Local Teacher Receives Call From US Secretary Of Education

It’s National Teacher Appreciation Week and one local teacher received a call from U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan Wednesday morning.

Maryanne Sawczuk has been teaching at Mid-East Career and Technology Centers for two years now. We spoke to Sawczuk after she received her call. She told us about some of the things that Duncan asked her.

“He asked me about what I thought about some of the things going on now in education and I told him what I thought about some of the testing issues. He asked me what I thought are some of the things that the Department of Education could do and I said continue with the funding for special education students.”

That was just a portion of the things Duncan asked during the call. Sawczuk told us how she was blow away and overwhelmed that she was chosen to represent teachers. Sawczuk told us why she got into the field of education.

“I was one of the lucky ones that I knew when I was very little that I wanted to teach. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to teach. I thought I wanted to teach science because of a high school science teacher. Once I found out about special education, which learning disabilities came out about the time I was ready to graduate from college, had an opportunity to start out in special education–loved it.”

Sawczuk has been working in the education field for 35 years in total. She loves special education and said her gift is being able to think outside the box and differentiate which helps students to learn. Sawczuk said there was no turning back once she was working in special education and enjoys being able to help make a difference in their lives.