Supporting Academic Success: Anne Feldpausch's Role as a Resource Teacher at Williamston High

Welcome back to the Hornet Hive podcast! I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, and today we have a special guest joining us, Anne Feldpausch. Anne is a special education resource teacher at Williamston High School and has been teaching for 19 years. 

In this episode of the "Hornet Hive" podcast, host Dr. Christopher Lewis welcomes Anne Feldpausch, a special education resource teacher at Williamston High School. Dr. Lewis begins by emphasizing the importance of introducing the school's staff members to the community, highlighting the many individuals working alongside students. He expresses his excitement about getting to know Anne and shares that Anne has been teaching for 19 years, with the last two years at Williamston High School.

Anne Feldpausch discusses her journey to Williamston, explaining that she and her husband moved to the area in 2011, attracted by the sense of community and the school system. Her children attend Williamston Public Schools, and she was motivated to work in a district where she could be more involved with her own kids. Anne emphasizes the strong sense of community in Williamston and how this supportive environment has positively impacted her work as a teacher.

As Dr. Lewis delves into Anne's role as a resource teacher, Anne explains that her primary responsibility is to work with students who have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). She helps these students with their academic goals, provides tutorial support, and assists with developing executive functioning skills. Anne also shares that she collaborates with general education teachers to support students' needs within the classroom.

The conversation continues with Anne describing her transition to Williamston High School, the close-knit environment she found, and how her role has evolved to include co-teaching in math and English classes. She expresses her appreciation for the school's supportive staff and the positive impact her move to Williamston has had on her career and family life.

Dr. Lewis asks Anne about her journey into special education. Anne reveals that her initial career path was in finance and marketing, but her experiences working with children in various capacities, including as a nanny for a child with Down syndrome and autism, led her to pursue a career in education, specifically in special education. Her desire to advocate for students who need extra support and guidance drove her to become a resource teacher.

To conclude the episode, Anne shares a heartwarming story about her experiences with her freshman students last year. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she witnessed their growth and maturation as they transitioned to sophomore year. Anne expresses her pride in her students' progress and looks forward to supporting her senior students in their journey toward college and beyond.

In the final moments, Dr. Lewis extends his gratitude to Anne for her dedication to supporting students with special needs and wishes her continued success in her role at Williamston High School.

 

Transcript

Christopher Lewis:

Welcome back to the Hornet Hive. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, one of the members of the Williamston Community Schools Board of Education. Really excited to have you back again this week. every week, I love being able to talk to you about the amazing things that are happening within our schools. Some weeks, we're talking about things that are happening, services that are being offered, but a lot of our other weeks, we're talking to the amazing staff that we have. because it's important. It's important for you to get to know the people that are working with all of our students and and having an opportunity to be able to meet people that you might never have met before because there are so many people that are walking side by side by your student. and it's important for you to get to know who they are as well. This week, we've got another great guest with us and felt posh is with us today. And Anne is a special education resource teacher at our high school. And I am really excited to get to know her and for you to get to know her as well. And thanks so much for joining us today.

Anne Feldpausch:

Thank you for having me.

Christopher Lewis:

It is my pleasure having you here today. Really excited to be able to get to know you a little bit more. 1st and foremost, I love being able to turn the clock back in time. Would love for you to tell me what originally brought you to Williamson?

Anne Feldpausch:

This is my 2nd year at William in high school, but it's my 19th year teaching. I previously taught in a neighboring district for 17 years before that, I did a fellowship placement in with Chicago Public Schools for a year as well, but my husband and I moved to Williamston in 2011. So we've been here for almost 12 years. And both of our children attend Williamston Public Schools. I have a 5th grade son and a 3rd grade daughter and really, like, have enjoyed the school. My son started in the young 5 program. My daughter started here, in the public school system in 1st grade. So we've been involved, you know, since, like, 2018. I think, within the schools and just have really enjoyed it, enjoy the community, and what kind of triggered, last year to kind of have my lateral move over was I was just kind of like I was missing out on being with my kids and seeing what they're up to and just being more of a part of this community. Feel like Williamston is a very close knit community and has a good sense of community, and it was really starting to lack in my other district So I made the jump over, and I'm very happy to be here. It was a it was a great decision for both my family and for me personally, I feel very Rejuvenated here as a teacher, very supportive staff at the high school. It's awesome. The students are amazing. so it's been a very a really good move for me.

Christopher Lewis:

That kind of just answered my next question, but really it go it goes into the fact that, you know, you talked about that you this is your 2nd year here. You had been working for so many years in in another neighboring district. As you look at your experience thus far in Williamson, what sustains you in the work, but also what makes Williamson a great place to work?

Anne Feldpausch:

think what makes Williams done such a great place to work and especially the high school. I have experience in a very large building with up to, like, 1600 students and a staff of 85 to 90 teachers. And so a lot of the teachers I never even saw. Like, I had students with them, but I didn't ever physically see them on most days. Usually not even every week, maybe once a month at staff meetings. Coming to Williams to high school with 600 students. Like, I see the kids every day. Like, I see even the kids I don't work with, I I pass them in the hallway. You see the same kids. You see the teachers out in the hallway communicating and talking with the kids between between classes and just kinda checking in and just that that close knit feel. And again, that sense of community is very, very strong here, and that really has helped me to feel rejuvenated in my position and working with students. I feel like I get to know them better, and I have a a better sense of, like, what's going on in their lives, which then is a big help within the classroom, especially working with my students who might struggle a little bit academically who need that extra support. So when I can really build those relationships with them, it helps have a better outcome. as well as, again, going tying back to the teachers where I'm able to check-in with their teachers more and see their teachers more, which helps in my position as a resource teacher.

Christopher Lewis:

So for people that don't know, what is the role of a resource teacher? And what do you do on a daily basis?

Anne Feldpausch:

A resource teacher works with students with individualized education plans with the IEPs. So they have been identified with either having specific learning disability, different, maybe academic struggles, other diagnoses can impact their performance at school. So as they're resource teacher and responsible for their IDP goals and accommodations, tutorial academic support, organization, one of the executive functioning skills we work on, kind of preparing them as in their academic classes as well as the transition for when they graduate either moving on to college, going to trade school, we're entering the workforce right away, joining the military, but my position as the resource teacher is to assist with the needs that they have that might impact their academic performance. When I came over last year from my previous dive in distribution for about 8 years. And I was excited to hopefully retain that when I came to Williamson and Doctor. Spina was born. Doctor. Kirk was born. And last year, we started with 1 push in math class where I, was with Sarah Conklin. And she had never done, have never had a co teacher in there. And, you know, I've been doing that, so we were kind of throwing to get thrown together. It went really positively for the students who were in the class who are both caseload and non caseload. There's some other struggling learners, so I was able to support them as well. And then this year it expanded. I in two hours of push and nap, one with, Mrs. Conklin again, an hour with Mister Hampton, and then we also have to push in English classes with additional resource teacher support. So I'm really excited that the administration as a whole and within the building and as upper administrations can see the benefit of that, and it's a great offering to our students.

Christopher Lewis:

You've been a teacher now for quite a few years in working in special education for all of those years. Talk to me about what was it about special education that made you decide that that was the focal area that you wanted to study when you went school and that what you wanted to do when you became a teacher.

Anne Feldpausch:

When I went to Michigan State after I graduated high school, I actually was in the business college and I had a major in finance and marketing, and I that's what I was gonna do. And I interned in a insurance office one summer. And I came out and I was like, this is not for me. I'm like, this is, this is not me. And that was right before my junior year college when I'd already been accepted into the business school had all these prereqs done, and I'm just like, no, I can't, but not I'm gonna have to all growing up or, like, from high school on through college. I babysat a lot. I worked at the math. I worked in, like, the day care. I did lessons with kids. I coached sports. So I'd always been around like, children and students, like, you know, from LA K to kindergarten up to maybe late middle school. I was a camp counselor. So I it was kinda weird that, teaching wasn't my major that I thought it was gonna be finance and marketing. So it just kinda everything kind of pulled me back to education. And specifically with special education, I was a nanny or a family, that had 4 children and their 3rd child had down syndrome as well as was on the autism spectrum. So this is mostly in the night late nineties early 2000s where we don't we didn't know as much about it and everything. And the kind of services we're just becoming stronger as to what they are right now. But I worked very closely with this family and the student, and I had a great relationship with them, and it kinda, like, showed me like, hey. Like, special education is where I wanna go. Like, working more with the students who really need the extra support and need that voice within the classroom and might not be ready or able to provide it themselves, but they need an advocate and someone to be able to support them.

Christopher Lewis:

I know this is only your 2nd year, but Every teacher I talk to is definitely a storyteller. There are many stories. Every day you walk through the halls, and there are things that resonate and stick with you. Can you share a story with me that for you has epitomized the experience that you've had as a Williams and staff member thus far in the district?

Anne Feldpausch:

Well, I got only coming into my second year. I started my caseload of 22 students last year. I mostly a lot of freshmen. So it was kind of a trend year. Like, freshmen are always a new wave coming in and always have already, you know, the you're preparing them for a high school and how they what is expected, especially with the group of fresh men from last year, you know, they didn't have the typical middle school experience due to COVID and then having hybrid and then just how different school was for about 3 years And so coming in with them, it felt almost like middle school a little bit at times that we worked hard, like, you know, give them all kudos and escalates that they persevered and made it through their freshman year. And I will say, like, this week with them coming in, I was like, oh, man, how is this gonna go? Are we gonna be still freshmen? Are we gonna be on the sophomore, you know, behavior? And they have matured and come in with a new way of looking at high school and I'm really proud to be a part of that and work with them again, kind of see that growth. And a couple of them have said, like, wow, of what I did last year just wasn't okay. And it's like, wow, okay. Like, is there recognizing that? And, a couple students were like, I didn't really listen to some of the pointers you gave me last year, but I can see how that would be really beneficial. So just seeing that growth and being able to be part of their growth I didn't have any seniors last year, which it's always kind of fun to have seniors and to see their progress and what they're gonna do in their following high school, but this year, I do have a couple of seniors, so I'm excited to work with them. And they seem really excited for senior year and to work with me to help to prepare her moving on to college after the share.

Christopher Lewis:

So if someone in the community is listening to this and they feel that their child needs support, What's the steps that they need to go through to be able to get support and potentially work with you?

Anne Feldpausch:

The first step is to, you know, contact the general education teacher expressed concerns of what you're seeing either at home or if you have concerns with their classroom performance, and then they can be referred for testing with one of our school psychologists. There's also some outside information that the parents provide. Sometimes there's outside testing that needs to be done for different diagnoses. It has to be a medical documentation. The school cannot diagnose to give services, but as far as specific learning disabilities, the school can test for those. So you need to reach out to your student's teacher, who then would begin to read and undergo testing to see if your student would qualify for special education services. And if they qualify, then the opportunity is there for the additional support of the resource teacher, speech, social work, the services that are all embedded under that umbrella of special education. I just

Christopher Lewis:

wanna say thank you. Thank you for all that you do to be able to support the kids in their district that really need that port to be able to find success in their classrooms, and I wish you all the best.

Anne Feldpausch:

Well, thank you, and thank you for having me.