The South Dakota Council of Administrators of Special Education (SDCASE) recently chose Miss Slaba to be the recipient of the 2024 Outstanding SDCASE Administrator award. Missy started teaching at the Wagner Community School the 2008-2009 school year; this May will mark the end of her 16th year of teaching at WCS. All 16 of those years has been as the WCS Special Education Director. Slaba’s official title is the Special Education Director (B3 services through age 21/district wide).

The Council of Administra-tors of Special Education (CASE) is a professional organization that acts as the voice of special education leadership, collaborates with federal agencies, and partners organizations representing current members. They focus on national policy and student advocacy. Missy has attended the national CASE convention twice and currently participates in SDCASE monthly meetings.

In Missy’s job, she oversees eight full-time special education teachers and approximately 25 special education paraprofessionals. WCS is a member of the South-Central Cooperative that employs the Speech/Language Pathologists, SLP assistants, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, School Psychologist, and Early Childhood Special Education Teachers.

Missy has a long list of job duties that are a part of her role as Special Education Director for the school district and does an amazing job of making sure all of these duties get completed. They include directing the ongoing communication between general education, special education, administration and the school board; hiring and evaluating staff; attending IEP meetings; director calls; professional development; ensuring that the school district meets federal/ state/district requirements relating to special education; assisting with professional development; supporting and reporting to the school board; scheduling and evaluating; attending state director meetings, attending South Central Cooperative director meetings and facilitate staff meetings each month; scheduling and facilitating meetings for department productivity; financial budgeting; having knowledge of Special Education laws/regulations/procedures; and state reporting requirements.

When asked what first made her want to become a Special Education teacher, Missy said that in high school she had volunteered with mentoring in the special education classroom. She had always known that she wanted to be a teacher and be a positive role model for others. After graduating from high school, Missy worked as a paraprofessional at West Central Region Juvenile Detention Center in Minnesota. Missy’s goal at that point in her life was to return to their facility and teach. She ended up teaching six summers at the JDC facility before moving to South Dakota.

In 2001, Slaba attended Minnesota State University, Moorhead where she received her double bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education. She then in 2006 furthered her education at MSU and went for her Master’s degree in Emotional Behavioral Disorders. Finally in 2014, Missy attended the University of South Dakota for her Specialist degree in Administration. Before teaching at WCS, Missy taught at Fargo Public Schools from 20022008. From 2002-2006 she taught Special Education grades K-6th in the behavioral classroom and then from 2006-2008 she taught Special Education grades 6-8th in the middle school behavioral classroom.

Slaba was nominated for the Outstanding SDCASE Administrator between a collaboration of the South Central Cooperative and the Wagner administrators and staff. Then at the SD CASE level, a formal selection committee reviewed the nominations and selected the winner. Missy was shocked when she was named Outstanding SDCASE Administrator. The conference where they announce the winners was full and Missy was unable to attend. She did not even know that she was a nominee for the award. It was requested that she participate via zoom all day. They finally announced the winner at 5 p.m. and of course that day her son happened to be sick and it was her birthday so she was anxious to get home, but it was definitely worth the wait. It was a great feeling for Missy to be recognized by her colleagues. At the Associated School Boards of SD convention in Sioux Falls in August of 2023, she was again recognized. Then in January of 2024, she is recognized at the School Administrators of SD (SASD) banquet. She had an opportunity to meet Governor Noem and was introduced at both the SD House of Representatives and SD Senate.

This is not the first award that Missy has been awarded in her professional career. For the 20062007 school year, she was awarded the Carl Ben Eielson, Middle School, High Flier Award.

As a Special Education teacher, the most rewarding part of her job is assisting students at their instructional level and celebrating individual milestones/ successes. All children have the ability to learn and succeed. As a teacher, Missy is a firm believer that if a student is struggling with the way they are being taught, then as a teacher, it is their responsibility to alter teaching to the way that the student learns. The most difficult parts of being a Special Education teacher are changing schedules, staffing and meeting the individuals needs of each student. Missy believes that all students with disabilities should be in the general education classroom with their same-age peers as much as possible. Finding that appropriate balance between specialized instruction and classroom schedules is difficult though.

When asked what qualities make a good Special Education teacher, Missy said kindness, organization, compassion and confidence. Her teaching philosophy is that she believes that all children will eventually forget what the teacher said, but will always remember how a teacher made them feel. As educators, teachers should remember that every day is a new day, a new beginning, and a new opportunity to grow. The best part of teaching for Missy is that teaching matters. The hardest part of teaching is that every moment matters, every single day. Missy loves watching students grow individually and feel a sense of accomplishment.

When Missy is not busy at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and six-year-old son. As a family they love being outdoors, watching movies and playing games.

Congratulations, Missy, on a well-deserved award. Thank you for all that you and the other Special Education teachers do for the Wagner Community School students.