SPIN Honors Sauceda’s ‘Warm’ Style
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Del.icio.usThe Special Parent Information Network has named Kailua Intermediate School special ed teacher Nanette Sauceda as one of its 2009 Family Choice Award recipients.
KIS principal Suzanne Mulcahy knows all too well what it takes to be a special education teacher since she used to be one. “(Sauceda) is a master teacher,” Mulcahy said. “She has a bag of tricks for teaching, and it is never-ending. She keeps trying until she finds something that clicks.
“What makes her really special? She creates a lovely warm feeling in her classroom. Everyone is part of the family. They all work together under her leadership and direction. She never waters down the curriculum. It’s amazing what those students are able to accomplish.”
Educational assistant Treva Boyce, who works with Sauceda, added, “The kids, they don’t want to go home. They don’t want to get on the bus. So many who should have had worse behaviors didn’t, and it is all because of her.”
What Sauceda enjoys most about her first-year special ed class is reaching benchmarks. “The growth is so small,” she admitted,“but when you see them achieve a goal, it is so amazing to them. For example, we have one student who had trouble with reading. He found he could write using Alpha-Smart, and now he is eating up words. It’s amazing to see them achieve.”
Sauceda, who also taught fifth grade for nine years in Illinois, is humbled by the award. “We have a team effort to make the class a wonderful place to be,” she pointed out. “The classroom becomes a magical place where students learn. It’s not just one person that puts everything into the class.”
The team includes nurse Michelle Rondon and educational assistant Rowena Aguilar. Also on board is Katherine Sano, a former kindergarten teacher and the grandmother of a special-needs student. Sano nominated Sauceda for the SPIN award, describing the classroom as “a learning place where every child is accepted and treated with dignity, no matter what the handicap. Mrs. Sauceda makes sure that every child is challenged but not overwhelmed.”
Sano said her granddaughter Amber Nahale leaves home every morning with a smile on her face, and returns in the afternoon beaming and singing songs she learned in school.
Sauceda added that Sano buys special things for the students such as plants and seeds for Earth Day to make it interactive, which is a challenge for autistic children - “There is no emotional connection.”
Yet she’s discovered that’s not always the case. When Sauceda experienced two deaths in her immediate family, she decided to go around smiling since the children are so sensitive to change. One day Amber tugged on Sauceda’s pant leg, held her in a hug and stroked her face.
“She was comforting me,” said Sauceda. “Here is a student, a seventh-grade girl, making sure I am comforted that day.
“I have hundreds of these stories where they have gone above and beyond. It’s about learning to speak their language, as they are speaking a different language than we are.”
Sauceda’s husband, David, is principal at Lanikai Elementary School, which their two children, Christian and Natalie, attend.
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