Aurora Public Schools

The Work That Is Being Done

Aurora AWARE is a team within the Department of Mental Health & Counseling that promotes social, emotional, and behavioral health by elevating diverse, equitable, and inclusive practices across educational systems. AWARE supports students' behavioral health and well-being by working with youth-serving adults in the Aurora community to

• Increase awareness of mental health issues that impact school-aged youth

• Support the vetting and implementation of SEL in schools integrated throughout the academic day.

• Build and maintain a comprehensive system to connect children, youth, and families who may have behavioral health issues with appropriate community-based behavioral health services.

• Increase equitable access to education and inclusive education for LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community members by providing training, addressing policies, and providing consultation

• Reducing vulnerability to child sexual abuse and promoting educational spaces that are unattractive to offenders by providing training, addressing policies, and providing consultation

• Support school staff in responding to student mental health safety regarding technology by using Linewize.

• Build & maintain school & district-wide systems and provide training and consultation in the following areas:

Kim Kaspar MSW

AWARE Coordinator

[email protected]

(720) 640-8831

Kim received her master's degree in social work from the University of Denver. Kim has served the community of Aurora as a school social worker, PBIS district level coach, & MTSS Community Partner for the last 10 years, and has currently been in this role for 4 years. She has a passion for promoting social, emotional and behavioral health of students. In addition to her expertise as a mental health worker, Kim has been an integral piece of PBIS implementation district wide in Aurora Public Schools. Kim enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

Erin Fawkes

AWARE Systems Consultant

[email protected]

(720) 779-1359

Erin was a teacher for 15 years teaching pre-school through 6th graders in both public and private schools and has spend the last 4 years in her current position. She gained teaching experience in Missouri, Hawaii, Singapore, and Colorado in both general education and special education. Erin has been with Aurora Public Schools for nine years as a general education teacher, math coach, and for the last four years as a school psychologist. Erin has a deep passion for working to support the social, emotional, and behavioral development of students and consulting with other youth-serving adults.

Austin McClain

AWARE Systems Consultant

[email protected]

(303) 326-2733 ext. 28062

Austin earned a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, and his Master of Social Work at the University of Denver. Austin began his career working in residential treatment facilities as a direct care staff member and then later as a therapist, and has worked with youth from 5 to 19 years old in a number of residential facilities. The primary work with was youth that had PTSD, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. Prior to joining the AWARE team, Austin was a site director at the Bridge Project, managing the Lincoln Park site and working with youth and families in Denver Housing Authority and the surrounding neighborhoods. Austin joined the AWARE team in August of 2020, and helps lead the work with Behavioral Health Referrals and Youth Mental Health First Aid.

Emma Topf

AWARE Systems Consultant 

[email protected]

Taylor Ira

AWARE Systems Consultant

[email protected]

I am super excited to be joining the AWARE team as a Systems Consultant for the 22-23 school year! I will be supporting the Central region of APS. Currently, I am just finishing up my fifth year as a school psychologist and have spent all of those years in APS. Before becoming a school psychologist, I was a preschool teacher at a Montessori school in my home state of Nebraska.

Yamel Ramirez-Morales

AWARE Risk Response Specialist

Supporting Suicide Risk Assessment Compliance

[email protected]

I graduated with my bachelor's in science in 2018 with a degree in Psychology and Spanish at the Colorado State University- Pueblo. After graduation I interned with the Department of Human and Health Services with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. I then prepared to serve in the Peace Corps as a literacy aid helping grade school students improve their literary skills in the Dominican Republic in 2020 but a week before departure realized I was expecting a baby so I stayed home. I am currently obtaining my Master's in Forensic Psychology and graduate in April of 2022 at Arizona State University and I am very excited to be working with APS as it has been a goal of mine since I graduated with my undergrad.

Location

Mental Health and Counseling

AWARE Department

2500 S. Granby Way,

Aurora, CO 80014