Professional Collaboration

The future Dr. Thornton is a mathematics endorsement carrier, a beacon of light facilitator, special education teacher, Speech & debate team coach in Bloomington, Illinois. He holds a bachelor of science in secondary education mathematics, a master’s in special education, and his Ed.D will be in Special Education from Illinois State University. In addition, Mr. Thornton was a teacher of the year finalist this past school year at Bloomington High School in the midst of the pandemic.

Jennifer Ormerod is a special education teacher for students in Kindergarten through 3rd grades at Hiawatha Elementary School in Essex Junction, Vermont. Jennifer started her career 25 years ago as an Early Childhood Special Educator and taught 3-5 year olds in a variety of Vermont’s inclusive preschool settings for several years. During that time she had an incredible opportunity to receive advanced training in Autism through the Vermont Rural Autism Project.

Teaching exceptional education in middle school is an extremely rewarding service. Middle school is a pivotal time in the lives of all students, but especially those with exceptionalities. My main focus is to help students build confidence and be proud of their unique strengths. Through the daily incorporation of social-emotional activities, I strive to develop impactful relationships with my students. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the activities that we do in our class.

Nick D. Polcini has served as a special educator for about 21 years in the field. He has been a middle school teacher and a high school teacher working with kids with Learning Disabilities and Autism. Nick graduated from West Chester University of PA in 2000 in Special Education and earned his M. Ed. In Special Education with an area of concentration in Secondary Transition at WCU in 2005. Nick currently teaches as a special education teacher at B. Reed Henderson High School in the West Chester Area School District in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

In her 28th in education, Cathy Wojcik has taught in various early childhood special education settings (ECSE), including Self-Contained ECSE, Reverse Inclusion ECSE, Inclusive PreK, and Itinerant/Community Based. She also served on the Evaluation Team for PreK and is currently an ECSE Autism teacher. Cathy holds a BS in Special Education from Penn State University and M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education.

Felicia is a K -4 special education teacher entering her third year in the Metro Nashville public schools system in Nashville, Tennessee, working with students with Mild-moderate disabilities such as ADHD and dyslexia. As a collaborative teacher for major and at-risk students who cannot walk, feed or go to the bathroom by themselves, Felicia has supported youth with disabilities in New York, Nashville, and Rhode Island. She is a figure skating instructor and is a wicked math intervention teacher.

DeVito is one of four music educators at the Rawlings Elementary Center for Fine Arts, a Title school in Gainesville, Florida. In 2011, DeVito was recognized as the National CEC Teacher of the Year. In 2014 he was elected to the board of the International Society for Music Education with thousands of members in nearly 100 countries. He serves as an adjunct professor in the University of Florida School of Music Masters in Music Education program.