MARY RIGAN
special education teacher
About Me
What I Do:
I currently work with special education students from ages two and a half to five. Part of my job is evaluating students who are transitioning from Missouri First Steps as well as identifying, evaluating, and providing services for students in Title I or Head Start classrooms who may benefit from Special Education Services. The other part of my day I teach a self-contained special education classroom for students with a variety of moderate-severe needs. I am a member of our PBIS team and have been active with United Way. I am also a part of team responsible for writing a social skills curriculum to be used throughout our school.
Outside of school, I spend a lot of time reading cook books or blogs and cooking vegan. I enjoy sharing my food with others - we eat more than salads! I love going to farmers markets and try my best (on my teaching budget) to eat local and organic. I enjoy reading the likes of Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch, bell hooks, and so on. Sometimes, I like to run.
What I've Done:
Before I transferred to pre-school, I taught from 2012-2014 in a self-contained special education classroom and worked with students from grades kindergarten to fourth. While completing my final year at MSU (2011-2012), I interned for a year at an elementary school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My time there was split into two semesters: one as a resource room student teacher and one as a first grade student teacher. During undergrad (2007-2011), I spent four great years at Michigan State working with the largest student led organization on campus, "Alternative Spring Break," and was the Program Coordinator my final year (2010-2011). This program is where I developed and prioritized social justice and the concept of being an "active citizen" in my life. I was able to travel to New York City, New Orleans, Dominican Republic, South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Kansas City (which is how I ended up living here!) and worked with social issues such as education, poverty, Indigenous rights, and disaster relief.
In 2009, I was lucky enough to study abroad in South Africa for five weeks. While there I took two independent studies: one in education and one in sociology. I researched the education systems in South Africa and what comprises them, as well as the effect of HIV/AIDS and education. For my sociology class, I researched what it meant to be a woman with disabilities in South Africa.
What I Hope to do:
I absolutely love teaching and I hope to continue as a Special Education teacher for a few more years. I plan on eventually returning to school full time to persue a PhD in Urban Education or Education Policy. I would love to be a part of a research center (such as UCLA's Civil Rights Project) and work with education and social justice issues. I would have to say that my long term goal is to work with future teachers on issues related to privilege and teacher bias while working towards education as social justice, all with maintaining a focus on special education and disability.