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2003 Minnesota Paraprofessional of the Year:

Glenda Schneekloth

A Team Effort!

By Bill Murray

I recently had the honor of interviewing Glenda Schneekloth, the 2003 Para of the Year. My intent was to seek the personal traits that made her performance stand out above all others. Instead, what I found was a humble, sensitive individual who attributed her success to the wealth of tools surrounding her, helping her to succeed.

Glenda has been a paraprofessional for 16 years. Her unwavering commitment to the people and place that she works has kept her employed at the same school system, The Luverne Public School District, for her entire paraprofessional career. When asked about her lengthy tenure with the same district, Glenda comments that she enjoys the sense of family created amongst the staff, teachers, and classrooms, adding, "It shows you how much care for the children exists in our team effort." Glenda truly sees this team as a key to her success: "I hang out with lots of friends at school: teachers, paras, students...they have all rubbed off on me."

The Luverne Public School District: Lending to success

The Luverne Public School district currently employs over forty paraprofessionals, with eleven of these at the high school where Glenda works. Glenda is quick to point out the importance of their once a week para meetings as well as their continual close work with each other. This collaborative method ensures students get the individual attention they require. Helping to achieve Glenda's success is the existence of a paraprofessional resource room. This area acts as a headquarters for the paras, a place where they can touch base with two supervising special education teachers. The paraprofessionals spend each hour in a different classroom helping students, creating a dynamic environment for Glenda and her fellow co-workers.

Additionally, the administration of the Luverne Public School District takes the training and professional development of their paraprofessionals very seriously. The Staff Development Committee is comprised of at least one paraprofessional representative, a position once held by Glenda. While on this committee, she pushed for improved training opportunities for other paras. Because of her efforts, Glenda takes an active role in her own education and professional development. She is currently working to become a Title I certified paraprofessional, taking the personal responsibility to document each workshop, in-service, and core competency requirement as she completes them.

Attitude: Glenda's secret weapon

To say Glenda is humble in contributing her success to anything but her wonderful co-workers is an understatement. Glenda believes that her performance is a reflection of the role models with whom she is privileged to work. She is constantly finding inspiration in her fellow paras and teachers, and understands how important it is to constantly update those she works with regarding student's progress and goals. But when pressed to find that one special trait that sets her apart from others, she replied, "I think my positive attitude is my most valuable tool. It affects how I teach, how I view training, how I observe what others have done, and how I apply these lessons to what I have to do to make things work." Glenda's positive attitude also affects her definition of failure. She does not consider any of the experiences she has had over the past 16 years as failures, "As long as you can tuck them away and learn from it, you are not failing."

Glenda's co-workers are quick to comment about her communication skills. "Glenda's effective communication skills are a key to all of this work and to these relationships," writes Carol Svingen, the Special Education Coordinator for The Luverne Public School District. Glenda understands how important it is to understand goals and to collaborate with fellow paras. Other positive traits associated with Glenda are her ability to remain flexible, her wonderful listening skills, and the respect she shows for both teachers and students. This skill spills over to her relationships with students. Glenda states, "It is important for the students to know how much we care," adding, "I make sure that they leave feeling good about themselves." She believes it is important for each student to experience some level of success, reinforcing positive attitudes to foster confidence. Lucinda Rofshus, a co-worker of Glenda's writes, "Glenda builds friendships with the students and encourages them to be the best they can be. She encourages them, but in a different way-with their actions, not her words."

Motivation and Reward

Let's face it, paraprofessionals do not choose their line of work for the monetary compensation! Motivation to work with students comes from the inside, in knowing you are helping others learn and making a difference in young developing minds. This is no exception for Glenda. For her it's simple, "Student's smiles often keep me going," she remarks. When I asked what was the most rewarding part of her job, Glenda pensively paused, then replied, "You know that feeling you get when you give an anonymous gift and the person isn't expecting it? It's the same feeling of giving the student a special gift: they may not know what they are getting, but you know you were a part of it…Sometimes it's not the big things that are important, but the individual successes of students-math problems or passing a test they were working hard on. Adding these small things together makes it worth it!"

Although Glenda is reserved when taking credit for her own work, it is obvious to see that her dedication, hard work, and outstanding communication skills are one great piece to a larger puzzle. She has persevered because her had work is matched by a support system made up of the teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrative know-how of The Luverne Public School System. Glenda Schneekloth's success truly is a team effort!