Ashley Banta is one of the graduate assistants for the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health. Ashley earned her master’s degree in School Counseling from the University of Iowa in 2020 and, she is currently a Counseling Psychology doctoral student at the University of Iowa. During her master’s, Ashley interned at three schools in Iowa and worked as a substitute teacher. She worked as a graduate assistant for the Baker Teacher Leader Center for four years and will miss working with undergraduate teacher candidates. More recently, she has completed practicum experiences at the University of Iowa’s Counseling Center and Learning Disability and Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorders Clinic at the Center for Disabilities and Development. She is interning at the Ottumwa Child Health Specialty Clinic this year and is looking forward to working with children and their families.

Ashley Banta enjoys volunteering and being involved in her community. She volunteers with various organizations, such as Please Pass the Love and Project Healthcare Occupations Preparation and Exploration (HOPE). She also enjoys teaching Sunday school to children and teens and facilitating emotional resilience groups. Ashley’s research interests include assessments with children and adolescents, social-emotional-behavioral health education and training for pre-service teachers and teachers, and career development of children in rural communities.