The three boys giggled as they wrote...

The three boys giggled as they wrote a song about their school principal eating peanut butter.

Their teacher, Kathy Hoolihan, sat on the floor and laughed with them, openly enjoying their silliness. “Typical fifth-grade boys,” she said.

Perhaps so, but the songwriting exercise was designed for atypical students. The boys have a learning disability that makes it difficult and frightening for them to compose even a paragraph. The lesson helps them feel more at ease with writing.

Hoolihan, a resource specialist for 5 1/2 years at Cogswell Elementary in El Monte, has been chosen by her colleagues in the 11-school Mountain View School District as the 1989-90 teacher of the year.

“She goes nonstop,” said Hoolihan’s classroom aide, Lucille Quinn. “Helping the children do well is what is most important to her.”

Cogswell Principal Albert Gasparian said Hoolihan is also being recognized for her dedication to the field, citing her role as president of the district’s teachers association for the last two years.

Hoolihan, 34, became interested in special education when she taught in a regular classroom 11 years ago at Payne Elementary in El Monte. She went back to school and got a master’s degree in special education, because she noticed students in her class who had learning problems and she wanted to know how to help them.

She teaches students who are identified as having average intelligence but are not able to perform at their grade level because of learning disabilities. The students are taught compensation skills, so they can return to mainstream classes and not feel like failures because they are not on the same level as other students.

“My emphasis is on the kids believing in themselves, and I help by giving them encouragement on every small success,” she said.