Teaching Assistant Amanda Edwards wants everyone to know how capable her students are.
“Sometimes people don’t think they’re capable of a lot, but then you really work with them day-to-day, and you see how much they can do,” she said. “From September to June, over the course of a school year, there is so much progress. Maybe they mastered shirt dressing, or now they know all their letters. It’s cool to see where they started and where they are now.”
Amanda always knew she wanted to work with children. Working at an after-school program, she realized she enjoyed working with developmentally disabled students. When she found Eden, she was drawn to the commitment to helping students learn life skills in an individualized setting. “I thought it was great how Eden handled the whole aspect of teaching them life skills,” said Amanda. “It was great that there was a whole school dedicated to them achieving their goals, even outside the classroom and into adulthood.”
Amanda works in the Early classroom. Working with some of the Eden School’s youngest students, all of her work is very hands-on. “I also work in [Extended Day Program] EDP, and it’s cool to see the older kids be more independent,” she said. “It’s why we’re so hands-on, so when they go to the classrooms upstairs, they can be more independent because they worked on those skills in Early.”
Seeing students achieve something is the most rewarding part of Amanda’s job, especially when they accomplish things outside of the classroom.
“We go out in the community to work on their skills, and when you see them generalize the things we do in their program and do them outside of the classroom, that’s the best,” she said.
While her job can sometimes be tough, having her colleagues help her through makes every day fun. “We’re all around the same age. We all have the same mindset,” she said. “We always find the humor in all of it. We have to laugh because it makes it less heavy and more fun to come to work every day. These people are my closest friends now, and I met them through this job.”