Excellent Educator: Falcon Ridge Middle School's Jen Welk
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Not always, but often times people who teach special needs students do it because they have a loved one living with a disability, such as a sibling or a cousin, they helped as a child and developed an empathy to help others.
But not Ms. Jen Welk.
The Falcon Ridge Middle School teacher in Apple Valley says she's had a calling to work with special needs teens since she was a teen herself, and that's what makes her this week's Excellent Educator.
"I have a great group of 10 kids with autism. They're all in middle school and they're fantastic," Welk said.
She has been teaching special needs students for seven years. But she first got a taste for the profession in high school when she volunteered in a special ed room.
"I just thought the room looked interesting from the outside, and I wanted to know what was going on and I just loved it," she said. "I think the progress we see. It's small to some people, but when we see a kid communicate or learn a new skill they didn't have before even if it took three years, it's great. We can celebrate the little victories."
Welk is known to throw a sporadic dance party with her students as a way to break up the day.
"We just like to have fun. We need a lot of movement and dance parties are a great way to get that movement in. They can still interact with their peers and just do something your typical kids do," Welk said.
"Ms. Jen is very passionate, just cares a lot about her kids," Noel Mehus, the principal of Falcon Ridge Middle School, said. "I think they need to have fun, but there is also a structure. There is a routine. They have predictable things that they do."
They have plenty of fun, but Welk does endure challenges.
Many people with autism cannot express themselves constructively, so they resort to violence. But her peers say Welk uses each bite, hit, tantrum and melt down as an opportunity to learn what drives the student and finds ways to help them communicate in a healthy way.
She says parents appreciate this at home the most when the students can communicate in an effective manner.
