Employer: East Central Ohio Educational Service Center
Title: Regional Director of Alternative Education
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
The most rewarding aspect of my position is the opportunity to work alongside a dynamic group of students and adults. The population of youth that we educate is among the most at-risk and diverse in Ohio. We provide educational options to students who are court or privately placed in residential facilities or school placed in a day treatment environment due to mental health needs. Students enter our programs with significant and complex needs. My Executive Director, Eddie Joe Chanoski, has enabled me to serve in the capacity as Regional Director somewhat as an advocate for our students and to work with our partners and community as the bridge between the Resident District, Educating District, and the Facility. Through this collaborative framework, we build strong relationships with our residential providers, mental health providers, educational partners, and families. We center our work around building strong relationships with our students and build an understanding of their complex traumas, so we can enable them to become lifelong learners. Providing them with educational tools that will help them to be successful once they reintegrate back into the public education sector. I am humbled to have a great group of strong educational leaders who work tirelessly to ensure our students show academic, social-emotional, and relational growth. I enjoy watching the bonds they build with their teachers and seeing students who have never shown or felt any success in their school environment share with me their reading and math progress.
Last year, our program held a private graduation ceremony where I presented diplomas to 12 students. Knowing where those students were just nine months prior and how far they had come makes every battle worth the challenge.
What is the greatest benefit of being a NAPSA member?
Networking and the resources provided to all of us are great benefits to being a NAPSA member.