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Schools Sculpt More Than Students
Special Needs and Learning- it is not what you think.
I have been sculpted by my students.
Each individual has been gifted with a myriad of sculpting elements.
Some for themselves, some for others who are wise enough to see.
Some are like stone, wood, metal, clay, ivory, or plaster.
These raw materials facilitate unique creations and works of art.
They are both given and taken.
This intrinsic knowledge is quite selfish and yet, personally adored.
I am surely a different professional than I was in my 20s.
I am not moving toward independence or trying to change my vegan, hippie, idealistic corner of the world.
I have become a softer, less naive individual with a deep passion for listening and growing.
I teach now to learn, not just to impart knowledge to anyone else.
Graduate courses, M.Ed.s, and certificates from universities never prepared me for professional life. Direct communication with students and staff formed the person I am today. The thousands of special needs individuals to whom I have devoted my life’s work since my teens created a new form of who I am.
