About the PREPaRE Presenters

As a Valdosta State faculty member from 1983 to 2015, Dr. Hilgert has taught undergraduate courses in introductory, abnormal, child, and educational psychology, life span development, and physiological psychology as well as graduate courses in beginning and advanced clinical assessment, educational and school psychology, psychopathology, school/clinical practicum and internship, and neuropsychology. Dr. Hilgert represented Valdosta State as a University System of Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow in 2000-2001. In addition to teaching, Dr. Hilgert has provided psychological services to Coastal Plains Head Start, Echols, and Brooks counties through a polyclinic at Valdosta State University. He has a 30-year history of working with the migrant community of South Georgia and spent one year developing an autism project with Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA) in Guadalajara, Mexico. As a private practitioner, Dr. Hilgert has provided assessment and consultation to both individuals and various agencies throughout the region and state. Dr. Hilgert has completed training under the direction of the American Red Cross in crisis mental health counseling since 1988. In 2013, Dr. Hilgert completed initial and advanced training (Training of Trainers) in both crisis prevention and intervention through the National Association of School Psychologist’s PREPaRE (Prevent, Reaffirm, Evaluate, Provide and Respond, Examine) model. From 2015 to 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hilgert was a PREPaRE trainer for the Southeastern United States Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) schools. In the Summer of 2016,
Dr. Hilgert also co-presented PREPaRE Workshops for all Mississippi certified school counselors in consultation with the Mississippi Department of Education; and in Summer, 2018, he provided PREPaRE training for the Birmingham Public Schools.  During the past two years he has maintained his PREPaRE trainer status and has completed initial online training in trauma therapy and grief counseling through two separate ACCME accredited certification courses.

Dr. Barzanna White has been employed as a school psychologist in numerous school systems and has taught as an adjunct at several colleges including The University of Tennessee, Pellissippi, Tusculum, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, and Centenary College.  Dr. White also teaches as adjunct faculty for Louisiana State University in Shreveport and Centenary College.  Currently, Dr. White is the District School Psychologist and School Climate Transformation Grant Director for Caddo Parish Schools where she serves over 36,000 students. She is the District Coordinator of School Wide Positive Behavior Support, Character Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools, Bullying Prevention, and Suicide Prevention for the parish, supervises personnel associated with various grants, and is the lead responder for crises.  In addition to her primary duties, Dr. White actively participates in many organizations and holds executive board positions in many of these organizations such as the APBS State Representative for the National Committee, School Health Advisory Council, Brentwood Community Advisory Committee, Southeastern School of Behavioral Health Board, Northwest Louisiana Suicide Prevention Coalition, the State Advisory Committee for Character Education, Suicide Prevention, and the Louisiana State Advisory Committee for PBIS.  Over the years, she has earned many accolades such as the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award, the Mental Health America of Louisiana Allied Health Care Professional: Heroes in the Fight Award, 2 State Character Education Awards, The Governor’s Award, 2 National Character Education Awards, and the LSUS Circle of Excellence Award for Leadership, Professionalism, and Community Service.  She also has been awarded numerous grants totally over 25 million dollars for Caddo Parish, has been an invited presenter for state, national, and international conferences on many topics, and has published nationally and internationally.