Dear Mrs. B: The Unplanned Lessons of a Special Education Teacher

She never planned on becoming a teacher. She knew nothing about Special Education. In fact, Special Education as we know it was just being birthed in 1974. But at age 23, C’Anna Bergman-Hill found herself working with twelve children with profound disabilities. Within a very short time she began to discover new dimensions to life and new definitions of strength and humility. What followed was an ever evolving thirty- eight year career teaching students from diverse backgrounds, children who brought to school a wide range of challenges and capabilities. In this memoir, you will meet some of the students who left a profound mark on Mrs. B. There was destruction-prone Carl, who left her with sleepless nights not knowing how to help him; laughter-filled Lenny whose tragic life story broke her heart; stubborn Trina who also knew how to laugh and carry on with her day; and wise Craig who taught her what pure love looks like. Her daily interaction with these children and hundreds more, as well as their families, would instruct her own life even outside the classroom. Along the way she realized that she was as often the student as she was the teacher. Far beyond anything she would do to implement teaching strategies and write Individual Education Plans, it was through relationships that the deeper gifts of grace and humanity came back to Mrs. B in a wave of abundance, making up the unplanned lessons of life itself. "An unembellished collection of moments from a very meaningful career. These moments speak to what makes teaching so noble.” — Principal Bill Radulovich