◆ Kelsi Lund is a speech-language pathologist in LCSD2.

Kelsi Lund is the speech-language pathologist for Etna Elementary School, Swift Creek High School, and Bridges to Independence Academy, which is the post high school program for students with disabilities in LCSD2.

Lund hails from North Dakota. She attended Brigham Young University Provo Campus for her undergraduate program and then the University of Utah for her master’s degree.

With counsel from a family member who had completed a program in Speech-Language Pathology, and having always wanted a career in which she could help others, she jumped into the Speech-Language field where she has served students for six years. Immediately following graduation from the U of U, Lund took a position in Utah for three years.

“After living in Utah for 10 years, I was ready for cleaner air and less traffic,” said Lund. “Star Valley had been in the back of my mind since hearing about it during graduate school. LCSD2 stood out to me for a few reasons. It has a high achieving school district, small town living, and the mountains are my happy place!”

“The push for quality and sincere teamwork in this district is one of the highlights of working here for me,” said Lund. “I feel teamwork is key within the school setting in order to educate the whole child. I am constantly learning from my fellow coworkers.”

Lund feels that her profession impacts her students in critical ways. “I helped a young girl who was nonverbal and who had severely limited physical abilities learn to nod and turn her head in order to answer yes and no questions. It was amazing to watch this girl’s world come alive! She finally had a voice and was able to share her thoughts with her family, which is something she hadn’t been able to do before that.”
Another recent experience she had involved a student who had always faced significant challenges with reading. “I introduced her to audiobooks. To see their face light up while talking about the audiobook they were listening to was amazing! Being able to improve a person’s quality of life makes all the paperwork requirements of the job bearable!”

“Social thinking and learning are big interests of mine,” said Lund. “I enjoy teaching students how the social world works, how to make and keep friends, and how to navigate all the expected and unexpected situations we as humans experience. The tech world in which we live has changed the way individuals participate in and learn about social competencies. As educators, we need to keep in mind that students may need to be directly taught aspects of social thinking that may have come easily and automatically for us.”

Lund is looking forward to a change. “After the steep learning curve of remote learning and online therapy sessions with students, I’m looking forward to closing my computer for a bit during summer break!”