Intellectual disabilities (ID) teacher Brandy Moss has two goals in school: to make education fun and accessible for all students, no matter their learning abilities. Moss encourages students to try their best to make it through, because the aftermath is worth it. “Don’t give up in highschool even though it’s not for everyone…college is way more fun and different,” said Moss. Her class is chasing their dreams through the ups and downs! Moss has five fun students who are very funny and outgoing.
Going from middle school to highschool is a big change for students. Many things can be different such as the people, rules and appearance. “The teachers and people are different,” said freshman and Moss student Jaden Campbell. Teachers in middle school tend to go a bit easier on students because they are still quite young, but once students get to high school it can be a whole different story.
Having a good relationship with teachers as a student is an important part of being in school. Senior Carley Moore stated, “I didn’t like my old school last year because my teacher was mean to me.” It’s difficult to be in a class and try to learn the subject when kids have altercations with the teacher, something Moss strives to eliminate.
The two other students in Moss’s class, freshman James Arenas Delgado and freshman Aarya Carlson, are very physically active people and love to play sports and have fun in P.E. Delgado and Carlson used their tablet to help them communicate with The Falconer using an app called LAMP, which is extremely helpful and easy to understand. They both expressed that their favorite thing to do is play ball. They also stated that school is going well and seems to be easy. They are both smart and are excited to see how the rest of highschool plays out.
High school can be a scary and confusing place, not just because it’s hard or different but because many students may feel left out and alone. Moss stated she tries to make everyone feel equal even when it’s hard to do, saying “I feel that it’s hard sometimes to include other people especially in highschool when we don’t feel included ourselves, so we don’t know how to include other people.” The inclusivity and effort from other faculty members is also appreciated by Moss. “The teachers are so nice and helpful and everyone tries to include my students even when they don’t know how,” said Moss. FHS coming together and accepting other students is a wonderful accomplishment. Moss expresses the reasoning behind her becoming a teacher, saying, “I wanted for everybody to know that they could do what they dream of doing.”
