Going the extra mile

NEA Today, Oct 1999

Sherri Postma's background as a surgical assistant serves her well when she works one-on-one with medically fragile children in the Missoula, Montana, schools.

Postma, now a paraeducator, uses her medical expertise for simple solutions, like calming a child with high blood pressure.

Postma also knows how to move beyond the medical to the psychological, helping special needs kids surmount the stigma they often face.

To foster understanding and respect, Postma shares information about these children, their concerns, their disabilities, and their abilities with both regular ed students and the community.

Postma's initiative has also fostered better awareness of another misunderstood group of folks: educational support personnel. As co-president of Missoula's merged NEA-AFT local affiliate, Postma's excellent rapport with the school board and administrators has earned considerable respect for ESP.

Empowering others is what teacher's aide Doris Cambell does best. A winner of the Texas State Teachers Association's Ronnie Ray Educational Support Personnel of the Year Award, Cambell enjoys helping her colleagues. She informs educators, especially new ones, of their rights and points them in the right direction.

Cambell works in a program for preschool children with disabilities at Martin Elementary in Beaumont. The program is built on "kids being responsible for themselves," she stresses. "Some have a language deficit; we give them words. It makes you feel real good when they leave here able to make a 10-word sentence."