Community Reflective Statement

I currently work as a Supportive Staff Supervisor, in the Special Education Department, for School District 93 in Idaho Falls. My role is to provide support to 170 supportive staff, teachers, and all students in Special Education. In 2010 I started working for the District as a PSR Worker in the serious emotional disturbance (SED) elementary program. Five years later my Supervisor came to me and asked me to take over his role in the Special Services Department for a month, so he could go to the North Pole. The day he returned I resumed my previous position as a PSR Worker. That same day he came to the school I was working at and explained he heard great things about my work while he was gone. He told me starting tomorrow he wanted to

I believe my experience in the community setting has helped me better understand some of the students I work within the schools. With the private sector, I get to see how their parents and community interact with them outside of school. I observe and support their day to day trials. Working in these different situations, I can see a difference in how the home environment affects the children in school. With the social problems, I have seen in our communities I have been able to understand the importance of supporting, and working with, students and families with mental health symptoms.

I work in some homes where the best thing I can do is be a role model with how I live my life. I can’t change or force people to live their life a certain way. My goal is to help students and parents learn how to succeed and accomplish their goals. One thing I try to keep in mind and help them understand is that we can learn from mistakes. I encourage them when they are successful to build upon what they have learned, and help them rethink something that hasn’t been working. Sometimes it means watching them fail. It is hard but an important part of