2018-19 PLN Cohort

My current role as a para is as an S10W, which means I assist students, age 18-22, with community access. We currently offer about ninety minutes a day of classroom instruction, with the remainder of the day dedicated to community immersion. This takes the form of one day of student choice, where students choose fun places in the community to visit, two days of WorkAbility intern sites, and two days of activity or volunteer sites. My role varies from distant observer to direct prompter. I model behaviors and skills to the best of my ability and train students in job and life skills.

I have worked for SFUSD for fourteen years with every grade. I started out as a para substitute. I then worked under 504 for 7 1/2 years with a 1:1 assignment from the student's fifth grade to his graduation from high school. Since then, I have worked in Special Education, one year in high school and six in community access. My first several summer school assignments were with pre-k special education. So, I have seen the system from beginning to end. I have played the role of "body guard" for a student with serious physical needs, tutor, mentor, community guide, travel trainer, unofficial counselor, etiquette guide, secretary (we have no admin support at our current site), and other roles.

The highlights of my years of service include when I found myself in a 1:1 position in a large high school with a student with a condition so rare that no other staff had heard of it. I contacted the advocacy foundation for the condition and, for a small donation, they supplied me with copies of a pamphlet describing the condition. I handed them out at a department meeting and to other faculty upon request. As the pamphlet merely described the condition, I did not compromise anyone's privacy and educated enough staff in the school to create a safe, informed place for the student. This allowed all of us to proceed with our jobs as educators and created an environment for the student where there was no need for regular discussion of the disability.

Additionally, in my role at Access SFUSD: The Arc, I set up an easy-to-follow system for paras to fill out their time sheets. Also, I determine the routes that are used by the Muni ADA crew. We evaluate three bus routes twice a week within that month's division. The routes must be completed in about ninety minutes and we must ride the buses for twenty minutes each, have lunch, and return to school in a timely manner. Finally, I have had the students participate annually in the Fluxfest Chicago event where their art work has been put on display or used in performances by artists from around the country or from other countries.

A fun fact: I have a thing for red clothing. It's a challenge to find an entire red wardrobe, so I keep an eye out for anything red that I might wear. Red men's socks of sturdy quality are the toughest to find.