Goodrich – To fulfill the ratio of students to teachers in special services, school officials hired Oaktree Elementary School resource teacher, Jana Bodag.
A graduate of Corunna High School and Cedarville University in Ohio, Bodag has a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education and psychology.
‘I want to know where our kids are at academically, and make sure they are achieving their academic goals,? said Bodag.
Making sure special needs students are kept at their own individual pace will be Bodag’s job. ‘I will be going into classrooms to help modify and accommodate each child’s work,? she said.
Director of Special Services Brian Walton said in spring of there were 36 students. This fall, the number has increased to 45 students.
Walton said they especially needed a teacher who has the experience in working with cognitively impaired children. He said he hopes Bodag will lead them into some intervention strategies. ‘What attracted us to her is her expertise in RTI (Response to Intervention), a new approach to delivering intervention in the regular classroom,? said Walton.
Walton said it’s all about intervening before students get behind. ‘We need to be able to see when students are getting behind, before they actually do. That way we can intervene so we are not allowing children to fail,? said Walton.