Blake Nelson

Two associations that I'm a part of to make a change in the community are YLF (Youth with disabilities Leadership Forum) and WSU's own High School Equivalency Program. YLF is a program designed to help high school students with disabilities gain valuable life knowledge such as applying for jobs, establishing an identity, disability rights, etc. The program has been highly successful in improving high school retention rate among special education students as well as being loads of fun. I have volunteered as a counselor for two years now and I hope to keep going well into my teaching career. As someone with a disability, it really is rewarding to offer some prespective and a viewpoint from someone that has gone far in the education system despite the challenges that come with growing up in a special education classroom.

 

The second orginization is the High School Equivalency Program at WSU. As the name suggests, this program prepares students of all ages (mostly migrant workers) to get their GED. I work as the math specialist and math tutor, meaning I get quite a bit of exposure to teaching ELL students and math at the same time. I enjoy this program not only for the teacher prep that it gives me, but because the satisfaction of helping someone get their GED is really something to behold.

 

Once I get my teaching certificate, I hope to bring the same amount of involvement into my classroom to help the community in any way I can, be it food drives, clubs, extracurriculars, etc, particularly within the special education program.