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MSDB retirement ends 40 years of 'butterflies' | greatfallstribune.com | Great Falls Tribune
For 40 years, Gail Bechard has had butterflies in her stomach every Sunday night during the school year.
A preschool teacher at Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, Bechard said she's always been excited about the week ahead.
"This is the last Sunday I had butterflies in my stomach," she said.
When the school year at MSDB comes to a close at the end of this week, Bechard will say goodbye to a career in which she's seen resources and the capabilities of students with disabilities grow in leaps and bounds.
On Monday, her colleagues and students helped her plant a lilac bush on the school grounds to commemorate her years of experience.
"She brings life to the school," longtime colleague Gary McManus said. "I can not think of any other preschool teacher who could do this job."
Bechard downplays her involvement, insisting that she's just part of a team who is working to better the lives of students with special needs.
"I never felt like I earned it or deserved it," she said. "It was more about the kids and what they've deserved."
Yet, with more emphasis on early childhood intervention, Bechard's role has become increasingly important in helping children to better succeed at an earlier age.
Superintendent Steve Goettel said a group of students who she taught when they were 16 or 18 months old are now in elementary school and are participating at the same level as their peers.
"Some of these kids are at grade level doing really, really well," he said. "Her approach is exceptional."
Bechard said she was on track to graduate with a degree in speech therapy from Idaho State University 40 years ago when a program on deaf education was just starting to develop.
"You could pretty much name where you wanted to go," she said.
She ended up in Great Falls at MSDB, and except for some time she took off to raise her three sons, she's spent her entire career at the school.
"When I started, there weren't individualized education plans; shoot, there weren't even timecards," she said.
But now, the education of deaf students has evolved to include more resources — including technology — to advance their educational opportunities. Students at MSDB now are expected to match the expectations of students in any school.
And Bechard said the goal is provide the students with the least-restrictive environment possible. That can mean mainstreaming her students into regular classrooms or providing them with the opportunity to learn at MSDB.
"It takes a team to decide what's best for the kids, what's the least restrictive environment," she said.
When children who are deaf first come into her classroom, Bechard said they are oftentimes frustrated because they can't communicate. And in many instances she said the parents have been frustrated and worried, too.
"I am the luckiest person in the world," she said. "It's not like coming to work each day."
She said her goal always has been to make the learning environment fun for her kids so that they enjoy what they're learning. Her peers can see that in her students.
"At the end of the year it's like 'Wow!'" McManus said.
Goettel said Bechard has figured out techniques that few other educators before her have used to teach deaf students how to communicate. Moving from gestures to specific sign language, he said she's taught students valuable skills. Finding a replacement won't be easy.
"It's one of those monumental things," he said. "You don't replace a teacher like Gail."
For 40 years, Gail Bechard has had butterflies in her stomach every Sunday night during the school year.
A preschool teacher at Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, Bechard said she's always been excited about the week ahead.
"This is the last Sunday I had butterflies in my stomach," she said.
When the school year at MSDB comes to a close at the end of this week, Bechard will say goodbye to a career in which she's seen resources and the capabilities of students with disabilities grow in leaps and bounds.
On Monday, her colleagues and students helped her plant a lilac bush on the school grounds to commemorate her years of experience.
"She brings life to the school," longtime colleague Gary McManus said. "I can not think of any other preschool teacher who could do this job."
Bechard downplays her involvement, insisting that she's just part of a team who is working to better the lives of students with special needs.
"I never felt like I earned it or deserved it," she said. "It was more about the kids and what they've deserved."
Yet, with more emphasis on early childhood intervention, Bechard's role has become increasingly important in helping children to better succeed at an earlier age.
Superintendent Steve Goettel said a group of students who she taught when they were 16 or 18 months old are now in elementary school and are participating at the same level as their peers.
"Some of these kids are at grade level doing really, really well," he said. "Her approach is exceptional."
Bechard said she was on track to graduate with a degree in speech therapy from Idaho State University 40 years ago when a program on deaf education was just starting to develop.
"You could pretty much name where you wanted to go," she said.
She ended up in Great Falls at MSDB, and except for some time she took off to raise her three sons, she's spent her entire career at the school.
"When I started, there weren't individualized education plans; shoot, there weren't even timecards," she said.
But now, the education of deaf students has evolved to include more resources — including technology — to advance their educational opportunities. Students at MSDB now are expected to match the expectations of students in any school.
And Bechard said the goal is provide the students with the least-restrictive environment possible. That can mean mainstreaming her students into regular classrooms or providing them with the opportunity to learn at MSDB.
"It takes a team to decide what's best for the kids, what's the least restrictive environment," she said.
When children who are deaf first come into her classroom, Bechard said they are oftentimes frustrated because they can't communicate. And in many instances she said the parents have been frustrated and worried, too.
"I am the luckiest person in the world," she said. "It's not like coming to work each day."
She said her goal always has been to make the learning environment fun for her kids so that they enjoy what they're learning. Her peers can see that in her students.
"At the end of the year it's like 'Wow!'" McManus said.
Goettel said Bechard has figured out techniques that few other educators before her have used to teach deaf students how to communicate. Moving from gestures to specific sign language, he said she's taught students valuable skills. Finding a replacement won't be easy.
"It's one of those monumental things," he said. "You don't replace a teacher like Gail."