A-LIST Spotlight: 2021 A-LIST Inductees

What better way to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week than to introduce our newest group of educators recently inducted into the Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team’s “A-LIST”. Our A-LIST stands for Autism-Low Incidence Support Team and is comprised of a regional network of select professionals who exhibit “best practices” in serving the needs of students who have autism or other complex, low incidence disabilities.

Our A-LIST began in 2012 in an effort to recognize outstanding individuals who had exceeded the high expectations of our coaching process, and who represented the best that our region had to offer to students with disabilities. Only a fraction of the educators we coach each year are nominated. The A-LIST truly represents the BEST professionals in our region.

The goal of the MCESC Autism & Low-Incidence Coaching Team is to build the capacity of our region’s administrators, teachers, intervention specialists, related service providers, and paraprofessionals to serve children with autism and other complex disabilities. The A-LIST serves a critical role in that mission by maintaining a multi-disciplinary network of outstanding practitioners across all 5 counties we serve. We often refer our coaching teams to our A-LIST members for practical, “in the trenches” perspectives, advice, and occasional modeling of best practices.

In today's A-LIST Spotlight, the light shines bright on 7 educators from across the Miami Valley in a variety of disciplines and districts.

John Everson

Paraprofessional

Tipp High School

Tipp City Exempted Village Schools

Our team has been incredibly impressed with how well John has managed his role this school year. We know it has been challenging to support students during a pandemic, with all of the new protocols to follow. John certainly had his hands full but he approached all of these challenges with professionalism, dedication, and persistence.  We admire John's work ethic and investment in the students he supports.  John has high expectations for the students he supports and he does an excellent job advocating for their best interests. We appreciate how John has collaborated with us throughout the year to help problem-solve solutions while always keeping an open mind. He is also a rockstar at collecting data! We have admired the fact that John read a book we recommended, reflected on it, and really used that information to help drive his data collection. His hard work helped facilitate data-informed decisions that the team made throughout the duration of the school year. This is so important!  And it has certainly been a factor in John's ability to implement our recommendations with such fidelity. Excellent work, John!

Mandy Schetter

Intervention Specialist

Northmoor Elementary

Northmont City School District

We have loved working with Mandy this year as she pioneered a new unit within her new district during a pandemic nonetheless! Mandy certainly had her hands full but she approached all of these challenges with such professionalism, dedication, and a whole lot of flexibility! We think she is truly awesome! She also excels at managing her classroom staff, maintaining high expectations for students, and we have also loved to see her creativity and ability to individualize supports for her students' unique needs. Wonderful job, Mandy!

Lisa Mossing

1st Grade General Education Teacher

Beverly Gardens Elementary

Mad River Local Schools

Over the past several years, we have had several ACT referral students with various needs in Lisa's classroom. It has been such a pleasure to see how these students succeed with her! Lisa has such a gift for meeting her students where they are at and making sure they authentically belong to her classroom family. She has such a great positive attitude and her warmth can even be felt through the computer screen during our time of remote coaching! It was a pleasure collaborating with Lisa to start this school year and seeing how she always does such a nice job of implementing recommendations and providing valuable feedback! Lisa, your students are so fortunate to have you!

Jessica Brown

Intervention Specialist

Dixie Middle School

New Lebanon Local School District

At Dixie Middle School in New Lebanon, Jessica Brown impressed us with her perseverance! As an intervention specialist supporting inclusion in a general education classroom, she advocated for her student and worked to build a trusting relationship. We loved how she made a point to celebrate the student's strengths and accomplishments with everyone. Jessica made the implementation of evidence-based practices look easy and she collaborated with the team to ensure that strategies were implemented with fidelity and consistency. It is evident that Jessica really cares about her students and made it clear that when this student moves on to a new team, she will continue to offer her support. 

Haley Urschel

Intervention Specialist

Perrin Woods Elementary

Springfield City Schools

Our team has been incredibly impressed with how well Haley has managed her new position at Perrin Woods Elementary! Haley had a wonderful foundation of classroom and behavior management knowledge to start this year but she was eager to learn more about evidence-based practices for her students with autism. We have loved Haley's enthusiasm as we have coached this year! She is a wonderful classroom leader, rocks at taking data, implements supports with fidelity, and works hard to advocate for her staff and students. Additionally, we think it is wonderful that she prioritizes planning and being proactive in meeting the diverse needs of her students. Her organization and collaboration is impressive! Amazing job, Haley!

Terri Dinkelaker

Physical Therapist

Mad River Local Schools

MCESC

Our team has been incredibly impressed with how well Terri has managed this school year. We know it has been challenging navigating a hybrid schedule, during a pandemic, with a caseload that includes current and former ACT kiddos! Terri certainly had her hands full but she approached all of these challenges with such professionalism, dedication, and a whole lot of flexibility!  One thing that we admire most is Terri's positive attitude and strengths-based approach to therapy. All of our team members have been incredibly impressed with her leadership and knowledge base for her profession.  We also admire her drive to collaborate and advocate for the students on her caseload.  We have been impressed with Terri's initiative to support students in an individualized way, ensuring that she's meeting their needs.  Terri's practical application of support strategies should be celebrated and is something we would love to share with other teams. Terri, we think you are truly awesome!

Rylie Jarrett

Intervention Specialist

Stevenson Elementary

Mad River Local Schools

Rylie is awesome! We have used her as an example of best practice so often that it felt like she was already on our A-List!  We are happy to make it official so we can give Rylie the shoutout that she deserves.  Rylie Jarrett is a special education teacher for a self-contained classroom at Stevenson Elementary in the Mad River school district.  She is so creative in her ability to make effective visual supports that meet the unique needs of each of her students. She has had many challenging students and is always looking for solutions to make school a fun and productive place for all of her kids.