Victoria Harkless
Assistant Editor-In-Chief
The Ironwood campus is quite large, and there are a lot of people on it; some of the most outstanding and least known teachers and students are a part of our ARISE program.
By my senior year, I had the pleasure of being a TA for both of our excellent ARISE teachers. The teachers are Ronnie Kaufman and Emily Wakeford. Between the two classes, they have sixteen students and five amazing paraprofessionals.
Mrs. Kaufman is the teacher for math and science. She has been teaching for twenty-five years, and this is her fourth year being a part of the ARISE program. I was a TA for her junior year when the COVID-19 virus hit, and even now, I am often in her classroom where everything is kept clean. It is evident that she is going above and beyond, taking precautions to protect herself, the other staff, and the kids in her classes. She is still doing her best to protect the class and everyone else; she is teaching the kids about hygiene, spacing the kids out and even having conversations about COVID-19 and how to stay safe. When I asked Mrs. Kaufman why she chose to work with special needs children, she said she thought she could “be more effective with them.”
Ms. Wakeford, the English and Social Studies teacher, has been a teacher for four years, but this is her first year being an Eagle. Ms. Wakeford has spent a lot of time working with special needs children. Her father was an adaptive PE teacher who worked with Special Olympics. Though this is her first year, it is not her first interaction with Ironwood, she is Mrs. Bloomquist’s (the culinary and child development teacher) younger sister and worked as a long-term substitute on campus before she did her student teaching. While she worked as a substitute, she had a “unified biology class” with an old biology teacher to help the students interact more on campus.
When Ms. Wakeford was asked what the kids had taught her, she quickly answered with the statement that she has learned “how crucial communication is.” She talked about how watching her students struggle with things like conversing and social environments was a good reminder to take people’s limitations into mind. Mrs. Kaufman’s answer was slightly different but just as important. She said the kids had influenced her outside by seeing things the kids would like, she thinks about them and if they would actually like the item in specific.
Both teachers are very proud of our unified sports program. The program is very dear to Ms. Wakeford because her father was an adaptive PE teacher. Her brother is also quite involved with the unified program at Raymond Kellis High School and Mrs. Kaufman is because it gives the kids a chance to be involved on campus and build relationships with general education children. She believes it makes the kids feel more equal in various areas.
Both of our teachers feel the campus as a whole have done a good job at making sure the ARISE students are actual students on campus. The ARISE program here on campus has some of our most outstanding teachers and students, and I look forward to being able to tell you all more about them.
Image Credit: Victoria Harkless
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