Congratulations to Abraham Pena, a paraeducator at Ellender Middle School, who was honored recently with the Geraldine Bell Award, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers’ top recognition for support employees.
Abraham works with a hearing impaired student who is also wheelchair bound due to his cerebral palsy. Abraham gained the trust of his student by learning sign language on his own. Soon, the student expressed a wish to speak with his voice. The student had never spoken before.
The first word they started with was “Bye.” Abraham would sit in front of the student, moving his lips to form the words and having the student mimic the movement of Abraham’s mouth. The student also would place his hands on the paras’s throat and chin to feel the vibrations of the words.
After several months of work, the student’s mother came one afternoon to pick him up for a doctor’s appointment, and the student told the para, “bye.” It was the first time the mother heard her son’s voice. The mother smiled, laughed and cried when she heard her son speak.
“Momma” is the word the student is presently working on. It is Abraham’s hope that one day soon the mother will hear what other mothers take for granted, her son saying, “Momma, momma, momma.” His goal is for the student be able to speak the word by Mothers’ Day.
In addition to working with his student Abraham is Chair of the Positive Behavior Intervention Support team. He has put into place many rewards to promote a positive environment at Ellender Middle School. He stays after school several times a week for PBIS team meetings and ABIT meetings. He also sponsors student council.
Abraham’s passion for teaching is so great that he is currently enrolled in school to become a teacher.