An Interview with Melinda Hay: Special Education Teacher at Willowdale Christian School
Melinda has 24 years of teaching experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Education and has worked to earn credentials in Special Education I, II and III. She’s been a Special Education Teacher at WCS since 2011.
Melinda lives in Brampton with her husband, Stephen, and their three children.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Melinda welcomes me into the Resource Room at Willowdale Christian School. She gestures for me to sit at a standard rectangular table. Its surface is transformed into a whiteboard, a tangible tool for learning. Jars of sharp pencils and coloured markers sit on its surface. I pull out a chair and scan my surroundings. Computers and Ipads line one wall. A folding table sits along the other wall with an intricate puzzle splashed across its surface. A plush brown couch sits under a large window at the back of the room. Sunshine spills on to the soft blue carpet. A few meaningful quotes are prominently displayed on the walls. The orderly space and soft colours in the room cause my shoulders to unclench and loosen.
Melinda sits with a student. She’s teaching a lesson on text-to-self connections. I lean in to observe her work. She sits near the student, her shoulders relaxed. She smiles widely and listens closely. Her eyes dance as she relays a personal story to connect with the meaning of bellows, a new vocabulary word. Melinda paints a picture, with good humour and energy, of her calling her kids for dinner. Her student laughs and nods, connecting the meaning with the novel they are studying. As she wraps up the lesson, she encourages him by noting the progress he’s made. After he’s dismissed, she turns and greets me.
I greet Melinda. After chatting for a few minutes, I scan the questions I’ve prepared for her. “Tell me about your work as a Special Education Teacher. What led you to pursue teaching in this field?” This is the only question I end up asking. Melinda speaks and a powerful story unfolds.
“My interest in Special Education sparked when my daughter’s anxiety began to inhibit her learning. There are so many reasons why kids have learning difficulties and I wanted to explore that in greater depth. When my younger children had challenges with reading, I really threw myself into understanding learning difficulties,” she says. Her eyes brighten as she recounts her experiences. It’s clear she has a passion for finding the right facets for children with learning difficulties to not only meet expectations, but to thrive.
“I am a person who is patient, a child can ask me 100 questions and I won’t tire of working with him. If my teaching strategies aren’t working for a student, I will research and find another way to teach the concept, even if it takes me all night to figure it out. I love my job and I can’t imagine being anywhere else,” Melinda says. She pauses and shifts her story to provide some background for how she’s ended up in this role at WCS.
“I met Justin at TDCH right before he left to come lead here at WCS. We had the strangest conversation in the staff room. I was supply teaching and feeling a yearning for finding a position in a Spec. Ed. classroom. We had this deep philosophical conversation about Christian Education and children with special needs,” she says. She laughs and describes how that conversation led to an interview a couple of years later when WCS was looking to hire a Special Education teacher.
“I was driving from Brampton, through traffic, to get to this interview. My brain was fried after a long day of supply teaching. I began praying and wondering why I was going to this interview at all. It had been years since I had a formal interview and I was shaken. I called Steve, my husband, and asked him to pray for me. When I arrived and entered Justin’s office, I just felt at peace. I spoke confidently,” she says. Her voice is low and she gazes at me intently. “I know God provided this place for me. There were plenty of other qualified candidates.” She reflects further on how she ended up being asked to take on this role.
“I love my job, the community here at Willowdale Christian School, and working with Cathy. You know, WCS is a very unique place. It’s a small school in the middle of Ontario’s biggest city. That’s a bit of a dichotomy, right? But that’s what makes it so beautiful,” she says. I pause and interject that I have witnessed the community here providing a deep sense of connection for families who live in a place and time where disconnection is so prevalent.
Melinda agrees with my thought. She leans in to speak more of this community. “Natasha, the Holy Spirit is blowing through this place. The teachers are prayer warriors. I had brain surgery this past fall to remove a tumour. Just before the surgery, Miriam Venneri e-mailed me and told me she and other staff members would like to anoint me with oil as a way of blessing me before my surgery. I agreed. The staff gathered together and each had written out a favourite Bible verse for me to take into the hospital. They anointed me and prayed for healing. For days, I could smell that oil on my head. Each time I caught a whiff, I was reminded of my community here praying for me,” she says. Her voice shakes with emotion. “I am changed because of my work here.”
We chat for a few more minutes. She reveals to me some specific aspects of how she and Cathy have built the Special Education Program. Their core belief is that every child is capable of learning. At WCS, we believe that God has amazing stories already written for each one of them. Melinda stated their goal is to develop rapport with children and to provide a safe haven where children can explore their gifts and work diligently on their areas of struggle.
Just as Melinda is deeply impacted by the WCS community, her careful, gentle and prayerful work is leaving a lasting impact on these children’s lives.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Some Additional Facts about Willowdale Christian School’s Special Education Program:
~We provide academic, social and emotional support for our students.
~We offer Reading Intervention programs for students who are in need of additional coaching in literacy skills.
~We offer modified programs for students with diagnosed Learning Disabilities.
~We offer homework support and organizational instruction.
~We have implemented a “push in” program for Special Education teachers to work inside of the classroom and aid in more direct instruction for specific students.
~We connect families with other resources such as Speech and Occupational Therapy.