Making A Difference

Teaching: Making a Difference in Students Lives Education is one of the most demanding jobs in the world. Teachers not only shape the lives of their students, they also shape tomorrow. These children that they are teaching and molding are the very same people who will grow up and hold the weight and decisions of the world one day. There is a type of teacher who, though their students may not be perceived as the future of the world, know that their students can succeed. Special education teachers help not only their students but their parents in an effort to teach basic safety and hygiene, as well as other skills like work ethic and money management. There are some educators, however, who go beyond their calling as a teacher and invest everything …show more content…
Clay knows when it is in the best interest of her children to let them go. “There comes a time when I no longer need to teach them about circumference anymore. I’m here to give them the necessary tools to make a good life for themselves.” To bestow those much needed skills Mrs. Clay has worked diligently to set up “links” from school to jobs to enable her students to succeed in the work force. However, before her students could attend a job link program, there was one major obstacle that had to be dealt with. Transportation. “Transportation is the main problem we have with getting our students into many different programs that would benefit them.” Mrs. Clay always looks out for her children. “I treat them like my own. I do for them the same as I would do for my children.” Mrs. Clay proposed to the principal of Yazoo County High School, the school where she works, to let her students ride the vocational bus along with the other students, that way they could attend the job link program. After deliberation, it was decided that they could ride the bus with the other students and partake in the wonderful opportunity of learning essential job skills.” They go and job shadow! They are typically learning more custodial geared job skills, but they are still making money. They get a real paycheck, and are actually taught how to budget.” Mrs. Clay does everything in her power to ensure that her student take advantage of any opportunity to learn and …show more content…
There was a time when Mrs. Clay had surgery and missed a few weeks of school. When she came back, she told her students to be gentle with her because she was still hurt. In one instance she overheard some students talking “Don’t you bump her! We don’t want her to go away again!” Her students care about her just as much as she cares for them, and so many of her students to this day keep in touch with her. “There is this one boy, well I should say man now, who graduated a few years back and after going through this program has gotten and maintained a job at Walmart ever since. He now has a sweetheart, and is taking adult education classes!” All of these things that he was able to accomplish started with Mrs. Clay believing in her students and working to ensure that they receive the things they need in order to be successful. “I still get a call from him at least twice a year to just see how I’m doing and to tell me what’s going on in his life.” If it wasn’t for Mrs. Clay, many students would not have the opportunity to grow into productive citizens who maintain steady jobs and relationships.
In order to make the community a better place, one must start with the people who make up the community. Mrs. Clay helps those who truly need it, those who need that extra care and support to be successful and productive citizens. There is no disputing the impact