The first full week of May is designated as Licensed Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have at least 20 types of licensed jobs, with many variations in those positions. These are people who have completed higher education and earned licenses to be certified to teach students, lead continuing education training for staff, serve as social skills specialists, and provide speech, physical and occupational therapy within Clackamas ESD programs and the school districts we serve.
This Licensed Employee Appreciation Week, we’re highlighting a few of our more than 160 licensed staff members and contractors to provide a peek into the diverse ways this large group of employees lives our mission of service. We appreciate our entire licensed team and the meaningful work they do.
Sarah Okimoto is a speech-language pathologist who works with three-to-five-year-old children in Clackamas County Children’s Commission’s Head Start preschool programs in Oregon City and private preschools throughout Clackamas County. From articulation to speech sounds and patterns to grammar to functional language and social skills, Sarah helps children improve many aspects of their speech so they can better express themselves.
“A lot of kids we see right now are dropping off the final consonant of many of their words, and we’re working on targeting those patterns,” Sarah explains. “Other kids need help with social language or functional language. Are they asking questions to get their needs met? Are they asking questions to gain more information? Are they asking for a turn, or are they just butting into somebody else’s play? All of these pieces help them get their needs and wants met and be able to express their thoughts.”
In addition to helping children improve their speech, Sarah also coaches their teachers and parents.
“I only see the kids for 30 minutes a week, but their teachers see them for up to seven or eight hours a day, and their parents see them every other hour of the week, so helping teachers and parents build their toolbox to support the student in the hours I’m not there is really impactful on a student’s success,” Sarah says.
Sarah was initially studying to become a physical therapist, but when she job shadowed in a multidisciplinary setting, she was drawn to speech therapy.
“I realized how much of a need there was in the schools for speech therapy to support kids in their communication,” Sarah remarks.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in human development and family sciences, Sarah completed her practicum at the Head Start program at Oregon State University’s Child Development Center. In 2019, she earned her graduate degree in speech-language pathology, then completed her clinical fellowship at Clackamas ESD in 2020 — entirely virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic — which was challenging but led her to adopt new methods, like virtual books and green screen activities. Today, she is a licensed speech-language pathologist.
Seeing how improved speech and language skills can jump-start a child’s learning and social-emotional well-being keeps Sarah passionate about her work.
“It’s never ‘just articulation’ or ‘just speech,’” she explains.
Day after day, she takes to heart the victories of all sizes she helps her students achieve.
“This little guy I see has cerebral palsy. He’s super, super bright, and has some articulation needs and language needs,” Sarah shares. “He was in a younger classroom because his preschool wasn’t aware that he has many age-appropriate skills because of his speech. His physical therapist and I advocated for him to be in a classroom with kids his age, and in the six or seven weeks he’s been in the classroom with same-aged, typically developing peers, he’s made such huge gains, and he’s confident.
“We can work on his speech sounds, but there will still be times when he’s not understood. Helping him develop the language to advocate for himself, to say ‘no, this is what I mean’ or recognize when someone’s not understanding is key to his success and independence.”
