50th Anniversary Conference
October 23, 2026
The Club at 12 Oaks - Holly Springs, NC

 Meet Our Presenters

Jake Finan, EdS has been employed as a school psychologist for the past 13 years, serving Wake County for the past 10 years and Cleveland County for three years before that. His "School Psych Nerd" video series on digital tools for school psychologists has racked up roughly 70,000 views. He has served as NCSPA Treasurer, loves improv comedy, The Legends of Zelda, and most of all, his sons Teddy and Bennett.

Jason S. Frydman, PhD, RDT/BCT, NCSP is the co-director of the school psychology program at NC State University. He is a state and nationally certified school psychologist, licensed psychologist, and registered drama therapist/board certified trainer. Prior to joining NC State, Dr. Frydman was on faculty in the psychology and expressive therapies departments at Lesley University. Dr. Frydman’s research interests include the role of the arts in school-based mental health intervention, trauma-informed programming in schools, adolescent mental health literacy promotion, and summer camp mental wellness. He is the co-editor of Fostering Mental Health Literacy through Adolescent Literature (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), recently contracted for its second edition. In addition, Dr. Frydman serves on the editorial board of School Psychology Review (NASP) and is the associate editor of general topics for Translational Issues in Psychological Science (APA). He is the recipient of the 2023 North American Drama Therapy Association’s Research Award.

Jennie B. Hyde, PhD, HSP-P is a Lead School Psychologist with Wake County Public Schools, where she supervises school psychologists and leads districtwide professional learning and mental health initiatives.

Lacey Caines Kashtock, EdS, NCSP, is a nationally certified school psychologist with more than 15 years of experience serving students from preschool through high school. She currently works for Johnston County Public Schools, where she specializes in psycho-educational evaluation, MTSS, executive functioning supports, social-emotional intervention, and consultation with educators and families.

Dr. Kristen Mahony-Atallah, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology Program at North Carolina State University, within the Department of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences. She has a strong background in school psychology, earning her Ph.D. from Duquesne University, where she built a solid foundation in research and practice related to evidence-based interventions. Dr. Mahony-Atallah's research focuses on developing academic interventions and school-based mental health services informed by positive psychology. Her work addresses the interconnected challenges of academic skills development, mental health, and educational disparities, with a particular emphasis on supporting marginalized populations, including individuals with disabilities. Through the integration of positive psychology principles, she aims to foster resilience and promote well-being within school settings.

Jason A. Pedersen, PhD, NCSP, currently serves as President of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and is a nationally recognized leader in school psychology whose work focuses on systems-level design, infrastructure coherence, and sustainable implementation across local, state, and national contexts. He is also the Founder and Principal of Pedersen Education Strategy Consulting, where he advises schools, districts, and state agencies on building coherent, high-functioning educational systems.  

Dr. Pedersen has held numerous leadership roles at both the state and national levels, with a consistent focus on shaping policy, building organizational capacity, and advancing scalable, system-wide solutions. He is co-author of The Data-Driven School: Collaborating to Improve Student Outcomes, and has contributed extensively to Best Practices in School Psychology. In recognition of his contributions to the field of school psychology, he has received numerous national and state level awards, including being named NASP’s 2023 School Psychologist of the Year. He is widely known for helping education systems move from fragmented, initiative-driven practices to integrated, prevention-focused models. His work spans large-scale implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), social-emotional learning (SEL), and trauma-informed practices, with an emphasis on aligning governance, data systems, scheduling, and staffing to ensure long-term sustainability. 

Jackie Zins, MEd is a Lead School Psychologist with the Wake County Public School System. She is also the current Committee Chair for the NCSPA Equity Committee. Ms. Zins has a passion for data-based problem-solving, using the science of reading to support student learning, and working with early career school psychologists.