Sherri and I retired from teaching in 2005 and moved to northern Kentucky. I had plenty to keep me busy for three or four months with all that moving involves and trying to get grass to grow on our half an acre yard. After we had settle in I was almost climbing the walls from boredom. Before the next school year began I applied to do some substitute teaching. I got a call from one of the local school districts to come in for an interview. My interview was with a man who was not interested in hiring me to substitute, rather he wanted me to teach special education students at a middle school. I had two things going for me, I had 27 years under my belt teaching middle school of which 15 were in special education.
After going to the school and talking to the assistant principal I accepted the position. I would be doing collaborative teaching. That is co-teaching in a regular classroom where special ed. students would be integrated with non special ed. students. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. One day before school started I met the principal who told me I would be working primarily with one student who had a multitude of learning and emotional problems. It turned out that I also would be working with some students with behavior disorders. But Shawn was the one I was assigned to babysit.
Shawn had many problems. He was a downs kid, and when his other problems were under control he was very sweet. However, almost everyday he would go ballistic, and I would end up on the floor with him trying to restrain him. I got scratched, bruised and sometimes had to run through the halls to catch him. I was told before I ever met him that one major problem Shawn had was he liked to take his clothes off when he really got upset. That never happened when I was with him, but when I wasn’t I might get a distress call from one of the other teachers. I carried a walkie talkie so I could be summoned when Shaw attempted to get naked.
One morning I was told to get to the music room ASAP! When I walked into the room Shawn had no shirt on, no shoes on, no socks on, and he was in the process of removing his pants. The young first year teacher was hiding under her desk, and the students had distanced themselves as far away from Shawn as they could. I told Shawn two or three times to not take his pants off. He paused each time looking blankly at me, and I knew I wasn’t connecting with him. I had to think of something else, fast. I put my arm around him and whispered in his ear, “Shawn, do you want to go eat lunch?” That got his attention. He nodded his head, grinned and got up to go. “Well, first you will have to put your clothes back on.” Immediately Shawn pulled his pants up, put his shirt on, and his shoes and socks. Then he looked at me and said, “Let’s go!”
Shawn and I walked down to the cafeteria as though nothing had happened. I was wondering how I was going to convince the lunchroom ladies that Shawn needed lunch at nine thirty in the morning. I guess they knew about Shawn because they quickly came up with a tray of food for him.
That little music teacher will never forget that morning. I became her hero. I often wonder how long it was before she decided to find another line of work. For me, I decided that climbing the walls at home was better than trying to keep Shawn’s clothes on him and wrestling on the floor with him almost everyday. I told the principal before Christmas vacation that I wouldn’t be back because what he had me doing was not what I had signed up for. He said, “I don’t blame you. If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t do it either.”
After that God gave me a position in a large Baptist association of churches as the Christian Education Director. I served churches in various ways for my remaining time in northern Kentucky. Not once did I ever have to tell anyone to keep their clothes on. I was certainly blessed.
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