KASSW Member Spotlight—Kristen Thurman
Kristen Thurman works for Jefferson County Public Schools as a Program Specialist. She has worked in two Neighborhood Place locations for the past three years and is responsible for receiving social service referrals from about 20 schools.
She obtained her Masters in Social Work from the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville.
She also has completed her School Social Work Certification. She began her social work path at the University of Kentucky as an undergrad. She always knew she wanted to be in the helping profession from the time she was in middle school and grew to love the idea as she approached college. She wanted to work with people who needed it most and she wanted to empower them to get to a place where they could be more self-sufficient. Kristen states that, “I have the best job in the district!
Kentucky Association for School Social Work
I have the privilege of working with and learning from so many great people as I collaborate with other agencies located in the Neighborhood Place.”
Kristen is married to her high school sweetheart, Chris. They have been together for nine years and married for two and a half years. They met in church and started dating on Super Bowl Sunday, which is fitting because they both LOVE sports, especially UK sports! They spend most of their weekends with other UK fans watching basketball or football. Kristen is expecting their first child this July—so that’s big news for them and their families. In addition to watching UK sports as one of her hobbies, she also enjoys working with the youth at her church.
Kristen is very excited to be the new representative for Jefferson County on the KASSW Board. She attended her first meeting in February and said it was interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes of the KASSW Board. Kristen states, “I know I am going to learn so much from the Board members as we are all from different areas in Kentucky. It is interesting to hear the issues and how things work in different counties, but in the end, we all come together with the common goal of providing the best services possible to children and their families”.
I get to work with about 20 different schools on programming, attendance issues, and helping families with services they may need. My favorite part of my job is doing groups. I love watching the light bulb go off in a child's head when they make the connection between the skill we are talking about and how that really applies to their life.