COOK Education Center and Urban Skills Center alumni sit for a commemorative photo at the 5th Annual Alumni Breakfast.

The breakfast was a success thanks to the students and staff members from the Urban Skills Center. They helped with clerical projects, decorations, videotaping, cooking, and serving the delicious food! We look forward to the Alumni Breakfast next year as it will continue to be on the first Tuesday of every June.

Dr. Suzy Fitch, TIEE’s Executive Director of Programs and Personnel, who was unable to attend the meeting, sent a letter to the group that reflected the profound level of gratefulness on the part of TIEE for all that Ms. Moulaison has accomplished in her sixteen years as Mt. Helix Academy’s Director.

The full content of Dr. Fitch’s letter, which also announces Assistant Director, Mike Collins, as the school’s new Director and Elementary Module Coordinator, Alison Young, as Assistant Director, follows:

It is with mixed emotion that I must inform you that I am in receipt of Barbara Moulaison’s letter of retirement, which is to be effective July 1 this year. I am personally very happy for her because I know that she will be able to spend quality time with her husband, her children, and her grandchildren, and I know of her desire to see more of the world. Believe me, I am truly envious.

Barbara has been Director of Mt. Helix Academy for 16 years, since TIEE acquired the school. The early years were more than a little challenging, but she prevailed and has led this school to the consistent level of excellence that it has achieved. Barbara has had a very distinguished career in education, only part of which honored TIEE and the staff, parents, and students of Mt. Helix Academy. She deserves to be honored for the outstanding work she has accomplished and we are in stages of planning celebrations of her.

After careful deliberation, we have chosen to have Mike Collins succeed Barbara as Director. Mike has worked for TIEE since 1998. Because of his outstanding teaching abilities, he was TIEE’s teacher of the year in 2001 and has been Assistant Director at Mt. Helix Academy for the past two and one-half years. Dr. Traupmann and I can not imagine anyone more qualified to take over from Barbara. Replacing Mike as Assistant Director will be our current Elementary Module Coordinator, Alison Young.

I also want to announce at this time that the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division of Learning Disabilities’ national teacher of the year, as well as TIEE’s 2009 teacher of the year, Mr. Steve Wheless, will be joining the Mt Helix Academy staff as Coordinator of the AIM HIGH Learning Center. This change will take effect on Monday, March 15. Marita Morones will continue as Lead Teacher of the Nonpublic School component of the AIM HIGH Learning Center.

Dr. Traupmann and I strongly believe that Mike, Alison, and Steve will constitute the leadership of Mt. Helix Academy that is second to none and the school will continue to excel not only academically but also in all the other ways that it contributes to the education and well being of its students. It will be our pleasure to oversee their efforts and contribution to our community.

I apologize for not being with you today but wanted to share this exciting information with you as soon as possible. I eagerly look forward to working with you to plan a wonderful celebration of Barbara Moulaison’s service to Mt. Helix Academy in the very near future.

Dr. Cegelka was tireless in her support of the use of evidence-based educational methods and the emphasis in TIEE’s schools on the use of such methods garnered her support of the organization. She was instrumental in obtaining Federal grant funding for the four-year SED Internship Program that was a joint project of TIEE, San Diego State University’s Department of Special Education, and San Diego City Schools. The project involved the mentoring by TIEE teachers of teachers in training for classrooms in the school district that served students with severe behavior problems.

Dr. Cegelka also recognized the teacher training skills of several TIEE staff members, including Dr. Suzanne Fitch, TIEE’s Executive Director of Programs and Personnel, and orchestrated their service in the teacher training program of San Diego State’s Department of Special Education. She was staunchly supportive of TIEE’s acquisition of the Coleman Preparatory School and its subsequent development into the exceptional Mt. Helix Academy, in order for TIEE to bring its teaching methods to a typically developing population of children. Her own grandchildren are now students at the school.

Dr. Cegelka’s contribution to TIEE will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.

Wing Institute Executive Director, Randy Keyworth, Ph.D., commented: “The Institute for Effective Education is a world-class educational program, achieving unparalleled outcomes with student performance, staff development, and applied research. They have demonstrated that all students can learn, and that an educational culture can be built that is reinforcing, learner-centered, data based, and inclusive. They have continually exhibited a commitment to the community and dissemination of best practices through partnering with public schools, universities, and other community agencies. Their positive impact on student lives and their community has been dramatic.”

Dr. Keyworth went on to say: “As much as this award recognizes the excellence of the Institute for Effective Education, it also highlights the sustainability of their efforts, outcomes, and success over the past 25 years. What is truly extraordinary is the length of time they have maintained the highest levels of quality services, ethical standards, and community partnership. Their commitment to performance-based outcomes, continuous improvement, and the advancement of the science of effective education has built a culture whose success will continue well into the future. They are truly a unique and exceptional organization!”

In receiving the award with Dr. Fitch, Dr. Traupmann commented: “We have been admirers of Drs. Keyworth, States (Jack), and Deitrich (Ronnie) for many years, going back to their leadership of the Spectrum Centers, their involvement in our state non-public schools association, and their involvement in the Association for Behavior Analysis, and we have been supporters of the Wing Institute, its mission, and especially the intelligence and energy that Randy, Jack, and Ronnie have committed to it. It is truly wonderful to be admired by those you admire and respect, so this award is very special to us. We are so very happy that you noticed. Thank you, guys.”

Dr. Fitch, a member of SDSU’s adjunct faculty since 1991, teaches research validated educational methods to students pursuing their special education teaching credentials. She has taught primarily at SDSU’s Imperial Valley campus. Dr. Fitch’s students comment that they find her “motivation and dedication . . . vastly inspiring.”

Dr. Fitch is also responsible for implementing a Federally funded “coach of coaches” teacher training program. She coaches fully credentialed special education teachers, who, in turn, coach beginning teachers. The “coach of coaches” program has proved helpful in disseminating the use of evidence-based teaching methods throughout the immense and ethnically diverse Imperial County of CA.

Dr. Suzanne Fitch, Ed.D., TIEE’s Executive Director of Programs and Personnel, and administrator responsible for issuing the status of eligibility, commented that “many of the world’s countries do not have the level of expertise in educational programming that is central to TIEE’s schools, so we take this opportunity to assist foreign families who wish to have their children educated in our schools. We open our doors to interested families in the belief that our schools provide the highest quality education appropriate to the needs of their children and their enrollment will add immeasurably to the multiculturalism already a valued aspect of our schools.”

The teams expressed many commendations for the quality of TIEE’s schools, some of which were formalized in their written reports, including:

“Commendations go to all TIEE programs for staff support/coaching; high level of teamwork (staff is passionate about their work/profession); positive support for students and staff; classroom behavior management systems; ability to meet social emotional needs; strong program identity; and research-based instruction.”

“Students are engaged in learning.”

Never in its 37-year history has TIEE or any of its schools received such a thorough-going evaluation, so we were very pleased to learn of the commendations and to have the certification status of all four of our schools renewed without qualification.

Dr. Alvarado and his SDSU colleague Anne Graves, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education at San Diego State University, presented their research on literacy instruction for older, struggling learners, who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Their session included the presentation of research findings concerning teachers’ implementation of Tier I and II interventions for struggling readers in middle school. Participants learned strategies for working as partners of general education teachers to implement research-based practices.

The award, which is presented annually at the CEC-DLD Conference, recognizes outstanding professionals who serve students with specific learning disabilities. Nominees from all over the United States may be special educators, general educators, administrators, or other educators who have spent at least five years serving students with learning disabilities at any grade level.

Mr. Wheless was cited as “an outstanding coach and trainer of fellow teachers and staff members, a hands-on problem solver, the embodiment of an outstanding educator who consistently models positive teaching methods, always motivated and enthusiastic to the point of it being contagious, and having an awesome sense of humor. Students are drawn to his hilarious personality, and we all (his fellow teachers) look to him for support and guidance because he knows the curriculum and he knows how to teach.”