it's a subjective experience too, because it depends on the kids that you're working with. I was assigned in a school, the only school in the district that has an autism program. So most of my my kids are more severe and so, you know, coming into ot school, oh, we learned about this evaluation, you go step one, step two, step three, yeah, and now it's doing so right now I've only done the VMI Berry and the Peabody. So beer is pretty straightforward. You go with the VMI, the the visual perception and the motor develop, the motor coordination. It was sad. My first one, it was pretty sad, because it's motzi beer, and the kid was, I believe it was first grade or kinder, and, you know, unable to sit down for the task for the entire time, lots of verbal, visual and physical prompts. So it wasn't really, it wasn't really, I didn't really see much on that evaluation, so that is only the standardized part of it. But then I also did some functional assessments to have them, like the drawing, the coloring, the grasp, and also interviewed educational staff, because standardized stuff is just one thing, and then you probably learn it from your podcast. So yeah, that's my first evaluation, even it didn't really go as planned. I mean, never. I mean, nothing goes planned. You just have to be flexible on the spot. But I've also had peabody was pretty challenging, because you go by, okay, step one, step two, but if the blocks are already in front of you, you just have to, like, do the blocks.
Jayson Davies
Yes, I totally remember I used to have a little cheat card. I made, like, a three by five, three by five note card. And I put, like, all the block activities together, all the paper and scissor activities together and like everything. So that way you just do all the blocks at once, and you just stop once you get to, you know, the the failed whatever block attempt, right? They couldn't do the bridge. So you stop. But, yeah, the Peabody, if you try and do it in order, it can take forever because you're constantly switching materials. But if you learn how to batch it a little bit, it can go a lot more smoothly.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Definitely, I'll probably need a copy of that.
Jayson Davies
It's long gone. Sorry. I mean,
Jhennylyn Rivera
I could rewrite it, but write it to get familiar, to get more familiar with it right now, because it's still a learning process.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely all right. So that was the first evaluation. Let's continue down that road. So you did the evaluation. You know, you made it through. It didn't go quite as planned, but you made it through. Tell us about the first few IEPs. How'd you feel?
Jhennylyn Rivera
First few IEPs, I was definitely scared. I think I was talking to you about this, I was scared. And the good thing with that too, my company too, my my supervisor, was there to, like, attend with me for like, first two, three IPs. In case they have a question, they can back me up. But, you know, I have to be confident of what I deliver, because, you know, and also the IEP they attended and delivering information that the previous ot have inputted, because it's a transition. So I wasn't really fully familiar of it. That's why we're there's two of us tagging out tag team presenting the IEP, but it's definitely scary. But it was virtual the first month. I believe it's still virtual, because it's January, February, March is when we started to incorporate more in person. When I went to so first virtual, and then I did my first in person. That is also scary, because I love public speaking, but I guess if the if it's something that I do for the first time. I mean, of course, you get the jitters. But of course, as soon as you stand out there, you just have to, I just have to be myself, like you make jokes here and there about the kid you you've tried to focus on the on their strengths, like you're deliver because I've, I've sat on Iaps that are really sad, and we try to, you know, strength to approach, to get a strength based approach on our IEPs, and that's what I try to do with minds. Because, you know, we are servicing the kid we're we're here to help them improve, and we want to empower them using those strengths to build on the challenges that we're trying. To work on.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, so and there. There might not be an answer to this question, but have you had to sit through an IEP that was very difficult, where you struggled because for any reason that was going on? Or have they gone mostly pretty smooth? So far?
Jhennylyn Rivera
No, I have sat in a couple high profile IEPs IPs that had lawyers before, had advocates already. Wow, they didn't attend on my IP, but they had it before, but it's still the longest one I attended so far here is two and a half hours, and that's in person. So and I like, have to stretch here and drink my water. But, you know, I mean, I cannot blame the parents. I know a lot of people are saying that always challenging parents, but they just want the best for their kids, and they were trying to work as a team to, you know, have a middle ground and to provide what's best for the kids.
Jayson Davies
100% absolutely great. Well, you know, I'm glad that, for the most part, they've gone smoothly. I'm sure there will be one in the next year or two that will be a lot more difficult, and we'll have to talk about it again. All right, so I don't again. We're getting close to where we should wrap up, so I'm going to, I'm going to wrap up with a few questions quickly. Tell us what your caseload looks like right now, both in numbers and the type of services that you're delivering.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Okay, so my case load looks like number wise, I started with 35 and in three months I was able to pick up five or six more kids, so I probably in 4045 something, but that depends the service wise. It ranges from six times a year, collaboration to once a month, collaboration to twice a month, collaboration to once a week, collaboration two, once a week and compensatory so It arranges my case load and yeah, difficulty depends as well, but yeah, number wise, 45 and services.
Jayson Davies
All right, two questions, based upon what you just said, compensatory, I'm assuming that means that the student was owed extra minutes from either Miss sessions or whatever, and so that's the compensatory time.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes. And then, you know, those are the pro the high profile ones that they had, lawyers and advocates and yes.
Jayson Davies
And I think we're also seeing some of that right now because of the pandemic, there are people arguing that, you know, those services don't count, and that that is for each district to figure out how they're going to go about that, right? Yeah. Then the other thing is, you use the term collaborative model a lot. You said six times a month or six times a year, collaborative all the way up to one time a week. Collaborative? Was that on purpose using the word collaborative? Are you? What does collaborative mean to you?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes, I mean, I guess it's in purpose, because we have the collaboration model and individual model. So for my individuals, basically, I have an OT office in at least all of my schools. We have two, one school, we have an OT office in one school. I have a room, a designated room, that I use. And, you know, in one on one individual, I take, I pull out the kid from class, and then we work on ot goals in the office. Collaborative model can basically include talking to the teachers, the staff, the parents, as well as pushing it. Could also be a few times pull out just to do the assessments and the goal progress, and then a lot of basically communicating with everyone in the team.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, that's great. I love that you're already starting down the collaborative Road, even within your first year of school based OT. I can tell you this right now. 10 years ago, when I started as a school based OT, collaborative approach, like wasn't even a thing. So that that is fantastic that you are over. I mean, again, I shouldn't say the way that I said it, because it's it was a thing, just not where I was, not my schools. And so that's great that you're already jumping in. Because I always tell new grads, it's hard to do a collaborative, you know, it is easy to pull a student out and work with them one on one. I mean, you pull that student out, you know, we're not thinking this, you know, cognitively, but it's not in the forefront of our brain, but we're pulling that student out. There's no one watching us. There's no one grading whether or not what we're saying is actually like working or not, until we give our progress reports. But doing that collaborative approach, getting into the classroom, it is tough, and you've got to build relationships with the teachers, with the aides, with the lunch noon duty aides, if you're working out at lunchtime, with the principal, the speech therapist, everyone. So kudos to you for already diving into that collaborative model. That's That's fantastic. Fantastic. Two more questions.
Jhennylyn Rivera
Sorry, just to add to that collaboration model, because lres Least restrictive environment, if we pull out the kid, we pull them out from the education or the curriculum that they're missing in class. And you know, like having the team in my district, they're really supportive from, you know, the school, the cafeteria people, the custodians, the teachers, the admins, I try to learn their names. I'm pretty okay with names, so I when I see them, I call them their names out and, you know, try to try to make that rapport and relationship with everyone.
Jayson Davies
Yep, that's That's smart. I that was something that was always a struggle for me, was remembering everyone's name. I even would put, I would even put people's names into my phone, into a Notes app, so that way, like as I was walking into a classroom, I could remember the name of the age. You know the teachers. It's easy to remember the teachers you know you're you're in constant contact with them, with IEPs and whatnot. But the age, sometimes they move around a lot, and it's just, you know, you you get so much more. The more you put in, the more you get out, right? So the more effort you put into working with them, knowing them, the more they're going to work with you and work with their parents in the way they that you want them to. So great, feedback on that. Yeah, all right, last two questions, and they're going to be more upbeat ones. I hope. What would you say you have enjoyed most in your first few months as a school based OT?
Jhennylyn Rivera
I definitely enjoyed I'm a person who doesn't like being cooked up in a building for the whole day, and I know this might be stressful for other people, but I like the change, the flexibility. Every day is different. I may have a schedule to follow, but it also takes cognitive flexibility to Oh, skit doesn't show, doesn't as absent today. What are you going to do? You have to, like, try to move your schedule around. I like that part of the job. And also, some people don't like being in the car. I like the the traveling between schools, because that gives me that gives me a time to reset, take that I know you have an episode about mindfulness, to take that minute or two to just breathe, because that is really important, especially the first two months, I was crying probably almost every day, because it's so hard. I was thinking of quitting because, like, coming from school and then going straight to, like, 40 hour per per week job, and it's physical, and then you have to do reports. It's really a lot, and that driving part between my schools gives me time to relax and reset and rest for a little bit before I hop in again. But I also enjoy meeting a lot of people, new people. When I walk in a school and they know that I'm the OT that they already automatically greet me and, you know, we chat about our lives, we learn about, you know, oh, you go to this church, I go to this grocery bar and stuff, I know. Like, like, I'm really, I'm extrovert, so like, slightly intro, I guess depends when I go home after work, I just want to go home, but when I'm at work, I'm in my A game. Like, I try to, you know, like, bring that energy at the job and you it. They give it back to you, whatever you get out to, you know, to everyone they it's nice when they call out. They call me by my name, not just because it's, you know, the teacher, the writing teacher, yeah, the fine motor teacher, so OT, yeah, so and they and I tell them what I do, so not just that those things that they are really hard for.
Jayson Davies
Yeah, that's awesome. And you know, thank you for you know, I preface that with I think these will be positive, but you're right there. There is difficult times, especially in your first year, and it's going to be tough a little bit. So with that, thank you for sharing a little bit about the struggle, but knowing that's a struggle. What advice would you give to anyone who is either a looking to get into school based OT, or maybe they just got a job last week and they're in school based OT? What advice would you give them?
Jhennylyn Rivera
I guess I have a few couple advice as one is believe in yourself, especially for new grads. Imposter syndrome, it is there. I don't usually like call it that way, but, you know, I don't really fully know what it is. I guess sometimes I feel it like, I feel like I'm not. I don't know what I'm doing, but you have to remind yourself that you're the one who went to school for this. You are the one who have OTR L, you took the boards, and you basically are the professional and coming out there, I don't know. I mean, I don't really go by this motto of, um, fake, fake it till you make it, but I don't, I don't really like it, but sometimes, I guess you just have to, I don't call it that way. But when you're even though you're unsure, you know, you just have to present yourself confidently. If you're if you're presented with a question and you're not sure, tell them honestly. Oh, I'm not sure. I don't know the answer right now. But you probably heard this from people like, but I'll look into it, and I'll get back to you. Don't give them like a false advertisement, like false information, if you're not sure about something, and also don't beat yourself up. You make mistakes. I did make mistakes, and I did beat myself up, but my supervisor said, which is a good thing with this company, they really not just there to make the productivity that they're there as a friend to, and they remind me to because they know my personality by now, I'm kind of a perfectionist, and they said that sometimes you just have to deal with what is out there, and you cannot make everything perfect, and you have to adjust, like on the spot, yeah, so I guess be flexible too. A lot of Type A's in OT school, and like me, things are not going to go your way all the time. It's okay to be prepared. It's nice to be prepared, but you just have to have a backup plan. I have a cart with me with a dozen of different activities. If one plan doesn't work, go to the next one. And literally, every kid is different. One kit may only last for one minute, and you have, like 2025, minute, um session, you just have to adapt and grade your activities up and down based on what they need.
Jayson Davies
Absolutely. Yeah. Great advice. Great advice. Yeah, you know the fake it till you make it thing, I have officially replaced that, and I think it was on a podcast that I heard this. But instead of fake it till you make it, believe it until you achieve it. That's the new one. Believe it until you achieve it. That's the one I'm I'm turning it into, because you're right. You know, we're not faking it. We do know what we're talking about. We just have to believe in ourselves. And when we believe in ourselves, we can achieve anything. So believe it until you achieve it. That's, that's what I'm replacing. Fake it till you make it with. All right. Jenny, well, thank you so much for coming on really quickly share where people can learn more about you. Obviously, you're helping me out a little bit at the OT school house, but outside of that, where can people find you?
Jhennylyn Rivera
Yes. So pre ot students, I have a YouTube channel of all my experience during ot school, and even now, even though I'm well, I'm busy, I haven't been uploading videos, but a lot of informational videos from my ot school experience, and you can see it. Jenny berry OT, I believe I don't even remember my YouTube anymore, because my website is Jenny berry com, j, h, e, n, n, y, b, R, Y. I mean, Jayson is going to put a link on the website, um, YouTube, uh, website and Instagram, um, Jhenny Berry, OT.
Jayson Davies
Yep. And I marked those down, so we will add those to the show notes. If you'd like links to those. Head on over to OT schoolhouse.com, forward slash episode 102, wow. I still can't believe we're in episode 102. But Jenny, thank you so much for coming on the OT school house podcast and sharing your experience. I couldn't have asked for anything more, and I know this is going to help so many ot practitioners that a they just graduated, or maybe they're still in school and just thinking about they want to know what to expect once they get out of school. This is all going to be very helpful information. So thank you. I really appreciate you being willing to come on and share your experiences, and you're very welcome. It's so much fun. Let's do it again. Sounds good. We'll have to do a one year update, maybe, or something. All right. Well, thank you so much. And yeah, I will catch you later.
Jhennylyn Rivera
All right, bye.
Jayson Davies
All right, and that is going to wrap up Episode 102 of the OT school house podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. I am sure there are more people listening to this sentence right now than there usually is at the end of every ot school house podcast, because there was just so much great stuff there, and she was just so exciting to talk to. Thank you, Jenny, so much for coming on and talking about your experiences here within your first two months of being a school based OT. I hope that you found this episode so helpful, and if you did, please just share it with your friends. Share it with a colleague who is ready to make that switch to school based OT, share it with that new school based ot practitioner that you work with every day. Let them know about the OT school OTs podcast, and that this episode is worth the listen. And go ahead and listen to all the other episodes we got going on. There are so many good episodes within the podcast, and more are coming in the future. This is episode number 102, we dropped this in June. So this is a good time to be looking for a new position, to be looking to make a switch from maybe one career to another. Maybe you had a kid and you just want to have summers off, and so you're thinking about moving to a school position. That's great. Thank you so much for being here, and I hope to be able to support you in so many more episodes. We have so much going on at the OT school house, the website and with our conference coming up in August, so I hope to see you there, but yeah, I'm going to take a moment to breathe. Sign off, and I will see you in episode 103 of the OT school house podcast. Take care everyone. Bye.
Amazing Narrator
Thank you for listening to the OT school house podcast for more ways to help you and your students succeed right now, head on over to OTs schoolhouse.com. Until next time class is dismissed.
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