Special-ed faculty honored

Michael Miller

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District honored more than 90 special

education faculty members Wednesday at a reception at the Costa Mesa

Community Center.

The event -- hosted by the district’s Community Advisory Committee

for special education -- honored teachers, nurses, classroom aides

and others who service Newport-Mesa’s special-needs children. Each of

the honorees was nominated by a parent, a colleague or a district

official, and all received certificates along with letters of

recognition to be placed into their personal files.

“Congratulations to anyone who is going to receive recognition

today,” special education director Patrick Ryan said at the start of

the reception. “It is from your peers.”

As an example to set the tone for the event, Ryan quoted from a

parent letter nominating Victoria Elementary School teacher Erin

Gordon, which underlined the difficulty many special-education

students face in performing everyday tasks.

“In one year, Charlie went from no skills to holding a crayon,”

the letter read at one point.

During the event, Supt. Robert Barbot and Community Advisory

Committee chairwoman Sandi Ames paid tribute to Ryan himself, who

will retire next month. He will be replaced this fall by Diana

Hernandez, who served this year as a special education coordinator in

the Corona del Mar zone.

Ames, in a speech, humorously recalled the first time Ryan had met

with her daughter, Shanel.

“My daughter spilled orange juice in this man’s pocket, and he

didn’t miss a beat,” Ames said. “He just kept on talking and loving

her.”

The Community Advisory Committee is an organization made up of

parents, educators and self-advocates for special education.

The group meets approximately six times a year to discuss

districtwide needs. The tea reception, sponsored by parents and a

number of local businesses, is the committee’s annual event.