You will need the free
Adobe® Reader® to view some of the contents on this site.

2004 Minnesota Paraprofessional of the Year:

Rose Berghuis

Putting Others First

By Bill Murray

What do you call a paraprofessional who has 17 years of experience, is responsible for reinforcing special instruction to over fifty students in language arts and math, is trained to support instruction in the Lindamood-Bell Reading Process, has served on the administration's staff development team, volunteers her time to after school programs, and has three daughters of her own? We call that person Rose Berghuis, the 2004 Minnesota Paraprofessional of the year.

Rose Berghuis has been working for The MACCRAY Schools in Raymond, MN for over 17 years. Rose began her paraprofessional career innocently enough by answering a job advertisement in the local newspaper. The position required the individual to work one-on-one with students with disabilities. Rose reflects, "I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had never worked in a school or special-ed setting. I was overwhelmed by the diapering, feeding, and how much care was needed."

Despite the initial shock, Rose stuck with it. She was recognized for her outstanding attention to the individual students. Eventually, she was moved from special education to the Title I program. Jan Handahl, the Curriculum/Staff Development Coordinator at The MACCRAY Schools writes, "As a personal assistant to a physically and mentally disabled child, Rose exemplified the caring, yet persevering spirit needed to inspire this young man (who has now graduated) throughout his elementary years. To this date they continue to share a very special relationship."

Although not implicitly stated, it is clear that a key to Rose's success is a result of fostering functional, meaningful relationships with others. Rose tries to make every child feel special and uses plenty of patience to try to help them learn. She explains, "Somehow, someway, everyone is capable of learning...if it doesn't work one way, you work another way. You don't give up!" To back-up this claim, Rose has volunteered her time to "Homework Club," an after-school tutoring program. Additionally, she completed additional training to administer reading help through a program called The Lindamood-Bell Reading Process. This program teaches special phonetic awareness that focuses on what students are feeling for sounds rather than what they are hearing. This unique program allows her to work not only with Title I kids, but also with those students who don't quite qualify as Title I, but still require special attention in reading.

Besides the relationships with her students, Rose appreciates the support and communication she has with the administration at The MACCRAY Schools as well as with her peers and supervising teachers. Within the school, the paraprofessional group is free to meet once a week with the principle to discuss any issues they may have. Also, Rose takes every opportunity speak with supervising teachers to discuss workloads and student progress. "The support from the teachers and their willingness to help us is great," states Rose, adding, "They treat us with respect [and] never put us down."

To assist her fellow paraprofessionals, Rose has served as a leader for staff development. She attends conferences and is more than willing to share the information she learns. Doug Runia, an administrator at MACCRAY writes, "[She] has been a big part of implementing the competencies and requirements. Throughout all the changes, Mrs. Berghuis has been a cheerful, tireless, advocate for students." Her dedication to the lives of students and paraprofessionals helped Rose to be nominated by her peers for the Para of the Year Award. Within The MACCRAY Schools, each of the four buildings chooses their own Para of the Year. After these four individuals have been determined, all of the district paraprofessionals vote to nominate one of these outstanding candidates to represent MACCRAY for state recognition. Thus, the Paraprofessional of the Year Award is not only recognition from the state, but also an approval of Rose's abilities and accomplishments by all of the paraprofessionals within MACCRAY.

It is not every day that we meet someone as special as Rose. In addition to serving as a staff development team for her fellow paraprofessionals she has spent 17 years at The MACCRAY Schools focusing her time on helping others through programs like Homework Club and the Lindamood-Bell Program. Rose represents a model colleague, friend, mother, and paraprofessional. Please join us in recognizing Rose's accomplishments!

Nominate someone you know

If you would like to nominate someone you know for Minnesota Paraprofessional of the Year or Minnesota Para/Teacher Team of the Year, simply download the nomination form and send your materials to the address listed.

Nomination Form (pdf download)