Special education is defined as “Instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,” according to Center for Parent Information and Resources. At BHS, there are many teachers that choose to teach in special education.

When they teach, they have many different teaching styles because they must adjust to each student.  “We do all kinds of different things. We try to get up and move around a lot. So, we try to do a lot of different cakewalks for the kids who are moving around the classroom and looking at different activities to do and answer your questions based on whatever materials we’ve learned that week,” said special education teacher Catlin Preda.

Students might take a little longer to master certain skills, and the teachers expressed that when students do, they feel so happy for them because they know the students worked hard for that set of skills.

In a special education classroom, there is often a main teacher and then there are teacher aides or additional teachers that help maintain a strong classroom environment for students. A special education classroom is different from the average classroom in order to best serve the needs of the students. “We work in groups. Usually, it’s three students per teacher in our classroom. We work on [students’] goals. And then there’s times that we might need a break, and we will play bingo… and have our relaxation time. And then we go back into big groups, little groups,” teacher aide Megan Sanders said.

Staying in contact with parents is important because they need to be up-to-date about their children’s lives and how they can help while being at home. “Their student is number one. Show empathy towards their feelings at the moment,” BHS Teacher of the Year and special education teacher Judi Adams said.

With teaching special education, the teachers will never know what’s going to happen. “Every hour is different. It’s a very rewarding experience,” said teacher Veronica Pearl.