Dear Editor: Every school has quiet heroes most people have never heard about. The people working behind the scenes who are the backbone of the education system, the janitors, the food service workers, the administrative assistants, and paraprofessionals. I want to take a minute today to thank them all, especially the paraprofessionals who help our students every day in my classroom and in others throughout the district.
Para-professionals – also called paraprofessionals, educational assistants, or aides – work alongside special education teachers supporting students with the most complex needs. These are children who may have significant physical, behavioral, cognitive, or emotional challenges. Para-pros are the ones crouching beside a child who is struggling, speaking calmly through a meltdown, helping a student communicate for the first time, learning a new communication devise, or ensuring a child with mobility needs gets safely through every moment of their school day.
Their days are not easy. They manage medical equipment, implement behavior plans, de-escalate crises, assist with personal care, and translate the world into something their students can access – all while keeping up with the pace of a busy school. Many do this work for modest wages and little public recognition.
What they give their students goes far beyond the job description. They show up every day with patience, creativity, and a fierce belief in kids who are so often underestimated. They celebrate victories that the rest of us might not even notice – and those victories matter enormously to the students they work with.
So here is my ask: this summer, if you see a para-professional out in the community, tell them thank you. Stop and really talk to them with gratitude in your heart for the work they do for OUR SITKA kids. Buy them a coffee. Leave a kind note. These small gestures land big for people who pour so much of themselves into work that rarely makes the headlines.
To every para-professional in our community: you are seen, you are valued, and you are making a profound difference in the lives of our students. Thank you.
Meggan Turner
Sitka High School
Special Education and
Foods & Nutrition
