Tag Archives: Special Education Teachers

Coronavirus claims life of Special Ed teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer

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Special Education teacher and varsity baseball coach Ben Luderer of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, succumbs to coronavirus.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of numerous beloved educators and coaches. One of these is Ben Luderer, a middle school special education teacher and baseball coach from Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Ben was only 30 years old, and healthy, when he contracted the coronavirus and then passed away on March 30, 2020.

Ben was a New Jersey native, having been born on September 29, 1989, in River Vale, New Jersey. As a high school student, Ben was a star baseball player at Don Bosco Preparatory High School, a private Catholic school located in Ramsey, New Jersey.  In 2008, his team logged a record of 33 games undefeated, a nearly impossible achievement, and earned the state championship. Local news outlets dubbed the team the Ironmen. “That team was invincible,” recalls Ben’s former coach, Greg Butler, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “They felt they couldn’t be beaten, and they weren’t.”

As a result of his high school successes, Ben earned a baseball scholarship to Marist College in New York. There he hit .263 with two home runs and 35 RBI.

OnceBene graduated from college, he inaugurated his career as a special education teacher at School #6 in the Cliffside Park School District. He also began coaching varsity baseball. “I think he realized the power you have and the influence you have,” Butler commented. “I think he wanted to give back.”

“He touched so many lives,” remembers Ben’s wife, Brandy Luderer. “Whether it be a co-worker or an administrator or a player or a student, he always went out of his way to help people. He was a stand-up guy, a stand-up man,” she remarked.

To learn more about this chalkboard champion, see the online article published by BuzzFeed.

Special Ed teacher Alyssa Bohm, crowned Miss Wisconsin 2019, promotes inclusivity

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Special education teacher Alyssa Bohm, crowned Miss Wisconsin 2019, works with high school students to promote inclusivity.

Many fine educators also earn fame in arenas outside of the classroom. One of these is Alyssa Bohm, a high school special education teacher who garnered the title of Miss Wisconsin in the 2019 beauty pageant last July.

Alyssa was raised in Racine, Wisconsin. She graduated from J. I. Case High School in her home town. After her high school graduation, she enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, in Kenosha. But because Parkside did not offer a teaching degree, she transferred to the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, the next year. After she earned her college diploma, Alyssa returned to her alma mater to work as a special education teacher.

Throughout her one-year reign as Miss Wisconsin, Alyssa will work to promote her social impact initiative enhancing opportunities for individuals with special needs. Alyssa says her initiative was inspired by her Aunt Cindy, who has an intellectual disability. After Cindy’s parents passed away, she lived with family members, although she now lives in a group home in Milwaukee. “There just weren’t enough resources for her,” Alyssa remarked. “And I wanted to be part of something that was really going to provide opportunity.”

The young teacher has already put a lot of work into providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities. During her freshman year at University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, she served at Case High as the co-adviser for the Sparkle Squad, a cheerleading team for girls with special needs. Currently, she currently serves on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics, Wisconsin. To date, Alyssa has spearheaded many other initiatives to advance inclusivity, including co-creating the Special Olympics College Organization and developing the Special Olympics Football Camp at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. In the coming year, Alyssa hopes to expand the Special Olympics Unified Sports Program, which provides opportunities for those with disabilities and their non-disabled peers to collaborate in the creation of inclusive environments in schools.

Read more about this amazing educator at Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Preschool Special Ed teacher Rebecca Vitelli named Delaware’s 2020 State Teacher of the Year

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Preschool Special Education teacher Rebecca Vitelli named Delaware’s 2020 State Teacher of the Year.

Congratulations to Rebecca Vitelli, who has just been named Delaware’s 2020 State Teacher of the Year. This remarkable educator is a preschool Special Education teacher in the Colonial School District.

Rebecca teaches at the Colonial Early Education Program in New Castle. Her youngsters deal with autism, cognitive challenges, and health issues. Rebecca says she strives to be inclusive in her teaching. She firmly believes that every students has the drive and the ability to learn.

“Teachers must remain consciously present listeners and encouragers,” declares Rebecca. “Many of my students begin school without the ability to speak. However, this in no way means they have nothing to say. We teach children to express themselves in a multitude of ways. We show them that communication is powerful, and that others will listen and value what they have to share,” she continued.

Rebecca came from a family of educators. Bother her parents are teachers. She earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and her Master’s degree in Education at the University of Delaware. Her career has spanned only four years, but already her work has captured the attention of state-level educators.

Rebecca was selected out of a group of 20 teachers, one from each district and one from a Delaware charter school. As this year’s honoree, she will receive a $5,000 grant to use for the educational benefit of her students, and two personal grants totaling an additional $5,000.

Read more about the remarkable Rebecca Vitelli at this link: Delaware’s State government website. Take a look at the short video below where Rebecca shares her philosophy of learning.

Peggy Bennett: Special Ed teacher and Minnesota politician

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Former Special Education teacher Peggy Bennett also serves as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Many excellent classroom teachers also serve as successful politicians. One of these is Peggy Bennett, a Special Education teacher who is currently in office as a member of the House of Representatives for Minnesota.

Peggy was born July 3, 1958. She grew up in White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota. As a young girl, she attended Westonka High School in Mound, Minnesota. Following her high school graduation, she enrolled in Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1980. She earned a Master’s degree in Special Education from St. Cloud State University in 1981.

After she earned her degrees, Peggy accepted a position as a Special Education teacher in Albert Lea in 1981. She taught a K-1 transition class for Special Education and regular education students for seven years before becoming a first grade teacher. In 2011, Peggy garnered the Albert Lea Area Teacher of the Year award. By the time she retired in 2015, her career as an educator spanned a total of 33 years.

While in the classroom, Peggy often brought her dog, Colter, to school. The shepherd pup helped her teach first grade students how to read. Colter was even featured on an episode of Fox and Friends in June 2014.

In 2018, the talented educator was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives on the Republican ticket to represent District 27A. Representative Bennett was first elected in 2014, earning 53% of the votes in a three-candidate race, and again in 2016 with 61.7% of the votes.

As a representative, Peggy serves as the Assistant Minority Leader. She is a member of the Committees for Education Policy, Education Finance, and Capital Investment. She has focused her efforts on access to and affordability of health care, mental health for students, foster care, and increasing student access to trades education.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren: The presidential candidate who once taught Special Ed

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Former Special Education teacher Elizabeth Warren, now serving as a US Senator from Massachusetts. She’s also a candidate for president.

Many people who are paying attention to the upcoming presidential election may be surprised to learn that one of the candidates was once a Special Education teacher. The candidate I am speaking of is Elizabeth Warren, who in addition to serving as a US Senator from Massachusetts, is also running for president.

Elizabeth was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 22, 1949. She is the fourth child and only daughter of a middle-class salesman and a homemaker. At her political rallies, Elizabeth tells audiences she was in the second grade when she decided to become a teacher. Unfortunately, when young Elizabeth was only 12 years old, her father was debilitated by a heart attack. Then her mother had to take a minimum-wage job to support the family. Her mother was able to save the home they lived in from repossession, but there was no money left over for college tuition.

When she was a teenager, Elizabeth attended Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City. While there, she excelled at debate. Her exceptional skills earned her a state championship and a scholarship to George Washington University. At the time she was only 16 years old. After one year of study, she dropped out of college to marry her high school sweetheart. Later she completed her degree at the University of Houston, a commuter college in Texas. There Elizabeth earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology in 1970.

Once she earned her diploma, Elizabeth inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position teaching children with special needs at a public elementary school. She lost her job at the end of her first year when her principal learned she was pregnant.

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, back in the days when she was a teacher.

After moving to New Jersey, Elizabeth returned to college to earn a law degree. She graduated with her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers Law School at Rutgers University, Newark, in 1976. But she never lost her love for the classroom. She became a college law professor, instructing courses at a variety of institutions of higher learning, including Rutgers, the University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. She taught classes on commercial law, contracts, and bankruptcy. In fact, Elizabeth is ranked one of the nation’s top experts on the effects of financial pressures faced by middle class families.

In 2012, Elizabeth was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate. She has served in this capacity since 2013. In the Senate, she is a member of the Special Committee on Aging; the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. In 2019, the former Special Education teacher announced her candidacy for the 2020 US presidential election.

To read more about the life story of this chalkboard champion, you can examine her website at Elizabeth Warren.