(WHITLEY CITY, KY) – McCreary County’s Angelina Farwick Philpot has become the second in Kentucky to attain National Certified School Social Worker (NCSSW) certification.

Philpot is a mental health service provider in the McCreary County School District, assigned to Whitley City Elementary School.

The NCSSW program launched in April of 2021, and applicants are required to create a portfolio that centers around the nine competencies associated with the National School Social Work Model. Portfolios are evaluated by experts in the field of school social work.

Philpot provides individual counseling services to students and collaborates with their therapists to provide additional support. In kindergarten, she provides first steps interventions.

She received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in 2017, then got her master’s from Campbellsville University in 2019. She started at McCreary County in September 2023.

Philpot grew up not knowing what she wanted to do, but said she has an uncle who is a social worker.

“He has told me since I was a little girl, ‘You are a social worker,’” Philpot said. “Then I had some life experiences that just made things click for me and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s right.’”

Philpot said she enjoys helping people and lifting them up if she notices they’re down. She loves to see kids progress from being closed off to then opening up and showing more enthusiasm.

“They say that like one trusting relationship with an adult makes such a difference in a kid’s life,” she said. “There are particular kids that I’m working with now who won’t approach you face on. And since working with those kiddos, I was walking down the hallway the other day … and the kid threw his arms out in the air and ran towards me.”

Philpot works under AugmentMC, which is a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education to provide more mental health services to the McCreary County school district. The program partners McCreary County Schools with Campbellsville University, EKU, Lindsey Wilson College, and University of the Cumberlands, placing their mental health graduate students within the school system for their practicum hours.

The district gets $6 million over the course of five years to expand services and the number of trained providers. They are on year three.

Philpot said she is currently working with a practicum student from EKU who’s working on her master’s degree in social work.

“We have been meeting all our goals with our grant, reaching all of our benchmarks and really making a difference with the kiddos; I think in educating the teachers and staff as well,” Philpot said.

Rebecca Blakley, director of AugmentMC at McCreary County Schools, said Philpot has made a profound difference in the lives of students, families, and staff in the district.

“Her compassionate approach and expertise have helped countless students develop coping skills, build confidence and navigate difficult life circumstances,” Blakely said. “Through individual counseling, group sessions and crisis intervention, Angelina ensures that students have a safe space to express their concerns and receive the guidance they need.”

Philpot said AugmentMC wants to expand the number of nationally certified providers in the school system. Philpot wanted to be certified at the same national level as many of her peers, so she started pursuing the NCSSW certification in May 2024.

The NCSSW program is a new initiative to make a certification that’s similar to the National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) program.

As a new program, there are currently less than 40 people in the nation who are certified. Philpot is number 34. Kentucky Teacher previously profiled the first person in Kentucky to be certified, Lesley Gilpin.

As part of the certification process, Philpot had to write a paper for each of the nine competencies associated with the National School Social Work Model. Each competency has performance indicators and under each performance indicator she had to explain and provide proof of how she met that indicator as a school social worker.

Philpot ended up with something similar to a dissertation with 111 pages of content, including six pages of references and 99 pages of supporting artifacts. She said the process helped her learn about some of her strengths and weaknesses and the areas she wants to grow.

“We know we’re providing services to students, families and teachers, but you really don’t have the time to sit down and look at what you’re actually doing and the impact that you’re making,” Philpot said. “And when I wrote this paper, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did that. I’ve done way more with my career in my practice as a school social worker than I realized;’ and in writing that, it built a different type of confidence in my professional self.”

Blakely said that while the certification process wasn’t easy, it strengthened Philpot’s leadership skills and reinforced her passion for social work.

“One of the most significant areas of growth has been her ability to assess and address complex student needs with greater confidence and effectiveness,” Blakely said. “She has honed her skills in trauma-informed care, behavior intervention strategies and social-emotional learning, ensuring that students receive the highest level of support.”

Philpot is now a peer reviewer for the NCSSW certification process, helping applicants with their papers and providing positive feedback throughout the process.

She expects the program to grow significantly over the next few years and encourages other school social workers to get certified.