In the Life Skills classroom at Theodore G. Davis Middle School, sunlight streams through a large glass window naturally brightening the learning environment. The light illuminates the descriptive words on cabinets, bookshelves full of materials and personalized bins for each student that include learning resources specialized just for them. The brightest light in the classroom is the Life Skills teacher, Sarah Desrosiers, who provides a spectrum of possibilities for her students.
Her gentle demeanor with children, mixed with her passion to provide instruction to all levels of learners, is evident in her interactions with students. From high fives and curtsies to doing the Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse, Desrosiers connects with her students in exciting ways so they not only understand her expectations, but they know she truly cares for their well-being. To recognize her roles as teacher, advocate and cheerleader for children with special needs, Desrosiers was chosen by Charles County Public Schools as the 2015 Teacher of the Year.
Desrosiers learned of her selection as Teacher of the Year with a special visit from some of her former students and Superintendent of Schools Kimberly Hill. “Nothing is more humbling after receiving this news as when the visitors file out of the room and you are faced with your amazing special needs students and one looks at you and says, ‘Ms. D. You won! When is lunch?’ My students don’t truly understand what this means for me or really for them,” she said.
Desrosiers said she knew from a young age that she wanted to work in an environment where she could be the difference in someone’s life. Her parents both worked in education – her father was a teacher and school principal, and her mother taught kindergarten. As a young girl, she would visit her mother at her school where she encountered students with special needs. She volunteered to spend time with these students and said she had no idea then how those experiences would later impact her life. Desrosiers has been working with special education students for the past 12 years, and believes that creativity, risk and compassion yield student success.
“I know they can learn. They know that I know they can learn. From this collective knowledge my compassion and creativity are the keys to determining how they will become better learners. Creativity involves risk, and those risks are tempered by compassion in my classroom. The totality of three – creativity, risk and compassion – yields student success. The success of my students is my reward,” Desrosiers said.
Desrosiers began her career with Charles County Public Schools in 2007 at Davis when the school opened. Upon interviewing for a teaching position with CCPS, Desrosiers considered a variety of special education positions, but it was her experiences with special needs students at a young age that led her to take the Life Skills position at Davis. The Life Skills program features curriculum designed for students to not only learn about reading, mathematics, science and social studies, but also to learn essential skills in the areas of personal responsibility, community access and the world of work.
Desrosiers strives to meet the needs of each student in her class from developing different ways to explain daily lessons and content to securing essential technology tools, such as iPads and iPods, to enhance learning. She models lessons using descriptive methods such as using the five basic senses to conduct scientific experiments, cutting shapes from paper to teach calculations and using sight words and short stories to learn language skills. Her students readily volunteer to solve problems at the Smart board, as they are eager to have fun while learning and cheer on their classmates.
Some of the additional learning opportunities Desrosiers coordinates for her students include helping with the eighth-grade promotion ceremony, delivering newspapers to classrooms in the building, cooking in the Life Skills classroom, organizing school bulletin boards and serving as cashiers when the students sponsor the Davis Drive Thru to raise money. Desrosiers and her students are well known among the school community for their Davis spirit and eagerness to learn, and her coworkers find her to be “inspiring.” Trisha Volland is a world language teacher at Davis and has worked with Desrosiers for the past seven years. She said Desrosiers instills in her students a strong desire to learn.
“She challenges them in ways that make them think, plan ahead and really consider what is going on before they begin a task. She teaches students valuable social skills, gently reminds them when needed, and thanks them when they engage in conversations. It is inspiring to watch her interact with her students,” Volland wrote in a letter of support for Desrosiers.
Kim Coates, the parent of a former Davis student, attests to the care and compassion Desrosiers demonstrates in her classroom. Coates wrote a letter of support for Desrosiers award nomination and said her child learned to better develop his potential and reading and writing skills as a result of the exceptional care he was shown by Desrosiers. “I am forever grateful for her kindness and hard work. She not only taught Jalen to reach his potential but she also taught me that he is capable of so much more than I ever dreamed for him. She is a wonderful teacher who has gone above and beyond her duties,” Coates wrote in her letter.
Davis Principal Stephanie Wesolowski is in her first year as the lead administrator at the school and said Desrosiers’ classroom is a live resource for other teachers interested in learning more about differentiated instruction. “She clearly recognizes that no single teaching style, lesson plan, learning expectation, assignment or project based learning task can be appropriate for all students. She is an integral part of the success of the Life Skills program at Davis. She is by every measure an educational leader and exemplary teacher,” Wesolowski wrote in an award nomination letter.
In addition to working with special needs students in the classroom, Desrosiers implemented and sponsors the Best Buddies program at Davis in which students with and without disabilities are paired together to mentor one another. She launched the Unified Sports program among middle school students to ensure that students of all abilities have the opportunity to participate in athletics. She also works with staff at The Goddard School in Waldorf to assist teachers with lesson plan writing, behavior modification and Smart board use.
Desrosiers credits her students and peers for her passion in education. “Looking at the road that has taken me here, it has been paved with amazing students and their families, administration, and irreplaceable instructional assistants. It is because of them that I can say that this has never been a job, but instead a passion,” she said.
As Charles County’s Teacher of the Year, Desrosiers is eligible for the Maryland Teacher of the Year award. The state winner is announced by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) in the fall at a special ceremony held to honor all local recipients. The state winner is also considered for the National Teacher of the Year honor. The Board of Education will recognize Desrosiers at the June 9 meeting.
Prior to joining CCPS, Desrosiers was a special education teacher with Plainfield Public Schools in Connecticut and taught science to special needs students at Stonington Institute North, also in Connecticut.
She has a bachelor’s degree in American studies with a concentration in American history and elementary education from Franklin Pierce College, and a master’s degree in education from Southern Connecticut State University. For more information on the Teacher of the Year awards program, visit the MSDE website at http://www.msde.maryland.gov/MSDE/programs/recognition-partnerships/toy_1/.
