Do You Remember that Teacher Who Affected your Whole Life? Local Business Does

In 1980, a young woman named Connie Young taught at Central Middle School in Steger. She spent 5 years there before she was hired in 1985 by School District 206, to teach students who have special needs at Bloom Trail High School, located in Chicago Heights.

Skip to the year 2012 and Ms Young is finishing her 32nd year in teaching, she is retiring.  Ms. Young started her teaching career at a time that a child with a disability, whether mild or severe, was not allowed to attend public school. This was a fact only 30 or so years ago for students in the United States!

So the teachers who have 30 plus years in teaching related to Special Education are "pioneers" in the field of teaching special needs students. I asked Ms. Young about other teachers and pioneers of Special Education that impacted on her career. She named four other peer colleagues and one iconic Special Education advocate by the name of  Sevena Merchant. She served as one of the first Special Education Administrator for SD 206, and guided and molded many of the teachers who will be retiring in the next few years, the pioneers. If there were to be a monument to Special Education pioneers, by all accounts, she should be on it.

But who is Connie Young? Well, if Norman Rockwell would paint a scene of a motherly teacher, up to her neck in papers and students, it would be a painting of Ms. Young. At the start of this school year I was reassigned to work with Connie. In all of my years working for the District, I have primarily worked with students whose special needs focused on their behavioral disabilities. Having my Master's Degree in counseling, working with these students was very comfortable for me, but her communications class was new to me. Her abilities to nurture while teaching was a powerful force to motivate her students to learn. I sometimes felt that her students wanted to do well, primarily because they wanted to please Connie. Coming from the sometimes rigid field of "tough love" counseling, she demonstrated and I learned that tough love is OK, but genuine caring is a necessary ingredient when working with students with special needs. Every successful person can remember that one special teacher in their lives that was more than a teacher. Well, that for many students is Connie. 

During her 32 years of teaching, those who have known her professionally, describe her as an educator whose positive personality is infectious to all of those who are around her.  " Not only was Ms. Young a stellar example as a teacher, but she became a great friend as we shared raising kids and the ups and downs of our lives... our lives seemed to mirror each other’s and not only did we work hard to teach our students, but learned from each other’s best practices to deal with life", said Donna McCoy, former Special Education administrator and current teacher ( who will be retiring next year, also after 30 plus years in Special Education).

I asked both of them what is the difference between their early years of teaching and the students that they are teaching today. They both stated that the main differences were that the students that they are teaching today have more complex social issues accompanying them to their classrooms. "Many of the students we see now have significant behavioral problems, and some do not have the same level respect for teachers that my former students had," said Connie.

The loss of Ms Young to retirement is part of a growing trend around the country.  She is part of a growing number of baby-boom teachers who are leaving the teaching profession due to retirement in unprecedented numbers.  More than half the nation's teachers are baby boomers ages 50 and older and eligible for retirement over the next decade, a report says today. It warns that a retirement "tsunami" could rob schools of valuable experience.  The report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future calls for school administrators to take immediate action to lower attrition rates and establish programs that pass along valuable information from teaching veterans to new teachers.

But as much as school districts will suffer for the baby boom teacher retirements, Ms. Young's students seemingly are the ones who will suffer the most. In my conversations with her, it was her students she was leaving behind that she most regrets regarding her retirement.  "...when I first started teaching in the 80s, the students were eager, disciplined, and they shaped and molded my style of teaching. As I leave the field of teaching I am saddened by the emergence of students who have profound difficulties that have changed and challenged the field of teaching.  My generation was raised so differently, as teachers.  We worked in Special Education because we personally cared for our students. I am concerned that many of the younger teachers come into teaching for other reasons than personally caring and maybe ill-equipped to deal with the poverty and cultural issues that underlay some of the problems today's students bring to class," said Connie. "Today, we have to wear so many different hats.” 

Toni Austin was also one of those pioneering teachers that came into Special Education about the same time as Connie did, (retired from the District in 2009). I had the opportunity to talk with Toni about what she remembers about Connie. “What stands out when thinking about Connie is the time Connie and I went on a trip to North Carolina for some type of educational workshop. What stands out and what I remember most, were the beautiful flowers that were just in bloom during our visit.  That’s what describes Connie, her style of teaching that nurtured her student to blossom, to their greatest potential. She was all about providing her motherly warmth to support her students reaching their full potential, to enhance their abilities and minimize their disabilities,” says Toni.

I have yet to speak to any teacher who does not echo these types of descriptions of Connie, but it is her former and current students who cannot say enough about her influence in their lives. Yes, upon her retirement, there will be formal gatherings hosted by her supervisors, the District and even elaborate social gatherings of her current and former teaching colleagues, but her affect on her current students of her departure has been difficult for some of her students.  Connie has in her most recent years at Bloom Trail, taught students with Communication Disorders, but as I found out from asking what Connie meant to them, I discovered that they had no problems communicating to me her impact on them personally. For some of them, she was their primary teacher for their entire high school life. She would be proud of how well they communicated their feelings about her.

LOCAL BUSINESS HELPING

Of the types of classes she taught, her social skills development class was the most challenging, It was designed to teach her students social skills that they would need to master in life, especially life after they leave Bloom Trail. To this end, she would develop life circumstances in her classroom, designed to give her student practice.  We sat down one day , and we thought that it would be a dream if her students, at the end of the year, as part of their final grade, practiced what they learned in a real social setting, a restaurant. But, we both realized that as much as 90% of her students were receiving "free and reduced lunch" because of their poverty status. All of her students would not be able to afford going to a decent restaurant.

Therefore, I took her story to one of the best businesses in the area, Northwood's Restaurant, located just two blocks from Bloom Trail. I spoke with the owner, Charles.  We spoke about the importance of having a successful school near his restaurant as being important to his business. "Larry reminded me that an unsuccessful school, so close to my business, affected my business in multiple ways and the community at large.  An opportunity to help students in need is a small price to pay for the benefits of helping the community and its students", said Charles.

After several meetings, Charles said he would make his restaurant available for Ms Young's Class. He stated  that "no student of hers would be charged a cent for an elaborate luncheon he personally would underwrite at Northwood's". Thus, a luncheon has been planned for May 11th. A luncheon that will include her students having opportunities to demonstrate the social skills associated with public behavior and social etiquette, AND a formal luncheon that would give her students a forum to express in a grand way, their appreciation of Ms. Young and their acknowledgment of her  retirement.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge speech pathologist Ms. Mcleod and Ericah,  a one-on-one health care specialist. These two ladies provided a most memorable final year for Connie. Their unique abilities helped create a truly holistic educational environment for the new challenges of Connie's current students. Thanks ladies!

And, if you like country style eating; like fish, corn bread, pudding, beef stew and some of the best meatloaf in the area, stop into Northwood's (http://www.northwoodssaloon.com/) and tell them Larry sent ya!