Tag Archives: Special Education Teachers

Famed actress Kate Capshaw is a former Special Ed teacher

Posted on by

Famed actress Kate Capshaw of Indiana Jones fame is a former Special Education teacher from Texas. Photo Credit: Encyclopedia Britannica

Many talented educators have made their mark in fields other than education. This is certainly true of former teacher Kate Capshaw, a Hollywood actress who is best known for her portrayal of Willie Scott in the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She is famous as an actress in her own right, but she is also well-known for being married to famed director Steven Spielberg.

Kate was born on November 3, 1953, in Fort Worth, Texas, of humble origins. Her mother was a travel agent and beautician, and her father was an airline employee. When Kate was only five years old, her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where in 1972 she graduated from Hazelwood Central High School.

After her high school graduation, Kate earned a Bachelor’s degree in History Education and a Master’s degree in Special Education, both from the University of Missouri. She accepted her first teaching position as a special education teacher at Southern Boone County High School in Ashland, Missouri. Later she transferred to Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri. During her years as an educator, she married and divorced Robert Capshaw, a school principal. The union produced one daughter.

After some years in the classroom, Kate moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting, landing her first role on the soap opera The Edge of Night. She also starred in Dreamscape in 1984, SpaceCamp in 1996, and How to Make an American Quilt in 1995. During the filming of Indiana Jones, Kate began a relationship with Spielberg, which eventually resulted in her conversion to Judaism and her marriage to the director in 1991. The couple have five children in addition to Kate’s daughter from her first marriage.

Jessica Saum named 2022 Arkansas State Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Special Education teacher Jessica Saum of Arkansas has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Cabot Public Schools

It is always wonderful when a deserving educator is honored for their work in the classroom. Today, I’ll share the story of one such educator: Jessica Saum of Little Rock, Arkansas. She has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

Jessica teaches special education to kindergarteners through fourth graders in a self-contained classroom at Stagecoach Elementary School in Cabot, Arkansas. Before her employment at Cabot Public Schools, Jessica taught for one year at Jacksonville North Pulaski School District.

The honored educator confesses that serving as a special needs teacher is her passion. “Every child deserves what’s best,” she declares. “Every child deserves an opportunity to succeed, and every child deserves for us to expect them to do great things,” she continues. In her classroom, Jessica delivers a curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning, inclusion, and community involvement.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Jessica leads professional development workshops that promote exposure to grade-level curriculum and meaningful relationships with experienced educators.

Also, Jessica is nationally published, and her work extends to supporting military families, detailing how educators can support these families during deployments and difficult transitions.

As if all that were not enough, Jessica serves as the advisor for the Kiwanis Kids Club, an organization that organizes student participation in service projects. She volunteers as a Key Spouse at the Little Rock Air Force Base and is the 2020 314th Airlift Wing Key Spouse of the Year. She is a Fellow of both the Arkansas State Teacher Association Senior Advocacy and the Association of American Educators Advocacy. As if all that were not enough,, Jessica is a member of the United through Reading Literacy Advisory Council and a Special Advisor to the Arkansas Council for Military Children.

Jessica earned her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Special Education in 2011 and her Master’s degree in Grades 4-12 Special Education in 2016, both from Arkansas State University. In December 2020, she completed the requirements for her Special Education Director certificate.

 

Special Ed teacher Stephanie Ballard named South Dakota’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Stephanie Ballard, a middle school Special Education teacher from Brookings, South Dakota, has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: South Dakota Education Association

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional teachers from around the country. One of these is Stephanie Ballard, a middle school teacher from Brookings, South Dakota. She’s been named her state’s 2022 State Teacher of the Year.

Stephanie teaches Special Education mathematics at George S. Michelson Middle School in Brookings. Prior to teaching at Michelson, she taught at Camelot Intermediate School. In all, her career as an educator has spanned eight years.

In her work, Stephanie evaluates sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students to determine whether they are eligible for special education services, and then she develops and implements their Individualized Education Program (IEP). She also teaches specialized classes for students with disabilities who are underperforming in mathematics, and she co-teaches inclusion math classes with general education teachers, providing accommodations and modifications to help all students be successful. And, as if all that were not enough, she conducts professional development workshops and mentors new teachers in her district. Furthermore, she is active in the local division of the South Dakota Education Association.

Stephanie says she has always loved learning and school. “I was actually homeschooled from kindergarten to sixth grade, my mom homeschooled me and my three siblings,” the honored teacher reveals. “That is something that I have taken pretty seriously now as a special education teacher. I just know that students can be way more successful if there is a close relationship between home and school,” she continues.

Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Inclusive Education and Special Education with specializations in specific learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2014.

As recipient of her state’s Teacher of the Year award, Stephanie will receive a $5,000 grant from the South Dakota Department of Education and a $1,000 honorarium from the South Dakota Board of Regents which she will be able use to present a series of professional development seminars to aspiring teachers.

Congratulations, Stephanie!

Uvalde teachers Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles slain shielding students from gunman

Posted on by

Two fourth grade teachers, Irma Garcia (left) and Eva Mireles (right) were slain in their classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, as they tried to shield their young students from a gunman’s attack. Sadly, 19 of their students were also killed. Photo Credit: Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District.

Once again, our nation and our professional community is mourning the loss of dedicated educators and their students as a result of a senseless act of violence. Two fourth grade teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and 19 of their young students were killed by a gunman who launched an attack at the school on Tues., May 24. The teachers, Eva Mireles and Irma Linda Garcia, were slain as they tried to shield their defenseless students from the gunman’s bullets.

Eva Mireles, age 44, was born on March 17, 1978 in Dallas, Texas. She had been teaching at the school for 17 years. Eva was trained in Special Education, and was remembered by parent Audrey Garcia (no relation to Irma Garcia) for going “above and beyond” as a teacher. She indicated that it was only within the last few years that schools in the Uvalde area began to integrate children with developmental disabilities into regular classrooms, and Eva was one of the teachers who taught them. “She was a beautiful person and dedicated teacher,” declared Garcia.

Robb Elementary parent Erica Torres agrees. She recalled the exceptional care with which Eva treated her son Stanley, who has autism, while he was her student in both the third and fourth grades. In an effort to stop him from wandering around the school, the compassionate teacher put Stanley in charge of rounding up students to get to class. “She made you feel like she was only teaching your child,” Torres remembered. “Like there’s no other students but him. She made you feel so good,” the parent remembered.

Eva’s colleague, Irma Garcia, age 48, was born on Dec. 11, 1973, in San Antonio, Texas. She had been a teacher at the school for 23 years. In 2019, this Chalkboard Champion was one of 19 San Antonio-area teachers who were named finalists for a Trinity University prize that recognizes excellence in teaching.

After the attack authorities told her family that Irma was seen by a member of law enforcement attempting to protect her students from the gunfire. “I want her to be remembered as someone who sacrificed her life and put her life on the line for her kids,” declared Irma’s nephew, John Martinez. “They weren’t just her students. Those were her kids, and she put her life on the line, she lost her life to protect them. That’s the type of person she was,” he continued.

To compound the sadness, Irma’s husband, Joe Garcia, suffered a fatal heart attack two days following his wife’s murder. “I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart, and losing the love of his life of more than 25 years was too much to bear,” asserted Irma’s cousin, Debra Austin. The couple were the parents of four children.

The gunman,18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, was killed by law enforcement to bring an end to his attack.

 

Idaho speech therapist Deborah Wieser created books and games for Special Ed students

Posted on by

Idaho speech therapist and author Deborah Wieser published stories and games to help special education students. Photo Credit: Daily Bulletin

In addition to teachers, there are many talented individuals who make up a school community. Speech therapists are among these Chalkboard Champions. One of the most inspirational speech therapists I have ever read about was Deborah Wieser, who worked in schools in the Inland Empire area of Southern California.

Deborah was born on Feb. 8, 1949, in Butte, Montana. She was the elder of two daughters born to Eddie and Florence Thomas. When her younger sister, Kemera, was diagnosed with a developmental disability, Deborah devoted her spare hours to helping to care for the child. This volunteer work is what led to her decision to work with Special Education students.

While attending high school in Butte, Deborah excelled in her classes and served her school as a cheerleader. After graduating with honors in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Montana, Missoula, Deborah moved to Southern California, where she inaugurated her career as a speech therapist in the Chino Unified School District. Her career there spanned an impressive 45 years.

In addition to her work as a speech therapist, Deborah authored several books and created educational games to help teach the learning-disabled. For these efforts, she earned the first-ever Speech Therapist of the Year Award from Chino Unified Schools.

In 2016, Deborah retired and moved to Coer D’Alene, Idaho, where she continued to work with challenged students on a part-time basis. While living there, she formed a friendship with Atsuko Kroetch, a visual artist who designed and created the stained glass windows for the Coeur D’Alene carousel. Deborah wrote accompanying stories for the decorative pieces. Then she worked tirelessly for several months visiting every fifth grade class in her town to read the stories and collect names for the carousel ponies from the students. After the students cast ballots for the names, Deborah organized judges to select the final winning names.

Sadly, Deborah passed away on March 27, 2022, from a prolonged battle with metastatic lung cancer. But she will always be a Chalkboard Champion in our book.