Mrs. Sportsman inspires Spartans

Mrs.+Sportsman+inspires+Spartans

Hannah Sauer, Staff Writer

Always having an interest in working with special needs children, Mrs. Sportsman is one of the new special education teachers at Mayo High school. Mrs. Sportsman’s past has shaped who she is and what her passions are. Her sister is a huge inspiration as to why she wanted to become a special education teacher, motivating her to help children with learning disabilities. “I have a sister that is older then me, and she was in special ed, and she had a lot of struggles when I was a kid, and to this day she has a lot of struggles,” said Mrs. Sportsman. Hoping that every student will succeed in and out of the classroom, she works with many different students with different needs. She explains that she “wanted to make a difference in students lives, and students that don’t know right from wrong, and wrong from right.” Mrs. Sportsman helps by providing resources to children with learning disabilities and making sure that they get as much support as possible.  

Mrs. Sportsman has always worked as a special education teacher. She started her career working in Phoenix, Arizona, where she taught sixth, seventh, and, eighth grade special education. Then, she worked at Spring Valley’s Kingsling High School for three years, where she taught special education, reading, math, writing, life skills, and social skills. Before becoming a teacher here at Mayo High School, she taught special education at Phoenix Academy, which is part of Rochester’s School district. She said “I taught in a classroom with children that had severe, profound disabilities like autism, down syndrome, and other terrestrial disabilities. Their biggest challenge was there behavior.” Students would “pull hair, spit on you; they might kick you.” She explained that “they have a very hard time telling you what they want, some are nonverbal some are verbal. They struggle every day [in] life telling you what they need and want.” Despite having to work with kids that struggle every day, she still has a passion for special education.

“I choose Mayo because I saw an opening for DCD MN (Developing Cognitive Disability), and my sister is DCD MN, and I wanted definitely a change from the classroom that I was in, so I was looking for something new, something exciting, and a big change to help myself,” said Mrs. Sportsman  Becoming a Spartan would be a change from the classroom that she was working in before. Mrs. Sportsman explains that she also picked Mayo High School to further her education “to complete her Masters degree.” She thought that Mayo High School would be a perfect place to further her teaching experience.  One thing about Mayo that she really likes is “that so many people are friendly here and are willing to help you.” Mrs.Sportsman has inspired children in so many ways; now it’s time for Mayo High School to inspire her.