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.
Eric Red is an Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education specialist at Clackamas Education Service District. He teaches a class of three-to-five-year-old children at Mount Scott Elementary School who need extra support with their cognitive, communication, social-emotional, adaptive or motor skills. The small class size allows Eric to give students the additional support they need to build their skills and be successful in kindergarten and beyond.
“I teach them how to be students,” Eric says. “They learn how to come to a setting that’s not their home and start to build relationships with kids their age and trust adults other than their mom or dad or grandparent.”
Eric “plants the seeds” of the foundational skills children will build on in their journey as a student by providing opportunities for children to engage, play, learn and thrive.
“We model lots of language with the intent that they will start imitating that language and use it on their own,” Eric explains. “To build social skills and gross motor skills, we might play a game of ‘red light, green light,’ to learn how to listen to directions, stop and go, and look around and see what other kids are doing and imitate their actions.”
When the pandemic kept students at home, Eric had to adapt to teaching his preschool students virtually. It was challenging, but the changes the pandemic brought added to Eric’s teaching methods. He formed closer bonds with his students’ families, and it was hugely beneficial to the students’ growth. His monthly one-on-one family coaching sessions are now a permanent part of the program.
“I work really closely with their families. I really, really love that part of my work,” Eric shares. “It’s a great way to connect what I do in the classroom with what’s happening at home. It helps parents gain skills and enhance their understanding of who their child is as a learner and what is required for their educational success. We celebrate what the parents already know and support the things that are new to them.”
Before joining Clackamas ESD as an educational assistant in 1998, Eric had years of experience working with children at day camps and in group homes and doing applied behavioral analysis — a one-on-one therapy focused on changing behavior to improve learning.
“I love working with kids. It just fills my bucket to teach kids new skills, to see kids grow and develop every day,” Eric says.
His experience as an educational assistant inspired him to pursue a master’s degree in early intervention and early childhood education, and in 2003, he became an EI/ECSE specialist at Clackamas ESD.
The everyday moments and the relationships with his students and their families are what keep Eric passionate about his work.
“It is my mission as a teacher to create a space where children and families feel safe, supported and encouraged. Seeing kids being successful, participating and using language — the foundation of everyday belonging — is truly rewarding,” Eric says.
“It’s not the product — it’s the process that’s really important to me. Every once in a while, I hear back from someone who says, ‘You know, my kid still talks about you. They’re in second grade, but they’re still thinking about teacher Eric,’ and it feels good to have made an impact.”
