Spotlight: Adjunct 教师 特德4月
“I want to help other people who can’t believe in themselves. 我想成为那样的人
person who believes in the student and fosters the seed of education. ——艾普莉·泰德
特德4月’s path as a part-time adjunct faculty member can be compared to a long winding road, full of stops and different scenery but laser focused on the designation.
Although 特德 is a newer addition to the 皇冠8868会员登录 Valley College faculty, beginning in October 2021, she is not new to WVC.
特德 first came to WVC as a 38-year-old student and started her academic career in 过渡的研究 High School Plus program. That is the program that focuses 论成人基础教育. She always knew she was going to attend college but struggled. For 20 years, she worked on earning her high school diploma with undiagnosed learning disabilities and unsupportive family.
“I would go to class and try and try, but I could not keep up with the other students,” 特德共享. “I viewed my disability as a deficit--as though something in me was 破碎的. It was not a positive feeling. My teachers were often frustrated with me.”
One teacher encouraged 特德 to drop out and that was exactly what she did in 9th 年级.
Fast forward to a marriage and four children later, with many obstacles along the way, 特德的 education was always put on the back burner. But, her drive to continue her education stayed strong.
During this time, 特德 learned to navigate around the education hole. 她最终 confronted with her lack of diploma when she volunteered for the Sheriff’s Department 及消防部门. They required a diploma because the state checked all education 凭证. 特德 knew to continue, she needed to go to WVC to complete her diploma.
皇冠8868会员登录 Valley College was offering the new High School Plus program. 学生在 the program complete classes much like a traditional high school model to receive their high school diploma, not just a GED. 学生 can also receive credits for life and work experience to complete some of the requirements. 特德 started this program with 8 of the 21 credits required for completion.
“At the encouragement of a teacher, I was finally tested and diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia,” said 特德. Dyslexia changes sentence structure and letter placement which makes it necessary for people to read information slowly and multiple 处理时间. Dyscalculia makes learning math related concepts and processes 困难. 特德 is unable to move between concepts quickly and struggles with mathematical 组织. Most students can do mental math or use a form of short-hand in algebra, but someone with dyscalculia, the brain requires everything to be written out in a 线性方式. Overall, dyscalculia makes it extremely hard to do algebra.
While in the High School Plus program, 特德 received accessibility accommodations 因为她的残疾. With these accommodations, she completed the remainder of her high school credits in three quarters.
“The biggest lesson I learned in the program was how to believe in myself,” stated 特德.
Now, 特德 teaches two classes in the department where she once was a student. 特德的 favorite part of working at WVC is interacting and mentoring students. 作为导师， 特德 connects students with resources on and off campus to help remove barriers 成功. Based on her own experience, she often shares strategies for studying, shares tip to overcome hurdles, and explains challenges that can compound with outside 因素.
Outside of work, 特德 is a full-time student pursuing a masters of social work degree with a focus in mental health. She is even looking ahead to potential doctoral programs in 组织 development and leadership.
As 特德 pursues continued higher education, her sons are following her path of attending WVC和高等教育. “Education is transformative - it changes individuals, families, communities, and even systems!泰德分享道。. “Education has changed my entire family - how we see each other, our goals for the future and our role within society.”