Christopher Standridge

As someone on the spectrum, I struggled greatly to understand things when I was growing up. We didn’t really have “Autism” back then, I was just “The weird kid.” After I was downsized in the Great Recession, I looked back and knew I wanted to change lives, so I made the best decision of my life and went back to school and I became a teacher. Every day, I try to be the teacher I needed growing up. The one who really listens and tries to understand ALL of my kids. Best decision ever!

After the Pandemic, we created a student community service group that does so much. My most memorable moment, though, was when they pooled their money together on their own and bought Valentines for the all of the Special Ed students so they wouldn’t be left out. They did this on their own and that was the moment I knew I succeeded in what I set out to be as a teacher.

The biggest need in our school is psychological services for our students. We are a rural school and the nearest services are hours away. I would work with my district’s school psychologist to figure out how best to help the kids. We are so good at pinching pennies, I know we can really stretch that money out. We’ve already started training teachers in programs for trauma-induced learning and helping students support each other. We could do so much good for so many.