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THREE SPECIAL ED TEACHERS HOPE TO FOLLOW IN LINDNER'S AWARD-WINNING FOOTSTEPS

October 15, 2000

Three special education teachers are bidding to become the second consecutive one from their specialty, after State College, Pa.'s Teri Lindner, to be named Teacher of the Year in Walt Disney Co.'s American Teacher Awards. The Disney Learning Partnership selected Joanna Gallagher, of Chino, Calif., Douglas Jackson, of El Paso, Texas, and Peter Riffle, of West Lawn, Pa., as the three special ed nominees among 33 people to be honored this year as America's top teachers.

Joanna Gallagher, who works with young men, nearly all gang members, in a classroom within the Herman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility, says she holds them accountable for their crimes. She starts, however, by helping the students recognize they too are victims of their own circumstances, encouraging them to forgive their parents and others who have hurt them and helping them to eventually break the cycle of violence in their lives.

The curriculum, developed by Gallagher based on the specific needs of the types of students she works with, examines the impact of crime on its victims. The program incorporates homicide survivors, victims' rights advocates, legislators and former students to help the students better understand why they are incarcerated and how they can lead more productive lives when they are released.

With projects such as mock trials, hypothetical stock trading and online friendships with other students across the country, Douglas Jackson has developed a hands-on curriculum to help deaf students develop independent thinking and cooperative learning skills. Before moving to Texas, where he was recently named Outstanding Deaf Education State Teacher by the Texas Association of Parents and Educators of the Deaf, Jackson won numerous accolades for similar efforts in Florida. He has also worked on the advisory board of Kids Voting El Paso and worked with the Texas School for the Deaf to create a distance learning program called Eyes for Independence.

In Pennsylvania, Peter Riffle adds a unique personal touch to his lessons for students with learning disabilities. The American History, Economics, Biology and General Science teacher shares his own experiences growing up with a learning disability to help his high school students see their challenges can be overcome and they can succeed. Riffle has been successful both as a highly respected teacher in his school district and as a baseball player, drafted by the Atlanta Braves and elected to the Kutztown, Pa., Athletic Hall of Fame. He uses creative lessons, such as helping his students recreate a World War II battlefield experience with the help of local veterans, to keep his students engaged and motivated to learn.

The three special ed teachers will join their colleagues at a ceremony in Los Angeles next month for the selection of 10 finalists and one national Teacher of the Year. The event will be televised at 7 p.m. EST Dec. 22 on Lifetime Television Network. 1999 Teacher of the Year Lindner, one of last year's three special ed nominees, runs a program called "LifeLink" at Pennsylvania's State College Area High School, to teach students with disabilities life skills. She told Disney in her nomination form that she found out how important her work is when one of her students was stranded in the mountains of Pennsylvania with his grandfather. "His experience confirms the validity of what I had only sensed before: That life can be practiced and that despite my students' developmental delays, if their education is relevant enough, they are able to transfer and generalize to even the most exacting situations," she said.

THREE SPECIAL ED TEACHERS GET MORE THAN A PAT ON THE BACK FROM DISNEY August 24, 1999

Each year, Disney's selection committee, consisting of past American Teacher Award finalists and representatives of the Council for Exceptional Children and 14 other national education organizations, whittles the nominee list down to 10 finalists, one in each of 10 categories including special education. Disney will award $10,000 to each of the 33 honorees, and their schools will each receive $5,000. The finalists will receive another $5,000, and the Teacher of the Year, selected from those finalists, will receive $25,000 and an additional $5,000 for his or her school.8