April 2, 2025 • 23 mins
In education, collaboration is key. No one person can do it all, and that’s where paraeducators come in, playing an indispensable role in the success of our students.
On National Paraprofessionals Appreciation Day, we recognize the contributions of these dedicated professionals. To better understand their impact, we spoke with Nate Edvalson, the Director of Special Education for Canyons School District, and Stacey Nofsinger, Principal of Jordan Valley, who both witness the powerful influence of paraeducators on a daily basis.
“As paraeducators, they often bring their own personal experiences and connections into the classroom,” says Edvalson. “Many enter the field because they’ve had a meaningful interaction with a student or a personal connection to the work.”
With nearly 300 paraeducators across the district, they provide support in numerous ways: offering behavioral assistance, aiding with health needs, and ensuring access to education through specialized instruction.
Nofsinger highlights the deep connections paraeducators build with students. “Our paraeducators create an environment that feels both welcoming and safe. When a student arrives at school and sees their paraeducator, you can see the positive shift—students are more at ease and their personalities shine,” she says. “It’s all because our paraeducators know them so well and help them feel truly seen.”
0:00 Introduction to Connect Canyons
1:08 What is a Paraeducator?
3:27 Jordan Valley School's Mission
4:57 Day in a Paraeducator's Life
8:04 Benefits of Team Teaching
11:44 Becoming a Paraeducator
18:45 The Human Heart of Education
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyons School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:28):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
No one can whistle a symphony.
Many hands make light work.
We all know a number of phraseslike this, because they're true
Two minds are better than one,and the same idea can be applied
in the classroom.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
(00:51):
I'm your host, frances Cook.
Today is NationalParaprofessionals Appreciation
Day.
Our paraeducators are ourteachers' right hands.
To celebrate them and the workthey do.
I'm joined today by NateEdvelson, director of Special
Education for the District, andStacey Knopfsinger, principal at
Jordan Valley School.
Thank you both for joining us.
You bet Nate, I'd like to startwith you.
Can you outline exactly what aparaeducator is for those who
(01:12):
may not know?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I think what's unique about paraeducators is that
they usually get involvedbecause they have a need or
they've been touched somehow bya student in their past with
their story, with theirexperience and they want to help
.
Sometimes we get people who areinterested in pursuing a path
in education.
Sometimes it takes people whoare interested in being a
support Somehow.
They want to just help.
They know education isimportant and they get part of
(01:35):
it.
What they do decides who theyare.
I think they facilitate andhelp out Basically, like we all
do, I think, in our jobs.
It's kind of a as needed, butthey specifically focus on how
to support teachers incurriculum development and
curriculum delivery andproviding student behavioral
supports and providing healthcare hygiene.
(01:57):
So they are an extension of theteacher.
They are teacher's hands whenthe teacher can't be present and
they provide that essentialrole in lieu of and under the
supervision of a teacher.
They are teacher's hands whenthe teacher can't be present and
they provide that essentialrole in lieu of and under the
supervision of a teacher.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So we have paraeducators in pretty much
every classroom, right, I wouldsay it's safe to say we have
hundreds of paraeducators.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, we have probably upwards of 300 staff
members fulfilling a variety ofroles.
I think we can get reallyspecific when we talk about
paraeducator, but I think itwould be also important for us
to recognize that we havebehavior assistance.
We have staff members who dohome health or health aides for
504s.
So we have a variety of peoplethat fulfill the needs for our
students with disabilities,ranging from the need to provide
(02:40):
access to the curriculum allthe way to specialized
instruction.
And one in every classroom.
I'd say no, we have definitelyone in every building, probably
more than one in every buildingfor the most part, Particularly
our elementaries.
We have quite a few schoolsthat have larger numbers of
students, have impact across,Whereas with the secondaries you
have a lot more localizedstudents populations.
(03:02):
They're bigger, so we'll havestaff members still there, but
it may not be as numerous.
You have a lot more localizedstudents populations.
They're bigger, so we'll havestaff members still there, but
it may not be as numerous.
Older kids need less hands.
They learn to be a little moreindependent.
But yeah, every building hasmultiple staff playing that role
.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Stacey, I'd love to chat with you about Jordan
Valley.
Can you talk about the missionof the school and, vicariously,
why it is so important for yourstudents in particular to have
paraeducators?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Sure, yeah, the mission of Jordan Valley is to
educate students in a variety ofcapacities, specifically in
functional communication,functional academics and their
own self-regulation, behavioralskills, in order to access their
community and demonstrate asindependent as possibly that
they can.
And so the paraeducators andparaprofessionals at my school
(03:51):
are the largest group of thebuilding, as we have licensed
staff as well, but we havearound 40 paras that are
supporting in every classroom atour building.
Our students are the mostimpacted, whether that be
medically, in a communicationaspect, behaviorally, and so
they really need a larger levelof support, a more intense
(04:12):
support, to be able to accesstheir learning appropriately.
And so paras throughout thebuilding are really some of them
are one-on-one with studentsfor their safety and learning.
Others are what we consider aclassroom pair where they can
support and help any student inthe classroom and, like Nate
referenced, they're like anadditional arm to the teacher
(04:33):
right, like they're an extensionof that licensed special
educator that understands thenuances of what it takes to
really educate students that areso impacted.
And so they're really thelifeline at Jordan Valley and
how they support each and everystudent there.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Can you describe, maybe, what a day in the life of
a parent educator might looklike?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh, wow, it's literally different every day.
But, the gist is that they aresupporting the student from even
when the bus arrives onproperty and they're helping
them access the building.
They are giving them choicesthroughout the day to give them
some autonomy.
They're helping them tounderstand and recognize their
(05:20):
own needs, whether that'sthey're cold, they're hot,
they're frustrated, they'rehappy.
They're constantlycommunicating with the students
what they're thinking or they'reasking them what are you
thinking?
Like we have to really promptquite a bit verbally to help
students go throughout their dayand their routines.
The paras are excellent atbuilding relationships with the
(05:42):
students and they know them sowell.
They really take an interest inwhat the kids enjoy and what
they really dislike and theysupport them in just having a
successful, regulated day.
They do a lot of modeling ofappropriate behaviors and we use
a lot of our augmentativealternative communication
(06:03):
devices where they're modelingthat type of communication for
them regularly.
They're helping them justrecognize when they are upset oh
, it looks like you might beupset Like let's walk over here
or let's go to this sensory roomor let's just take a break,
kind of a thing.
So they're kind of having to bea couple steps ahead so that
they can best support and offeroptions that the students can
(06:27):
access and, of course, they'realways doing the academic
components as well, of remindingthem, maybe restating what the
teacher is teaching andpresenting, and helping them
access up close materials thatwill help them towards their IEP
goals that will help themtowards their IEP goals.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I imagine from a teacher's standpoint it has to
just be a weight off theirshoulders to have someone else
in the building in the classroomthat can help.
What are you hearing fromteachers and your staff about
our paraeducators?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
At least at Jordan Valley, the paras really make
the room successful.
The teachers comment all thetime how they can't do their job
successfully without thesupport of their paras, and they
build very strong relationshipsas a team, because you really
need to kind of be those twosteps ahead, and there are many
(07:20):
teams at my school that feel asthough they're all just very
much in sync and they know whateach other would do in this
situation and can just do it.
And that takes a heavy weightoff the teacher's shoulders
because, no matter the student,they all have individual needs
and one person cannot addressall of those needs
(07:41):
simultaneously successfully, andso the pairs really solidify
the plan and being able to meetthe needs of each student,
that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Nate, what are you seeing kind of on the broader
district level when it comes tohow our paraeducators are
helping out?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, I mirror number one, the appreciation that
Stacey mentioned about howteachers respond to a
paraeducator that really knowshow to tackle the job and takes
that initiative.
I think also she's describing alot of level of intensity.
That of course happens indifferent settings, but it does
range even to some of the stuffthat's, I would say, even a
(08:19):
little more traditional, in thatthere is a range of student
need and so there could be smallgroupings where they're working
on phonetics in the schoolsystems and things like that.
So there's such a broad rangeof the needs for students in the
paramedic.
I will say that our preferenceand our push would be to have
them working with students asmuch as possible.
But they will also do essentialsupports like helping with
(08:41):
paperwork, filing even someclerical components from time to
time that will assist theteacher in their regular job
duties.
They're just that essentialpiece.
I think to Dacey's point, Ithink it's a team.
I think that if you have agreat running team, the teacher
would agree that they'reinseparable.
They need that and I think onething that is worth mentioning
(09:01):
that sometimes is a frustration,and that is you know we have
all these folks.
Why can't we do somethingdifferent?
But we do need a lot of handsbecause a lot of students
require different things, right,and so you know.
Have safety and security in thebathroom People, then we will
have changing needs.
We'll have different hygieneneeds.
We want to be able to havestudents going to inclusion and
(09:22):
being out, so you need maybe alittle more interaction out
there with one or two students,so we have to have enough
support to help the students.
In the same time, we want tomaintain our fiscal
responsibility as a publicentity.
It's a good balance, but wereally appreciate, I think, what
people are trying to do.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Everyone learns differently, at different levels
, etc.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Tell me, how does one become a paraeducator?
Can you just Walk into a?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
classroom or so we have.
You know well, you can alwaysvolunteer, which of course we
love.
That we love our volunteers Inthe Canyon District and I'm sure
there's other districts.
There's a process you gothrough for, of course,
application and hiring,screening in regards to
fingerprinting and justdifferent things to make sure
that we have safe employees.
You know, we always want tomake sure we're thinking of
student safety in our hiringpractices, which I think we do a
(10:09):
phenomenal job in this district, or thinking of student safety
in our hiring practices, which Ithink we do a phenomenal job in
this district doing.
But there's public postings.
There's usually, there's oftenpools of need, so there's always
standing job requirements.
The thing about paraeducatorsthat I think is particularly
helpful for a differentdemographic is, you know, we
(10:30):
don't always need well, we don'talways have the ability to hire
full-time.
We don't always need full timebecause we just don't have that.
But so there's a variety oftypes of persons that can
fulfill those roles.
Could be someone who just wantsa few hours to engage in the
community in a different way.
It could be a college studentwho needs to flex around some of
their scheduling in the day,morning, afternoon, I mean.
I know a school that I'm helpingto run right now, you know we
(10:55):
would be happy with seven hourson a Wednesday and Thursday
between those two days, just tohelp with some extra hands.
So I think there's a lot ofways to get involved.
There's a payment for gettinginvolved, then there's a lot of
enrichment that happens and so Ithink, reaching out, you know,
just putting your name in,letting them know hey, I know
this posting said 17 hours or 28, but I could do five.
I think administrators would bethrilled to work with anybody's
(11:17):
schedule.
If we can get people who areinterested sincerely in helping
kids and we work around theirschedule the best I can, we
would always rather have somehands than no hands at all, and
I think that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I imagine, as for anyone who's looking to get
their foot in the door when itcomes to education, you know
whether they want to teach orthey want to work in
administration.
We do have a fund that theemployees contribute to here to
help rising educators yeah, tohelp access tuition help and
(12:00):
supports and so that's somethingI know that I have heard buzz
amongst our paraeducators.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That's been a big, huge appreciation that they have
for helping them take that nextstep.
Yes, I think a lot of peoplethat's where they start.
Maybe you probably started as aparent educator.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
I knew I wanted to be an educator.
I went right to college out ofhigh school to become a teacher.
But I currently have five staffmembers that are classroom
paras that are going back toschool for either teaching or
speech language pathology.
And some of them have been therecipients of our district, like
Grow your Own campaign andhaving some funds to help pay
(12:39):
for that coursework.
Some of them have specificallystated their work at Jordan
Valley is what prompted them tothen go back to school to become
an educator.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
For my experience I've done some para work, my
wife, who's been an educator for25 years she started out in
para as a para educator and myexperience I've done some para
work.
My wife has been an educatorfor 25 years.
She started out in para as apara educator, and so I know
it's an end for a lot of people.
I think to Stacey's point too.
I think I even have my ownfamily relations that are kind
of lost in what they want to doand they're not sure but this
the more they do these kinds ofthings, the more they become
focused on man.
(13:09):
I really think I could make animpact.
I think it's a greatopportunity for people to again
give to the community, receivesome compensation, but to me I
always and I know that wereceive compensation, but I do
look at what we do as an act ofservice to a large degree,
because we provide such animportant service for students,
for community, for parents.
I mean that we're educatingstudents, that we're providing
(13:31):
respite, we're providing someopportunity for students to
interact that they may nototherwise have is such a
blessing, I think, to communityand, although it's a right and a
privilege, that's a part ofcommunity that you can get
involved in.
If you're feeling disconnected,if you're feeling like you
would like to figure out how tomake an impact, education is a
great way to go and aparaeducator job is, I think, a
(13:52):
less intimidating way to startbecause you can get your foot
wet.
You've got a lot of supports.
You've got these wonderfulmaster teachers that can guide
and support you and help youunderstand how to do things.
You've got great administrativesupport A great way to figure
out if education is a thing thatyou'd like to consider.
And, again, flexible aroundhours.
So a college student could bepursuing a degree in accounting
and then decide, hey, I want togive it a try and see what this
(14:13):
is for me and come and love itand do that for a while.
I think now we're looking atdifferent trends for different
populations.
When before, with the babyboomers, they would stay in a
job for 30 years the same kindof type of work I think now
we're seeing trends where peopleare bouncing around and getting
different skill sets.
It's an opportunity for them toacquire some skill sets I think
are universally applicableTeamwork, collaboration, getting
(14:36):
experience, getting a chance tohave a resume.
There's just a lot of benefits.
I think people don't realizewhen you're thinking about work
and, I think, really paying atleast equatable to some
positions, but having a biggerchallenge than other positions.
There's a lot of judgment thatstill comes involved in these,
and I think that's one of thebiggest employable skills is
judgment.
Making good judgments is whatmakes a good, strong leader, and
(14:59):
eventually this new generationis going to need strong
leadership, and so this is sucha great entry for that too.
But I think there's a lot ofbenefits that people don't
realize.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
I would even add to that that, even if you don't
think that you can do the jobbecause you haven't had this
training, and it's more thanjust being a helpful brother,
sister, mom, dad you know I lovekids like those are all great
foundational pieces.
But what's awesome is thatCanyons District recognizes that
, yes, the interest is first andforemost, but then we need to
(15:34):
provide some specific training,and I know that my paras have
been very appreciative ofself-led online training to give
them just a little bit of aboost to either confirm that,
yeah, I do have good judgmentskills.
Yeah, that's what I would havedone, but it's almost like it's
confirmed that those are reallygood skills that they have and
that they are a good fit forthat role.
(15:55):
And so it's not like we hireyou and just let you be right,
like we do some training.
The schools will do training,the teacher and your teams will
do training, and so we reallytake the best like coachable
candidates and then coach andmentor and train you.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And I like that too, because I think I think we
always need to do more likecoachable candidates and then
coach and mentor and train you.
And I like that too, because Ithink I think we always need to
do more, and so I think we've.
We've been in discussions abouthow we can improve those online
resources, how we can deepenthem, how we can maybe even
consider some compensation forengaging in them.
The state has core modules thatcan be done for some
compensation, so I think there'salways avenues to get more
education.
I think sometimes people willask for additional opportunities
(16:35):
and we'll provide those onthose.
So we're definitely alwayscollaborating with our
leadership, collaborating withour teachers to find out how we
can improve, but we would alwayswelcome feedback from any of
our staff or any people thathave thoughts about how we can
improve our systems to delivermore.
We're looking at adding hoursfor, you know, for having
collaborative work with teachers, and figuring out a way to make
(16:56):
those structures work better.
Most of the time, I think that'sthe missing piece is time.
We all need more time and it'shard to find that time when
you're balancing work life, yourown, your own progression, your
own self-care.
I mean there's a lot.
There's a lot drawing oneducators, and when I say
educators, I mean it broadly.
Yeah, cafeteria workers, ourparaeducators, all those who
(17:22):
constitute the body of education.
We're all fulfilling multipleroles, and one of our most
important roles we're fulfillingis helping students feel cared
about and connected, and so youknow, we're using all those
skills to broadly address allthat.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
That's really cool to hear.
You know that it can goanywhere from just spending a
couple hours in the classroomand helping out because you, you
know, have some free time andyou want to give back to your
community.
You know, have some free timeand you want to give back to
your community.
But then also, like you said,you have those maybe college age
students who are looking tofigure out what they want to do,
or just someone looking for apaycheck and then they find that
(18:02):
it's so much more than apaycheck.
That's really beautiful.
I'd love to hear just kind ofboth of your overall.
I'd love to hear your overallmessage on what you would like
to share about.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Doing great.
Thank you, you're great.
This is my second podcast thisweek.
It was great.
I wouldn't be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I'd love to hear, I'd love for you to share your
overall message that you wantpeople to know about our
paraprofessionals and the workthat we do both across the
district and at Jordan Valley.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Sure, I'll start the district and at Jordan Valley,
sure, I'll start At JordanValley.
Like I said earlier, theparaeducator force, if you will,
is the largest and they aresome of the most dedicated,
compassionate and reliablepeople that I've had an
opportunity to rub shoulders andwork with, and I think that one
(19:02):
of the things that I'm justconstantly praising about them
is the relationships that theybuild.
And so, if you are human andyou have a heart and you can
think for yourself, I think thatbeing a para or an educator of
any type is worth a shot inlooking into, because those are
(19:23):
the key components that we can'tteach.
We can't teach how to becompassionate.
We can't teach how to be loyal.
We can't teach how to just carefor others.
We can teach how to teach.
We can teach how to do adiscrete trial.
We can teach you know differentsafety measures for students.
(19:44):
Those things are checkboxesthat we can practice and teach.
But our para educators reallybring an emotional element that
helps the school feel welcomingand feel safe, and when our
students get off the bus and seetheir person and they smile and
they happily walk down the halland like crack jokes, you know
(20:04):
or elbow each other, like theyhave this sense of goofing
around and you can see thatstudent's personality come out.
For students that arenon-speaking and are highly
impacted, that is a whole notherworld that we get to see, and
it's all because of theparaeducators that know them and
(20:24):
bring that out in them.
So I think that the things thatthey bring already from their
own life's experiences, theirpersonalities and just their
background is really what kindof makes our community whole and
ensures that students reallyare having a good educational
(20:45):
experience.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, and I'll just say, you know, I'm a parent of
four children.
My oldest is going to be 20here in July and you know,
throughout their lives, all mychildren's lives, expectation is
strong, but it's it's almostlike a family expect, for lack
(21:07):
of a word, but to be a peer, tobe involved.
But you know a lot of families,a lot of parents, I think, look
for what's a way that I cankind of push my student into
adulthood and or my child intoadulthood in a way that's going
to crystallize the values thatI've tried to imbue.
And you know, sometimes they'llgo on some sort of service
opportunity maybe you know PeaceCorps, whatever that may be, or
(21:30):
they go on some other partwhere they're out dedicating
their time to other people.
This is such a great opportunityto do that same thing and, to
echo St Stacy's amazing points,you can teach the concepts of
compassion, you can help peopleunderstand what that looks like,
but to truly engage in it youneed practice and opportunity.
So here's another greatopportunity for an individual to
(21:54):
engage in community andcompassion, and so I would echo
that in addition to hey, we alsohave programs in school.
They would help people decideand get a passion for this too,
where you can be a peer tutor inour programmings in school, and
that's another avenue for sothat's another plug.
You know students or whoever'slistening to the podcast to
consider being that person,whether you're enrolling in a
(22:17):
class to support or you areaware of a student, that you can
reach out to the job of aneducator.
The job of all of us iscompassion and learning and
teaching, and that's why we gotinto it, that's why we love it.
We want to better the conditionof the human experience, and I
think that you can take part inthat by being with us, and I
(22:39):
think that you can take part inthat by being with us.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Wow, I mean, you guys have opened my eyes.
You know, but knowing, we knowour paraeducators go beyond just
, you know, helping out withsome paperwork or you know
they're not just sharpeningpencils in the back of the
classroom, they're in it for thekids and it's beautiful to hear
the bonds that they have withour students.
Thank you both for sharing yourknowledge and your time with us
(23:05):
and shout out to ourparaeducator yeah, thank you so
much, appreciate that and thankyou for listening.
If there's a topic you'd like tohear discussed on the podcast,
send us an email tocommunications at canyons
districtorg.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of connect canyons
connectrictorg.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyons School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:28):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
No one can whistle a symphony.
Many hands make light work.
We all know a number of phraseslike this, because they're true
Two minds are better than one,and the same idea can be applied
in the classroom.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
(00:51):
I'm your host, frances Cook.
Today is NationalParaprofessionals Appreciation
Day.
Our paraeducators are ourteachers' right hands.
To celebrate them and the workthey do.
I'm joined today by NateEdvelson, director of Special
Education for the District, andStacey Knopfsinger, principal at
Jordan Valley School.
Thank you both for joining us.
You bet Nate, I'd like to startwith you.
Can you outline exactly what aparaeducator is for those who
(01:12):
may not know?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
I think what's unique about paraeducators is that
they usually get involvedbecause they have a need or
they've been touched somehow bya student in their past with
their story, with theirexperience and they want to help
.
Sometimes we get people who areinterested in pursuing a path
in education.
Sometimes it takes people whoare interested in being a
support Somehow.
They want to just help.
They know education isimportant and they get part of
(01:35):
it.
What they do decides who theyare.
I think they facilitate andhelp out Basically, like we all
do, I think, in our jobs.
It's kind of a as needed, butthey specifically focus on how
to support teachers incurriculum development and
curriculum delivery andproviding student behavioral
supports and providing healthcare hygiene.
(01:57):
So they are an extension of theteacher.
They are teacher's hands whenthe teacher can't be present and
they provide that essentialrole in lieu of and under the
supervision of a teacher.
They are teacher's hands whenthe teacher can't be present and
they provide that essentialrole in lieu of and under the
supervision of a teacher.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
So we have paraeducators in pretty much
every classroom, right, I wouldsay it's safe to say we have
hundreds of paraeducators.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, we have probably upwards of 300 staff
members fulfilling a variety ofroles.
I think we can get reallyspecific when we talk about
paraeducator, but I think itwould be also important for us
to recognize that we havebehavior assistance.
We have staff members who dohome health or health aides for
504s.
So we have a variety of peoplethat fulfill the needs for our
students with disabilities,ranging from the need to provide
(02:40):
access to the curriculum allthe way to specialized
instruction.
And one in every classroom.
I'd say no, we have definitelyone in every building, probably
more than one in every buildingfor the most part, Particularly
our elementaries.
We have quite a few schoolsthat have larger numbers of
students, have impact across,Whereas with the secondaries you
have a lot more localizedstudents populations.
(03:02):
They're bigger, so we'll havestaff members still there, but
it may not be as numerous.
You have a lot more localizedstudents populations.
They're bigger, so we'll havestaff members still there, but
it may not be as numerous.
Older kids need less hands.
They learn to be a little moreindependent.
But yeah, every building hasmultiple staff playing that role
.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Stacey, I'd love to chat with you about Jordan
Valley.
Can you talk about the missionof the school and, vicariously,
why it is so important for yourstudents in particular to have
paraeducators?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Sure, yeah, the mission of Jordan Valley is to
educate students in a variety ofcapacities, specifically in
functional communication,functional academics and their
own self-regulation, behavioralskills, in order to access their
community and demonstrate asindependent as possibly that
they can.
And so the paraeducators andparaprofessionals at my school
(03:51):
are the largest group of thebuilding, as we have licensed
staff as well, but we havearound 40 paras that are
supporting in every classroom atour building.
Our students are the mostimpacted, whether that be
medically, in a communicationaspect, behaviorally, and so
they really need a larger levelof support, a more intense
(04:12):
support, to be able to accesstheir learning appropriately.
And so paras throughout thebuilding are really some of them
are one-on-one with studentsfor their safety and learning.
Others are what we consider aclassroom pair where they can
support and help any student inthe classroom and, like Nate
referenced, they're like anadditional arm to the teacher
(04:33):
right, like they're an extensionof that licensed special
educator that understands thenuances of what it takes to
really educate students that areso impacted.
And so they're really thelifeline at Jordan Valley and
how they support each and everystudent there.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Can you describe, maybe, what a day in the life of
a parent educator might looklike?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh, wow, it's literally different every day.
But, the gist is that they aresupporting the student from even
when the bus arrives onproperty and they're helping
them access the building.
They are giving them choicesthroughout the day to give them
some autonomy.
They're helping them tounderstand and recognize their
(05:20):
own needs, whether that'sthey're cold, they're hot,
they're frustrated, they'rehappy.
They're constantlycommunicating with the students
what they're thinking or they'reasking them what are you
thinking?
Like we have to really promptquite a bit verbally to help
students go throughout their dayand their routines.
The paras are excellent atbuilding relationships with the
(05:42):
students and they know them sowell.
They really take an interest inwhat the kids enjoy and what
they really dislike and theysupport them in just having a
successful, regulated day.
They do a lot of modeling ofappropriate behaviors and we use
a lot of our augmentativealternative communication
(06:03):
devices where they're modelingthat type of communication for
them regularly.
They're helping them justrecognize when they are upset oh
, it looks like you might beupset Like let's walk over here
or let's go to this sensory roomor let's just take a break,
kind of a thing.
So they're kind of having to bea couple steps ahead so that
they can best support and offeroptions that the students can
(06:27):
access and, of course, they'realways doing the academic
components as well, of remindingthem, maybe restating what the
teacher is teaching andpresenting, and helping them
access up close materials thatwill help them towards their IEP
goals that will help themtowards their IEP goals.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I imagine from a teacher's standpoint it has to
just be a weight off theirshoulders to have someone else
in the building in the classroomthat can help.
What are you hearing fromteachers and your staff about
our paraeducators?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
At least at Jordan Valley, the paras really make
the room successful.
The teachers comment all thetime how they can't do their job
successfully without thesupport of their paras, and they
build very strong relationshipsas a team, because you really
need to kind of be those twosteps ahead, and there are many
(07:20):
teams at my school that feel asthough they're all just very
much in sync and they know whateach other would do in this
situation and can just do it.
And that takes a heavy weightoff the teacher's shoulders
because, no matter the student,they all have individual needs
and one person cannot addressall of those needs
(07:41):
simultaneously successfully, andso the pairs really solidify
the plan and being able to meetthe needs of each student,
that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Nate, what are you seeing kind of on the broader
district level when it comes tohow our paraeducators are
helping out?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, I mirror number one, the appreciation that
Stacey mentioned about howteachers respond to a
paraeducator that really knowshow to tackle the job and takes
that initiative.
I think also she's describing alot of level of intensity.
That of course happens indifferent settings, but it does
range even to some of the stuffthat's, I would say, even a
(08:19):
little more traditional, in thatthere is a range of student
need and so there could be smallgroupings where they're working
on phonetics in the schoolsystems and things like that.
So there's such a broad rangeof the needs for students in the
paramedic.
I will say that our preferenceand our push would be to have
them working with students asmuch as possible.
But they will also do essentialsupports like helping with
(08:41):
paperwork, filing even someclerical components from time to
time that will assist theteacher in their regular job
duties.
They're just that essentialpiece.
I think to Dacey's point, Ithink it's a team.
I think that if you have agreat running team, the teacher
would agree that they'reinseparable.
They need that and I think onething that is worth mentioning
(09:01):
that sometimes is a frustration,and that is you know we have
all these folks.
Why can't we do somethingdifferent?
But we do need a lot of handsbecause a lot of students
require different things, right,and so you know.
Have safety and security in thebathroom People, then we will
have changing needs.
We'll have different hygieneneeds.
We want to be able to havestudents going to inclusion and
(09:22):
being out, so you need maybe alittle more interaction out
there with one or two students,so we have to have enough
support to help the students.
In the same time, we want tomaintain our fiscal
responsibility as a publicentity.
It's a good balance, but wereally appreciate, I think, what
people are trying to do.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Everyone learns differently, at different levels
, etc.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Tell me, how does one become a paraeducator?
Can you just Walk into a?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
classroom or so we have.
You know well, you can alwaysvolunteer, which of course we
love.
That we love our volunteers Inthe Canyon District and I'm sure
there's other districts.
There's a process you gothrough for, of course,
application and hiring,screening in regards to
fingerprinting and justdifferent things to make sure
that we have safe employees.
You know, we always want tomake sure we're thinking of
student safety in our hiringpractices, which I think we do a
(10:09):
phenomenal job in this district, or thinking of student safety
in our hiring practices, which Ithink we do a phenomenal job in
this district doing.
But there's public postings.
There's usually, there's oftenpools of need, so there's always
standing job requirements.
The thing about paraeducatorsthat I think is particularly
helpful for a differentdemographic is, you know, we
(10:30):
don't always need well, we don'talways have the ability to hire
full-time.
We don't always need full timebecause we just don't have that.
But so there's a variety oftypes of persons that can
fulfill those roles.
Could be someone who just wantsa few hours to engage in the
community in a different way.
It could be a college studentwho needs to flex around some of
their scheduling in the day,morning, afternoon, I mean.
I know a school that I'm helpingto run right now, you know we
(10:55):
would be happy with seven hourson a Wednesday and Thursday
between those two days, just tohelp with some extra hands.
So I think there's a lot ofways to get involved.
There's a payment for gettinginvolved, then there's a lot of
enrichment that happens and so Ithink, reaching out, you know,
just putting your name in,letting them know hey, I know
this posting said 17 hours or 28, but I could do five.
I think administrators would bethrilled to work with anybody's
(11:17):
schedule.
If we can get people who areinterested sincerely in helping
kids and we work around theirschedule the best I can, we
would always rather have somehands than no hands at all, and
I think that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I imagine, as for anyone who's looking to get
their foot in the door when itcomes to education, you know
whether they want to teach orthey want to work in
administration.
We do have a fund that theemployees contribute to here to
help rising educators yeah, tohelp access tuition help and
(12:00):
supports and so that's somethingI know that I have heard buzz
amongst our paraeducators.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
That's been a big, huge appreciation that they have
for helping them take that nextstep.
Yes, I think a lot of peoplethat's where they start.
Maybe you probably started as aparent educator.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
I knew I wanted to be an educator.
I went right to college out ofhigh school to become a teacher.
But I currently have five staffmembers that are classroom
paras that are going back toschool for either teaching or
speech language pathology.
And some of them have been therecipients of our district, like
Grow your Own campaign andhaving some funds to help pay
(12:39):
for that coursework.
Some of them have specificallystated their work at Jordan
Valley is what prompted them tothen go back to school to become
an educator.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
For my experience I've done some para work, my
wife, who's been an educator for25 years she started out in
para as a para educator and myexperience I've done some para
work.
My wife has been an educatorfor 25 years.
She started out in para as apara educator, and so I know
it's an end for a lot of people.
I think to Stacey's point too.
I think I even have my ownfamily relations that are kind
of lost in what they want to doand they're not sure but this
the more they do these kinds ofthings, the more they become
focused on man.
(13:09):
I really think I could make animpact.
I think it's a greatopportunity for people to again
give to the community, receivesome compensation, but to me I
always and I know that wereceive compensation, but I do
look at what we do as an act ofservice to a large degree,
because we provide such animportant service for students,
for community, for parents.
I mean that we're educatingstudents, that we're providing
(13:31):
respite, we're providing someopportunity for students to
interact that they may nototherwise have is such a
blessing, I think, to communityand, although it's a right and a
privilege, that's a part ofcommunity that you can get
involved in.
If you're feeling disconnected,if you're feeling like you
would like to figure out how tomake an impact, education is a
great way to go and aparaeducator job is, I think, a
(13:52):
less intimidating way to startbecause you can get your foot
wet.
You've got a lot of supports.
You've got these wonderfulmaster teachers that can guide
and support you and help youunderstand how to do things.
You've got great administrativesupport A great way to figure
out if education is a thing thatyou'd like to consider.
And, again, flexible aroundhours.
So a college student could bepursuing a degree in accounting
and then decide, hey, I want togive it a try and see what this
(14:13):
is for me and come and love itand do that for a while.
I think now we're looking atdifferent trends for different
populations.
When before, with the babyboomers, they would stay in a
job for 30 years the same kindof type of work I think now
we're seeing trends where peopleare bouncing around and getting
different skill sets.
It's an opportunity for them toacquire some skill sets I think
are universally applicableTeamwork, collaboration, getting
(14:36):
experience, getting a chance tohave a resume.
There's just a lot of benefits.
I think people don't realizewhen you're thinking about work
and, I think, really paying atleast equatable to some
positions, but having a biggerchallenge than other positions.
There's a lot of judgment thatstill comes involved in these,
and I think that's one of thebiggest employable skills is
judgment.
Making good judgments is whatmakes a good, strong leader, and
(14:59):
eventually this new generationis going to need strong
leadership, and so this is sucha great entry for that too.
But I think there's a lot ofbenefits that people don't
realize.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
I would even add to that that, even if you don't
think that you can do the jobbecause you haven't had this
training, and it's more thanjust being a helpful brother,
sister, mom, dad you know I lovekids like those are all great
foundational pieces.
But what's awesome is thatCanyons District recognizes that
, yes, the interest is first andforemost, but then we need to
(15:34):
provide some specific training,and I know that my paras have
been very appreciative ofself-led online training to give
them just a little bit of aboost to either confirm that,
yeah, I do have good judgmentskills.
Yeah, that's what I would havedone, but it's almost like it's
confirmed that those are reallygood skills that they have and
that they are a good fit forthat role.
(15:55):
And so it's not like we hireyou and just let you be right,
like we do some training.
The schools will do training,the teacher and your teams will
do training, and so we reallytake the best like coachable
candidates and then coach andmentor and train you.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And I like that too, because I think I think we
always need to do more likecoachable candidates and then
coach and mentor and train you.
And I like that too, because Ithink I think we always need to
do more, and so I think we've.
We've been in discussions abouthow we can improve those online
resources, how we can deepenthem, how we can maybe even
consider some compensation forengaging in them.
The state has core modules thatcan be done for some
compensation, so I think there'salways avenues to get more
education.
I think sometimes people willask for additional opportunities
(16:35):
and we'll provide those onthose.
So we're definitely alwayscollaborating with our
leadership, collaborating withour teachers to find out how we
can improve, but we would alwayswelcome feedback from any of
our staff or any people thathave thoughts about how we can
improve our systems to delivermore.
We're looking at adding hoursfor, you know, for having
collaborative work with teachers, and figuring out a way to make
(16:56):
those structures work better.
Most of the time, I think that'sthe missing piece is time.
We all need more time and it'shard to find that time when
you're balancing work life, yourown, your own progression, your
own self-care.
I mean there's a lot.
There's a lot drawing oneducators, and when I say
educators, I mean it broadly.
Yeah, cafeteria workers, ourparaeducators, all those who
(17:22):
constitute the body of education.
We're all fulfilling multipleroles, and one of our most
important roles we're fulfillingis helping students feel cared
about and connected, and so youknow, we're using all those
skills to broadly address allthat.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
That's really cool to hear.
You know that it can goanywhere from just spending a
couple hours in the classroomand helping out because you, you
know, have some free time andyou want to give back to your
community.
You know, have some free timeand you want to give back to
your community.
But then also, like you said,you have those maybe college age
students who are looking tofigure out what they want to do,
or just someone looking for apaycheck and then they find that
(18:02):
it's so much more than apaycheck.
That's really beautiful.
I'd love to hear just kind ofboth of your overall.
I'd love to hear your overallmessage on what you would like
to share about.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Doing great.
Thank you, you're great.
This is my second podcast thisweek.
It was great.
I wouldn't be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I'd love to hear, I'd love for you to share your
overall message that you wantpeople to know about our
paraprofessionals and the workthat we do both across the
district and at Jordan Valley.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Sure, I'll start the district and at Jordan Valley,
sure, I'll start At JordanValley.
Like I said earlier, theparaeducator force, if you will,
is the largest and they aresome of the most dedicated,
compassionate and reliablepeople that I've had an
opportunity to rub shoulders andwork with, and I think that one
(19:02):
of the things that I'm justconstantly praising about them
is the relationships that theybuild.
And so, if you are human andyou have a heart and you can
think for yourself, I think thatbeing a para or an educator of
any type is worth a shot inlooking into, because those are
(19:23):
the key components that we can'tteach.
We can't teach how to becompassionate.
We can't teach how to be loyal.
We can't teach how to just carefor others.
We can teach how to teach.
We can teach how to do adiscrete trial.
We can teach you know differentsafety measures for students.
(19:44):
Those things are checkboxesthat we can practice and teach.
But our para educators reallybring an emotional element that
helps the school feel welcomingand feel safe, and when our
students get off the bus and seetheir person and they smile and
they happily walk down the halland like crack jokes, you know
(20:04):
or elbow each other, like theyhave this sense of goofing
around and you can see thatstudent's personality come out.
For students that arenon-speaking and are highly
impacted, that is a whole notherworld that we get to see, and
it's all because of theparaeducators that know them and
(20:24):
bring that out in them.
So I think that the things thatthey bring already from their
own life's experiences, theirpersonalities and just their
background is really what kindof makes our community whole and
ensures that students reallyare having a good educational
(20:45):
experience.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, and I'll just say, you know, I'm a parent of
four children.
My oldest is going to be 20here in July and you know,
throughout their lives, all mychildren's lives, expectation is
strong, but it's it's almostlike a family expect, for lack
(21:07):
of a word, but to be a peer, tobe involved.
But you know a lot of families,a lot of parents, I think, look
for what's a way that I cankind of push my student into
adulthood and or my child intoadulthood in a way that's going
to crystallize the values thatI've tried to imbue.
And you know, sometimes they'llgo on some sort of service
opportunity maybe you know PeaceCorps, whatever that may be, or
(21:30):
they go on some other partwhere they're out dedicating
their time to other people.
This is such a great opportunityto do that same thing and, to
echo St Stacy's amazing points,you can teach the concepts of
compassion, you can help peopleunderstand what that looks like,
but to truly engage in it youneed practice and opportunity.
So here's another greatopportunity for an individual to
(21:54):
engage in community andcompassion, and so I would echo
that in addition to hey, we alsohave programs in school.
They would help people decideand get a passion for this too,
where you can be a peer tutor inour programmings in school, and
that's another avenue for sothat's another plug.
You know students or whoever'slistening to the podcast to
consider being that person,whether you're enrolling in a
(22:17):
class to support or you areaware of a student, that you can
reach out to the job of aneducator.
The job of all of us iscompassion and learning and
teaching, and that's why we gotinto it, that's why we love it.
We want to better the conditionof the human experience, and I
think that you can take part inthat by being with us, and I
(22:39):
think that you can take part inthat by being with us.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Wow, I mean, you guys have opened my eyes.
You know, but knowing, we knowour paraeducators go beyond just
, you know, helping out withsome paperwork or you know
they're not just sharpeningpencils in the back of the
classroom, they're in it for thekids and it's beautiful to hear
the bonds that they have withour students.
Thank you both for sharing yourknowledge and your time with us
(23:05):
and shout out to ourparaeducator yeah, thank you so
much, appreciate that and thankyou for listening.
If there's a topic you'd like tohear discussed on the podcast,
send us an email tocommunications at canyons
districtorg.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of connect canyons
connectrictorg.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
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