Incredible Teachers Foster Incredible Growth

Friday, April 09, 2021

At JB, we want all of our families, friends, and community members to have the opportunity to get to know our incredible teachers. In this short interview, we will learn a little more about Maggie Schmidt and Meghan Hogan, Kindergarten Intervention Specialists at JB Lyndhurst. Maggie, currently enrolled in school to receive her Masters in Counseling, has been an important part of the JB Lyndhurst family for the past five years. Meghan recently joined the JB family at the start of the 2020 school year and has already made such an impact on the students and our community. Read on to learn why Maggie and Meghan love teaching and get to know some of their favorite things!

What makes you passionate about special education?

Maggie: I love being able to meet a child where they are at to help them succeed. Every child is at a different level and has different needs and I enjoy making sure every lesson, every activity, and everything we do in class is personalized to how they learn.

Meghan: I think it’s really rewarding to see our kiddos conquer and overcome a lot of the challenges that they are up against. There is something really rewarding knowing that you played a part in helping them succeed.

What would you say makes JB Unique?

Maggie & Meghan: We think JB’s co-teach model and the collaborative environment really has such a positive impact on our kiddos. Our smaller class sizes really allow us to provide more personalized support to each student and we have the opportunity to make sure we are meeting them at their level. Having onsite occupational, art, music, and speech therapy really offers a unique structure to the curriculum as well. Being at JB, you get an overwhelming sense of family, which really makes this place special. It’s a place that you want to come to every day not only as a student but as a teacher.

What is one of your favorite things about your Kindergarten class?

Maggie: When you’re a Kindergarten teacher, you really get to see students learning and interacting in a school environment for the first time. They are the littlest learners in our school and they have so much curiosity and passion for learning, it’s really rewarding getting to watch them grow.

Meghan: I conduct a lot of classroom science experiments with our kiddos and getting to see their reaction and excitement is so incredible. Something as simple as mixing baking soda and vinegar brings the biggest smile to their little faces. It’s like they think I’m performing magic!

What are some skills, outside of basic education, that you feel are important to teach at this level?

Maggie: For most of our kiddos, this is their first opportunity to be around others in a more structured environment. Some of the most important things we try to teach are respect for others, kindness, helpfulness, self-care, independence, and collaboration. These are skills that will help carry them through their entire journey at JB and beyond.

Meghan: I think at this level it’s super important for us to help establish social skills with our kiddos. Incorporating lessons like listening to others when they are speaking, understanding personal space, being kind to one another, and just general school-appropriate behavior is really important.

Speed Round!

Maggie
Favorite food? Mashed Potatoes
Favorite Game/Hobby? Cooking
Favorite color? Yellow
Favorite thing about JB? How unique and special every child who passes through JB is

Meghan
Favorite food? Pizza
Favorite Game/Hobby? Watching Baseball
Favorite color? Blue
Favorite thing about JB? The undeniable sense of family and support

Any final thoughts?

Maggie: It’s so important and rewarding to be a part of a community of people who believe in the mission of their school. You can see each person, at every level, carry out the JB mission on a daily basis. You can see how much that impacts the kiddos long-term and it’s one of my favorite things about working here!

Meghan: I think it’s important to touch on our classroom dynamics. Not all of our children are here with the same diagnosis. I think that’s really unique to a lot of special education schools because it gives the kids an opportunity to learn from and support one another. They don’t see their diversity as differences, they just really want to help each other and that’s something that we try to teach day in and day out. I just love seeing how excited they are watching one another succeed.

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