I am excited to join the Autism and Low-Incidence Coaching Team (ACT) this year as their second intervention specialist. I just completed my 12th year of teaching at Driscoll Elementary in Centerville, where I taught autistic students and students with low-incidence disabilities. During the 2021-2022 school year, I was the teacher of the year representative for Centerville City School District. Before becoming an intervention specialist, I worked as a paraprofessional working with the same population of students. I have also had experiences working with students at the middle school and high school levels through summer camps and Special Olympics.
I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be coached by the ACT team in my previous position and utilized many of their evidence-based strategies within my classroom. In 2018, I was recognized as an A-LIST Teacher by the ACT team.
In the classroom, I was passionate about helping my students many of whom were nonverbal to find their voice - a means to communicate not only within the school but also at home and in the community. I collaborated with the school speech pathologist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist to make this possible.
My primary goal as an educator was to help my students become as independent as possible. My students may have been in elementary school, but we were working on the skills they would need as members of the community in the future. I ensured students were prepared to be successful by organizing community trips, sharing appropriate community events with families, and linking families with the local board of developmental disabilities. I spent time coaching families and attending monthly parent meetings organized by the district’s parent mentor.
Over the years, I had the opportunity to mentor many new teachers, some of who are now A-LIST teachers and it was through those experiences I found my new passion for coaching teachers.
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