By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Rachel Shell’s classroom at Crim Elementary is full of joy – and flexibility.
The latter is necessary to meet the needs of the nine students in her early intervention specialist classroom. Her students, all boys this year, range from kindergarten to second grade kids. Two use wheelchairs, five use computer communication devices, all are non-verbal or semi-verbal.
“That does not mean they are quiet,” Shell said to the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club on Thursday as she was recognized as an inspirational educator in the BG City School District. Her “sweet” students have plenty to say, but don’t necessarily use words to express themselves.
Shell said she has high expectations for her students, though not the typical goals of most classrooms.
“They need to know how to walk in the hallway, sit at a lunch table, and how to ask for something – even if you don’t use words,” she said.
Sometimes that takes a lot of flexibility. What works for one student may not be effective for another, she explained.
“Nothing is sacred,” Shell said.
Skills may appear to inch ahead by baby steps, but any progress is celebrated.
For some, toileting skills are developed. For others, who are food averse, they learn how to tolerate having a plate of food in front of them.
Joyful moments in the classroom begin with a “morning meeting” with all students sitting simultaneously each day – a real accomplishment, Shell said. They experience delight when the class watches a short video of their “adopted baby cow.” And they got pleasure helping to make a microwave Thanksgiving feast – allowing Shell to report to families if there were any foods their children enjoyed.
“We communicate a lot with our families.”
“We have a lot of joy in our classroom,” she said.
Shell is assisted by five paraprofessionals to help meet student needs in the classroom.
As one of five special education teachers in the district, Shell calls herself lucky. But her success seems to be the result of an awful lot of hard work.
She “stumbled into special education” when she went to register for early education at Bowling Green State University, and was told that a new inclusive program would give her dual certifications to teach elementary and early intervention. Shell was in the first graduating class for the new program.
Shell has also relied on her “luck” to help reach her goal of providing adaptive playground equipment for her students. In her first year of teaching at Crim Elementary, none of her students used wheelchairs – but now two do, so she has been working to devise a plan and raise money for an inclusive playground.
Shell has organized fundraisers and has secured grants for the project. But never having done anything like this, it was a learning process for her. Well into the design part of the project, Ryan Wichman, who has organized other inclusive playgrounds in the region, pointed out to Shell that a mulch ground cover would not work for students using wheelchairs. But the need for a poured rubber surface nearly doubled the cost of the estimated $30,000 project. Wichman also pointed out that ideally the adaptive playground equipment should be with the rest of the playground, so all children could play together.
With “luck,” support of the community and the school district, and a whole lot of persistence from Shell, the inclusive playground is within reach, she said.
