Special Dedication

Story by Jane Gordon | Photo by Julie Bidwell

	Denise Brezinski , Tommy Verrengia and Kelly Pierce

When the French novelist and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in literature Anatole France said, “nine tenths of education is encouragement,” he was not dismissing the value of a formal education. Better, he was promoting the worth of a kindly word, of earned praise, of a nod and a smile for a job well done. He may have been referring to the special education teacher, if indeed he had known any in his day. Yet back then, special education did not exist, and “retarded” was the word commonly used for a broad spectrum of learning disabilities.

Learning-disabled children were often misdiagnosed, isolated from their peers, and stigmatized. Today, they have saviors in those special education teachers, who heap praise and smiles upon them every day while helping them to overcome their disabilities and master the art and science of learning.

Hear the voices of those teachers as they describe why they do what they do, from Denise Brezinski, a paraprofessional at Sedgwick Middle School whose interest in fitness and nutrition drew her to special-needs students, and Kelly Pierce, a Whiting Lane first-grade teacher whose early experience with a deaf child steered her to her present path, to Tommy Verrengia, a Conard High paraprofessional who shares his passion for athletics and inclusion with his high-school community, and who says of the students with whom he works, “Their energy and their spirit are uplifting to me. They give me more than what I give them.”

Tommy Verrengia - Special education paraprofessional, Conard High School

I grew up in West Hartford, went to Conard High School, and majored in sociology at Central Connecticut State University. My first summer job – when I was 16 – was at the Elmwood Community Center in a summer camp. That’s when I started working with special needs kids, and I guess I’ve never stopped. I’ve always enjoyed kids, I’ve always enjoyed helping. I’m very lucky I took the opportunity to take that job when I was 16.

Once I graduated college, I was offered a job right away. I was at a basketball game and someone I knew asked me if I was interested in a job at Conard. I applied. That was 1992. Then the town started a special needs program at Hall High School, and at that time I was coaching sports at Hall and I volunteered to help start the Hall program. Now I work with 12 special needs kids at Conard; they go into the classrooms – where there are special needs students and typical students – and I go with them.

The best thing about my job is that when I wake up every day, and I don’t care if it’s Monday or Wednesday, I thoroughly enjoy going to work. Working with this group is very similar to working with any other group. The challenge is to spend as much quality time as possible with each individual I come into contact with each day. For example, I work with one boy three periods a day, another two periods a day, and one, one period a day. I also supervise the lunch class. So I’m with different individuals all day long.

It’s such an easy population to get job satisfaction from. I enjoy their smiling faces, I enjoy what I’m able to offer them. They give me more than what I give them. Their energy and their spirit are uplifting to me. They make each day enjoyable.

I’m the director of all Unified Sports at Conard. Unified Sports is just like Special Olympics but in a high-school setting. Regular ed and special ed kids participate in athletics together. We have a middle school group and an elementary school group, too. I run the high-school groups. I also coach junior varsity girls’ field hockey, boys’ freshman basketball and varsity girls’ softball.

Here’s what I love: When I work with an individual during the school day, help that student interact with regular ed students, and watch the connection happen. I am big on the social part of what our kids experience. One of my ultimate goals is to have the kids feel as comfortable and happy as they can in an environment with the regular ed kids.

And here’s one of the best parts of my day: I’m walking one of my students to class, and he’s giving more high fives to more kids than I am.

Denise Brezinski - Paraprofessional working with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in a special needs classroom at Sedgwick Middle School under the direction of a special education teacher

I grew up in Taunton, Massachusetts, enjoying the Boston Red Sox and the Cape Cod beaches. My dad was a distributor for Frito-Lay, and mom stayed home raising my younger brother and me. My community consisted of two-parent white Catholic families. I remember vaguely that in my third-grade classroom, there was a little boy in a wheelchair. Special needs? Pupil services? Not back in the ’60s!

I earned a degree in foods and nutrition from Framingham State College in Framingham, Massachusetts. Before I had children, I worked as a registered dietitian in hospitals, community settings and health clubs. I have raised three children, Matt, 24, Sarah, 20, and Lauren, 14, while living in West Hartford, Roswell, Georgia, and Ridgefield, Connecticut, keeping busy with playgroups, PTO, team sports, Junior Women’s Club, book groups, etc. Special education never crossed my path!

In 2002, when my oldest child went to college, I re-entered the work force after an 18-year hiatus. I accepted a position at Sedgwick Middle School as a teacher assistant, working as one-on-one for a special education student with Asperger’s Disease.

My decision to work with special needs children stems from my association with the Unified Sports program hosted at Sedgwick Middle School. Originally begun by Kathy Kirby, a special needs teacher, and Steve Garneau, a physical education teacher, both from Sedgwick, this program became my weekly Sunday evening event. That next fall, I was asked by Kathy Kirby to join her special needs staff at Sedgwick. I have remained there to this day. Our program has grown from three girls to a coed group of 11, but the challenges and rewards are ever constant.

Our goal is to help integrate the special-needs students into the regular education classes. My home base is Room #124, although I am rarely found there. My motto has always been to do whatever is needed to get the job done as smoothly as possible for the special education students, the classroom teachers, the Sedgwick student population and staff. I may take notes in a social studies class, help dissect a frog in science lab or demonstrate a forward roll in gym class. My passion has always been health, nutrition and fitness; my favorite places to be at Sedgwick are the fitness center and gymnasiums. I find I am constantly learning something new and exciting.

My biggest challenge in a day may just be getting a student to homeroom, making sure a child behaves appropriately in a classroom without distracting the teacher, or perhaps simplifying an academic concept for ease of learning. Our special needs students come to us with specific, individual strengths and idiosyncrasies. They demand and often require our constant and individual attention.

My biggest rewards are too numerous to recount. I will share my most recent. Yesterday, as I was leaving my house to attend an after-school soccer game, I noticed a familiar figure walking down my driveway. One of my former students, now a high-school junior, came for a visit. I felt so proud to hear of his accomplishments since leaving Sedgwick.

I realize that I help shape these children’s lives through our daily interactions. My mothering skills really come in handy as I perform my para duties. It takes love, patience, dedication, determination, organization, creativity, flexibility and a sense of humor to get the job done. It’s such a rewarding way to spend each day.

Kelly Pierce - First-grade teacher, Whiting Lane School

I grew up in Windsor. Being with children always came naturally for me. But the experience that spurred me to become a special education teacher was when I was in high school. I babysat for a deaf child. I became very interested in learning sign language and I enrolled in a few night classes. I had always loved working with children and I started to investigate what it would take to teach deaf and hearing-impaired children. Since this field required a master’s degree, I was guided to get my undergraduate degree in special education. During my four years at Southern Connecticut State University, I enjoyed learning about and working with special needs students of all abilities.

I started my career at King Philip Middle School as a teacher for multiply disabled students. I then transferred to Whiting Lane School and taught children in the special needs program. Students in the program are typically intellectually disabled or on the autism spectrum. Then I worked with autistic children in the Applied Behavioral Analysis program. When I received my master’s degree, I made a change to general education.

It was really important for me to stay at Whiting Lane School and continue to be a part of the special needs population. I would say my specialty is working with students on the autism spectrum.

In my current position, I’m able to use my experiences to help others better understand the unique population of students we have at Whiting Lane School. It is a goal for me each year to create a climate in my classroom where all children are accepted and part of the team.

My biggest challenge each day is feeling satisfied that I did all that I could to meet the needs of the students in my classroom.

My biggest reward – in teaching any ability child – is to see progress, and know that I had something to do with it. For some students, it is the small milestones that you celebrate, but it is what makes teaching so worthwhile.

Jane Gordon is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Seasons.