Ms. Cole began her lifelong dream as a teacher in 2004 at Eastern Michigan University.  Originally, she wanted to be a general education teacher, but knew something was missing.  She had a heartfelt talk with her friend, also in school to become a teacher, but a special education teacher.  The more they spoke, the more she realized the missing pieces to her career decision. She remembered when she was a freshman in high school, she had seen a television show called Higher Ground (click link for description). The show was about a boarding school for at-risk teenagers struggling with anger, self-harm, learning difficulties, etc.  

 

After this Eurkea! moment, Ms. Cole went straight to her advisor's office and changed her major.  She realized she wanted to become a special education teacher, specializing in emotional impairments.  

 

A year after college, she was offered a job at New Bedford Academy as a "floating teacher," which is what they called a special education teacher in their full-inclusion school.  After 5 years of working at the charter school, Ms. Cole had greater aspirations.  She wanted to have her own classroom and the ability to make creative decisions that would inspire students to not only be lifelong learners, but also DREAM big.  Ms. Cole interviewed and accepted a job at Monroe County ISD as a Local-Based Special Education Teacher.  This new job opportunity is where her creativity blossomed.  While having her own classroom allowed her to use technology and implement learning through creativity, this was not her biggest feat.  Her biggest feat was how her students had inspired her to be a better person and teacher. Teachers are supposed to inspire students, but in Ms. Cole's case, the students have inspired Ms. Cole.