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 approximately 185 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.
Steve Schroeder is a teacher in Clackamas Education Service District’s Life Enrichment Education Program for students experiencing complex disabilities and communication needs. Steve’s LEEP classroom at Seth Lewelling Elementary School is filled with harmony — partly because he makes music a part of the daily routine and partly because of his unique holistic approach to teaching and leading. School is often one of LEEP students’ most significant life experiences outside of their home, which makes Steve’s dedication to creating a happy and meaningful school experience for his students all the more impactful.
“My number one priority as a LEEP teacher is to create a safe, healthy and most importantly happy classroom,” says Steve. “So often we are inundated with things like meeting state standards, academic goals, assessments, data collection, service minutes — and all those things are important. However, if our students are not happy and wanting to be at school, many of those other things don’t happen.”
To keep his students happy and engaged, Steve takes time to learn what each student loves — whether it’s books, toys, games, or music — and weaves it into his classroom routine and lessons. Each day at 11:15 a.m., Steve leads a music group for his students, often playing the guitar and singing for them.
“A few years ago, we had a student who had significant and complex medical needs. I would play ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ and she would lift her head up and smile, which was big because she would have her head down a lot. Unfortunately, the student passed away last spring, and I would like to think that while she was in our classroom, she had a happy and positive life experience,” Steve shares.
Steve’s commitment to creating a positive school experience for his students extends beyond his classroom. Our LEEP classes are hosted in general education schools across the county, and it can be tough for LEEP students and staff to feel included in their school’s community. Steve is an outspoken advocate for improving the inclusion of our special education students.
“I’ve helped students and staff at my host school learn more about kids with disabilities, creating all-school lessons on ways people can be both the same and different, and how they can learn more about the abilities of students in LEEP,” Steve explains. “It’s led to more social interaction as students increasingly discover that we can have difference without distance. My students and their abilities bring incredible value to the general education school environment, and I work hard to create opportunities for my students’ inclusion and celebration of their diversity within our school.”
Steve found his calling as a LEEP teacher by chance. Though he always wanted to be an educator, he started his career teaching high school social studies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After moving to Oregon and waiting to take the exams to get his state teaching license, he responded to an ad seeking substitute educational assistants for LEEP.
“I knew nothing about special education or working with kids with special needs,” Steve recalls. “The second class I subbed in changed my life. I ended up working for a year and a half in that classroom, and the teacher encouraged me to apply for Portland State University’s special education program. And here I am, 20-some years later, still in the LEEP program with Clackamas ESD.
“Being a teacher in the LEEP program is extremely challenging. The combination of high medical and behavioral needs creates a unique set of challenges that no other classrooms face. But moments like when a student independently moved her hand to activate her switch and assist in reading a book — it might not sound like a lot, but that was a huge achievement for her — is why I still do this job and am here after 24 years.”
