Teacher wins Golden Bell Award

It’s Friday afternoon with only a few minutes before lunch and Lynn Moderhak keeps a watchful eye on her class of first-graders.

AWARD—Lynn Moderhak and her first-grade students at Brookside Elementary School in Oak Park celebrate Moderhak’s recent award for excellence in special educationThe students work in hushed groups throughout the colorfully decorated room.

The smiling, gap-toothed pictures of Moderhak’s 20 students share the back of the classroom door, the first thing any visitor sees when entering the room. The photos are a subtle reminder that for her, the children always come first.

It’s that dedication that earned Moderhak, an educator for 25 years, the Golden Bell Award from the Ventura County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) for her outstanding work in fully including special needs students into her classroom.

“We really try to give the award to someone who has gone above and beyond in education,” said Mary Samples, the program’s county director. “And from the letters we received nominating her, it’s clear that Lynn is that kind of teacher.” For the last four years, the award has been given by the county, which has the second largest SELPA program in the state with 21 school districts from Las Virgenes to Ojai.

Of the 148,000 students in the county, 17,000 have special needs.

The program was created in 1998 as a result of legislation which made it illegal for schools to segregate students based on ability. It is commonly referred to as full inclusion.

Through SELPA, teachers are trained how to better assist special needs students. Samples said the countywide program holds about 150 training sessions a year.

To make the program possible, the 21 superintendents meet with Samples and her district teams to review the program’s criteria and ensure that state and federal laws are met. Social service agencies, as well as community committees, also help oversee the organization.

The statewide plan includes the Individualized Education Program which assesses the abilities of each special needs student. Once abilities are established, a personalized lesson plan is created to best help the student succeed.

Because special needs student typically need more one-on-one attention to make their lesson plans work, a team of in-class helpers known as paraprofessionals are necessary.

Moderhak says her two paraprofessionals, Jill Hessick and Kim Ramirez, help her on a day-to-day basis. Moderhak said her parent volunteers are vital to the program’s success.

When the program was introduced, some parents argued that special needs students would take too much of the teacher’s time and hurt the class’s overall performance.

Moderhak said that once most people see the program in action, they quickly realize the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Consideration for the award requires a nomination accompanied by three separate letters of recommendation. Moderhak was nominated by Jo Ann Tallman, whose daughter, Sally, is a special needs student in the class.

“What makes Lynn so great is she’s so flexible,” Tallman said.

“The program they have set up for Sally really helps her because it keeps her in the classroom 98 percent of the time.” Tallman said Moderhak makes herself available for early morning meetings to discus lesson plans.

In her letter nominating Moderhak, Tallman called her “a seasoned teacher with a freshman attitude.” It’s an attitude that has continued to put the children first. And if you ask Moderhak, she wouldn’t have it any other way.