Tag Archives: Special Education Teachers

Sarah Morgan earns 2023 Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction Award

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Special Education teacher Sarah Morgan of Pulaski, Wisconsin, has earned a 2023 Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction Award. Photo credit: Pulasii Community Middle School

It takes a very special person to be a Special Education teacher. One of these is Sarah Morgan, who teaches at Pulaski Community Middle School in Pulaski, Wisconsin. She is so masterly at her work, she is a recipient of a 2023 Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction Award!

The Golden Apple program annually recognizes high-quality educators in Greater Green Bay. This year, eight recipients, including Sarah, were selected for their excellence in innovation, professionalism, and leadership.

Sarah certainly meets the criteria for her award. In her classroom, she utilizes functional life skills activities with sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students that have been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and autism. To do this, she incorporates high expectations to ensure students are successful and behavior modification techniques to decrease less desirable behaviors.

One of Sarah’s classroom projects involves operating the Red Raider Restaurant one day each month at her school. Under her leadership, the students plan, cook, serve, and deliver lunch to students and staff. The objective of the program is to create pre-vocational skills that will ultimately lead to future employment opportunities. “Our overarching goal for students with disabilities is to become as independent as possible past their post-high school life,” Sarah explains, “so we want to start those experiences early and often so they can find success and find things that they enjoy and things that they’re good at,” she continues.

In addition to her work with students, Sarah serves as a Program Support Teacher for Cognitive/Intellectual Disabilities at the Wisconsin Department Instruction, where she represents the Pulaski Community School District. She is also a trainer of teachers for the Common Core Essential Elements.

Sarah’s Golden Apple Award, bestowed by the Greater Green Bay Chapter, is not the only recognition she has earned. She garnered the N2Y Kids at the Heart Award in 2014, and the Wisconsin Council for Exceptional Children Excellence named her their Beginning Teacher of the Year in September of 2000.

Sarah earned her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. She earned her Master’s degree in School Counseling from Lakeland College. Her career as an educator spans 24 years.

 

Capri Bell Salaam named Arkansas 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Arkansas middle school teacher Capri Bell Salaam has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Linked In

As a former junior high school teacher myself, I know that teaching at this grade level requires an extra amount of love, patience, and creativity. Capri Bell Salaam, a junior high school teacher from Arkansas, certainly possesses all these qualities. In fact, she is so wonderful at her work that she has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year!

Capri currently teaches seventh and eighth graders at North Little Rock Middle School. On her campus, she has been recognized as a one-of-a-kind educator dedicated to the development of the whole child. But that is not all she is known for. Students and colleagues alike say they appreciate her “over-the-top” lessons that make learning fun. She dances through the hallways, sometimes in costume, and ignites her students’ interest, fostering excitement for learning with innovative best practices.

“I bring it to life with hands-on activities, where they can experience it even though it happened in the past,” declares Capri. “For history to really resonate with our kids, they have to breathe it, feel it, speak it,” she asserts. Under her guidance, her students conduct a crime scene investigation into the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Or the students dress in laboratory coats to do a mock autopsy of an injury-ridden President Andrew Jackson, to determine the state of his health and whether his health conditions—including bullets lodged in his torso as the result of a duel—affected his mental health and leadership abilities. In still another lesson, balls of paper are used to re-enact trench warfare. But this is not where the learning ends, Capri says. “We do tie it into the present. We do find the parallels from the past and modern times.”

Capri earned her Bachelor’s in English and Literature from the University of Central Arkansas in 2008. In addition, she earned a Master’s degree in Secondary Education and Teaching from Arkansas Tech University in 2016, and a second Master’s degree in Special Education at Harding University. She also completed the requirements for a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Technology from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, in 2023.

After earning her degrees, Capri inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a third grade teacher at Little Rock Preparatory Academy. She worked there two years, and then transitioned to North Little Rock Middle School, where she has spent the last eight years. She teaches Social Studies and English/Language Arts, and serves as a Special Education Resource teacher. In addition to working with her students, Capri provides professional development and coaching to other teachers on her campus in order to improve the overall instructional program. Recently she has joined the Adjunct Faculty at Arkansas Tech University.

Outside of the classroom, Capri also contributes to her community by volunteering with local charities.

Sp Ed teacher Christine Galvan-Manzello earns NYC 2023 Big Apple Award

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Elementary Special Education teacher Christine Galvan-Manzello has earned a 2023 New York City Big Apple Award. Photo credit: New York City Public Schools

The city of New York is very proud of their public school teachers. In fact, city educational leaders regularly recognize exceptional teachers with their annual Big Apple Award. In 2023, one of the educators so honored was Christine Galvin-Manzello, a Special Education teacher from Queens.

Christine works with fifth graders in an Autism Spectrum Disorder program at PS 91 Richard Arkwright. In her classroom, she supports her students’ academic and social-emotional needs to foster their growth as learners and citizens. And she works diligently to make her classroom very safe and very personal. ”I try to connect with them on a personal level,” the honored teacher explains. “I am good at cracking jokes. I get messages from parents —they are so happy to be going to school every day,” Christine continues. “I try to make them believe they can be anything they set their mind to. I love celebrating small moments with each other,” she asserts.

Christine honors the special gifts of her students. She encourages them to take part in school community activities such as student government, debate, and music programs, which help build confidence and leadership skills.

In addition to her work with students, Christine contributes to the school community through her weekly case conferences with teachers, paraprofessionals, and service providers and by facilitating meetings with school staff members and families about how to best support students with ASD. She also conducts professional development for her school community.

The Big Apple Award was presented to 20 New York City teachers. Each one was nominated by their principal for work in the profession that inspires students, models great teaching, and enriches school communities. The recipients were chosen through a rigorous selection process that includes community nominations, principal recommendations, classroom visits, an interview, and a review by a board of judges. To learn more about the program and this year’s recipients, click on this link to Big Apple Awards.

Georgia’s Jemelleh Coes helps others become better teachers

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Former middle school teacher Jemelleh Coes contributes her considerable talent to helping others in the profession become better teachers. Photo credit: Educator For Equity

Many fine educators contribute their considerable talents to helping others in the profession become better teachers. This is certainly true of Jemelleh Coes, a former middle school teacher from Decatur, Georgia.

Jemelleh was born in Brooklyn, New York, ​the daughter of immigrant parents. She was raised in Decatur, Georgia. She was the first in her family to attend college. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Special Education (2008) and her Master’s degree in Education, Teaching, and Learning (2010), both from Georgia Southern University (GSU). While studying at GSU, Jemelleh traveled nationally and internationally to collect data from a variety of educational systems in order to discover ways to make improvements in local school systems. In 2018, Jemelleh graduated from the University of Georgia with her PhD in Educational Theory and Practice with certificates in Education Law and Policy, Disability Studies, and Qualitative Research.

Jemelleh has taught at both the K-12 and university level. She spent six years teaching English/Language Arts and mathematics in both the general and special education setting at Langston Chapel Middle School in Statesboro, Georgia. For this work, in 2014, she was named Georgia’s State Teacher of the Year. Then, from 2013 to 2014, she served as a board member for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.

Currently, Jemelleh serves as an advisory councilperson for the Georgia Partnership of Excellence in Education. She also serves as the Director of Teacher Leadership at Mount Holyoke College, where she leads the program, developed curriculum, and provides professional development opportunities for teacher leaders. She is also a professor at the University of Georgia where she teaches future educators along with future professionals dedicated to disability advocacy.

In addition, Jemelleh serves as a teacher mentor for classroom teachers throughout the state of Georgia. In this capacity, she supports teachers with career development and special projects. She is also an educational consultant and motivational speaker.

To learn more about Chalkboard Champion Jemelleh Coes, click on this link to her website:  Educator For Equity.

Montana’s Catherine Matthews named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Pre-school Special Education teacher Catherine Matthews of Bozeman, Montana, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the year.  Photo credit: Montana State Office of Public Instruction

Many fine classroom teachers have earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Catherine Matthews, an early childhood Special Education teacher from Bozeman, Montana. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Catherine’s career as an educator spans 26 years. For the past 20 of them, she has taught Pre-K Special Education at Hyalite Elementary School in Bozeman.

In her classroom, Catherin works diligently to build an inclusive environment that celebrates every child’s talents and encourages a love for life-long learning. She collaborates with families, colleagues, and the community as a whole to foster a classroom culture of acceptance and diversity in which all her students feel welcome. “They respond to her, they love her, and you can feel the love when you walk in her classroom,” asserts Hyalite Principal Heather Chvojka. “If you’ve ever seen Catherine teach before, it’s like watching a magic show. The things that she’s able to do with these kids is amazing,” Chvokja continues. “Even when she’s walking through the school, her love and care for the families is contagious,” Chvojka says.

Catherine extends opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. She runs an organic farm, and she is also a beekeeper. Through these activities, she hopes to create additional learning activities and provide local, farm-to-table, healthy food options. Her husband, Jason Matthews, is an advocate for wildlands and animals, and together the couple runs an animal sanctuary.

Catherine earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Montana State University, Bozeman. She earned her Master’s degree in Special Education from Montana State University, Billings.

To learn more about Catherine Matthews, see this article published about her by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.