Professional Partner of the Month: May 2008
Sally Meyer
"Before she took the position here at the High School, there were really very few, if any types of programs for the special education students labeled as gifted. Through her efforts we now have several different activities that enrich these students’ academics."
- Bob Kuchta, Math Teacher, Berwick Senior High School
"Sally's approach of challenging students to find their individual strengths and interests creates an environment in which students are alive with enthusiasm for learning."
- Jeremy Fegert, Program Director, The Second Mile
Sally Meyer has been teaching gifted and talented students at all levels for many years in the Berwick Area School District, and most recently in the Southern Columbia Area School District. In addition to developing new initiatives, addressing school-wide problems head-on, and working with students and parents tirelessly, Mrs. Meyer sees the most fruit from her labor of love in challenging students to be the best they can be. For her effectiveness in reaching so many students with top-notch programming, The Second Mile salutes Sally Meyer as its May Professional Partner of the Month.
As a teacher for gifted and talented students in grades K-12, Sally Meyer’s unique value to the students and parents with whom she works can be best appreciated when understanding that many school districts don’t fully support gifted education, and that the funding stream for this strand of instruction creates certain issues. Mrs. Meyer explains:
| | "Gifted Education is under the state umbrella of special education and because of this fact, there is a tremendous amount of paperwork that the teacher is required to complete each year on each student, and the teacher also needs to meet with the student and parents each year!" |
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So not only do gifted educators potentially face issues of funding and support for their curricula, but they also deal with cumbersome paperwork and additional challenges in order to draw down any funding they do get.
But Sally Meyer is undaunted by any obstacles, as the satisfaction she draws from her work is so great as to keep her highly motivated. Despite the extra paperwork or any other issues, she really enjoys each student, and each experience:
| | "I enjoy coming to work each day because I truly enjoy working with students and challenging them to be the best that they can be - I know it sounds cliché, but I really do enjoy working with students! I really never have a bad day at work!" |
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This positive attitude of Sally Meyer’s must be infectious, and seems to pervade her room. Clearly, students are drawn to her openness, accessibility, and optimism, as judged by the many smiling faces that come to visit her each day. And certainly the environment she created at Berwick Senior High School exuded that same, upbeat feel, about what is possible, and about how great learning can be. After one visit to this classroom, The Second Mile’s Jeremy Fegert said, "When you walk into Sally's classroom, you are immediately struck by the amount of creativity and individual expression around the room."
Furthermore, Mrs. Meyer completes her jobs in a seemingly effortless manner. Berwick math teacher Robert Kuchta, who has known Sally for many years, describes Sally’s backline persona:
| | "As a math teacher, performing my day to day job, I really was unaware how much Mrs. Meyer has actually done for our students. As a teacher of a few gifted students, I knew that they were challenged by her program and seemed to enjoy themselves while learning things they could not get in a regular classroom. Included in this is the Medical Mentoring program where students get to explore possible careers in medicine. Two years ago, some of her students asked me to attend the Second Mile Leadership program. I reluctantly agreed, but am very glad I did. It shed new light for me about many of the behind-the-scenes time and efforts that Sally puts into her program. There are numerous other programs which require time out of school to be successful. She deals primarily with our best and brightest students and on the surface that seems like an easy job. However, since she is involved with many different programs and she must deal with members of the community, it requires a different type of personality for the different demands placed on her time." |
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Not requiring the spotlight or any glory, Mrs. Meyer is content to put the wheels in motion for her students – and then step out of the way and let the students themselves move things forward.
In addition to taking a team of 10th graders from Berwick to State College for The Second Mile’s Leadership Institute - and then mentoring those students to open up and run a school store and promote school spirit over the course of the following year, Sally Meyer has been involved in many other projects. For example, when the school was experiencing some racial issues, Sally was primarily responsible for forming a group called Making Connections. This diversity group involved students of all types of ethnic, religious and academic backgrounds, and improved the school's climate dramatically. On a daily basis, she loves planning and developing activities that challenge the younger gifted students, and planning independent studies for the older gifted students. She also enjoys meeting all of their families and working with the students over a period of time.
When asked if she had a favorite quotation, Mrs. Meyer responded, "Bloom where you are planted." Her translation: "Do the best where you happen to be!" Along the same lines of this metaphor of planting and growth, Mrs. Meyer shares that when not nurturing and developing students, she’s on her farm in rural Pennsylvania, raising wool sheep, growing hay, and enjoying their horses. Sally Meyer has recently joined the team at Southern Columbia, prompting Berwick’s Robert Kuchta to lament, "Our loss is Southern’s gain." No matter where Sally Meyer teaches, and challenges, and nurtures, it’s clear that she’s making a huge difference in the lives of countless young people. The Second Mile is proud to recognize her as May’s Professional Partner of the Month.
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