The first full week of March is designated as Classified Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have more than 50 types of classified jobs. These are people who touch every corner of our agency’s work and the districts we support, from providing hands-on help to teachers, children and families, to filling endless behind-the-scenes roles to keep buildings and teams safe, cared for and high-functioning.
This Classified Employee Appreciation Week, we’re highlighting five of our more than 250 classified 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 classified team and the meaningful work they do.
Faith Ross is a behavior coach in Clackamas Education Service District’s Life Enrichment Education Program. LEEP provides comprehensive education for students with complex disabilities and communication needs. As a behavior coach, Faith directly supports students in learning the self-regulation skills needed to access learning in an open campus environment. In addition to her work with students, she serves as an instructional coach, modeling and training educational assistants to build the skills necessary to help students reach their behavioral goals.
Working with students experiencing disabilities has been a lifelong interest of Faith’s. Both of her parents worked in group homes for adults with developmental disabilities, so people with special needs were a part of her world growing up, and she developed an interest in special education.
“During high school, my mom encouraged me to volunteer in a special education classroom to get a feel for what working with this population was like,” Faith explains. “And I realized, oh, wow! I love special education!”
As soon as she turned 18 years old, Faith began working as an educational assistant in a Clackamas ESD LEEP classroom. She quickly learned she had a knack for assisting students with their behavioral support needs.
In fall 2019, Faith completed registered behavior technician training and began working in a behavior coach role. Her experience in the training inspired her.
“Getting that level of training and instruction opened my eyes to the realm of possibilities,” Faith says.
Faith continued to expand her special education knowledge and skills, completing training in the STAR Program for autism support, the Picture Exchange System alternative/augmentative communication method, and the Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display approach to optimizing the way people with complex communication needs use symbols to communicate, and becoming a certified Nonviolent Crisis Intervention instructor. Faith facilitates LEEP’s required initial NCI training followed by the opportunity to experience guided practice and shared learning as each team walks through everyday difficult scenarios. Staff learn how to intervene in crisis situations and de-escalate using restrictive and nonrestrictive interventions. Her expertise has been extremely valuable to LEEP.
“Staff are starting to feel more comfortable reaching out and asking questions. They’re like, ‘I’m not sure about this thing, and I just wanted to get in touch with you for some clarity and support.’ It’s felt really great having people feel comfortable asking for help and knowing that I can support them,” Faith says.
Faith is now pursuing her goal of becoming a special education teacher. In June 2023, she will graduate from Portland State University’s special education program. She notes that Clackamas ESD’s support, from encouragement from her colleagues to financial assistance from Clackamas ESD’s professional development and Career Ladder funds, played a significant role in her decision to return to school.
“I really appreciate how much I’ve been encouraged to grow within Clackamas ESD. That encouragement has been life-changing,” Faith shares. “Going back to school, I was scared because I got my associate degree back in 2015, and that’s a big gap in education. If it wasn’t for a push from one of the teachers I worked with, I don’t think I would have made the decision to go back.”
After 10 years at Clackamas ESD, Faith remains excited about her future in special education.“It’s the little moments. Like, wow, this student independently used their augmentative/alternative communication device to tell me that they needed a break today instead of engaging in physically aggressive behavior — that’s what motivates me. And seeing the potential in each of my students and staff,” Faith says.
