Bridging the gap

Austin is an eighth grader at Dakota Memorial School, the on-campus school of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. Before coming to the Ranch, Austin was frequently suspended for verbal and physical aggression toward his teachers and classmates. He is a smart kid, but was flunking most of his classes because even when he was in school, he spent very little time in the classroom. When he started yelling, throwing things, and threatening his teachers and peers, which happened regularly, he was removed from the classroom.

At the Ranch, where he received individualized attention, Austin slowly grew to trust the school staff. Mallory Halvorson, principal at Dakota Memorial School, Bismarck, said she recently attended a meeting with Austin and his parents where they talked about how he is attending classes, making friends, and building relationships with his teachers. He has learned ways to regulate his behavior and rarely has an aggressive outburst.

“The other kids want to be around Austin because he is fun,” Mallory said. “His parents told me this was the first school meeting they’d ever attended where they were told of Austin’s strengths and progress.”

Special education is a unique form of teaching. Although it is often associated with low IQ and developmental disabilities, many children who need special education services are like Austin, high-IQ children with behavioral and mental health challenges.

Tina DeGree, Superintendent and VP Education, Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, said students at Dakota Memorial School have experienced significant trauma or suffer from mental illness.

“Trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns affect how kids learn,” Tina said.

In North Dakota, special education teachers must have a bachelor’s degree in special education and pass the Praxis II Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications exam. Most also have special education endorsements or certifications based on the population in which they choose to work, which might include emotional disabilities, learning disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.

Read on to meet our special education teachers and see the passion and commitment they bring to work with them each day.

---

Sequoia Magrum | Special Education Teacher, Fargo

Sequoia Magrum taught Sunday School growing up and always wanted to be a teacher. She earned an elementary education degree at the University of North Dakota (UND), and after a few years, she realized she enjoyed working with the students who were struggling. She recently completed a master’s degree in special education with a specialization in emotional behavior disorders.

“I really like the part of special education where you feel like you can make a difference and help kids,” she said. “You have to really think about what is blocking a kid from being able to access their education. Are their basic needs being met? Do they have trauma they haven’t addressed? What skills are they missing to manage their behaviors?”

Sequoia sees special education as filling the gaps in students’ skills and needs so they can bridge that gap and get to a place where they can learn. It starts with building a strong relationship.

“Sometimes it takes a bit for the students to trust you and realize you are here to help them,” Sequoia said. “These kids are here because they have already had traumatic school experiences. Once they figure out you are there for them, learn to trust you, and know that you’ll follow through on what you say, those walls start to come down.”

Sequoia told the story of one student who didn’t want to be in school and didn’t want to graduate from high school. She took the student on a college tour recently and it opened her eyes to the possibilities.

“She realized college was something she could do, and her eyes were lit up the whole time,” Sequoia said. “If you let kids coast by, their hate for the system is going to grow. If you tailor school to their needs, they might see how they can be successful and build their confidence.”

Sequoia is constantly looking for the reasons behind kids’ behaviors.

“Why don’t they want to be in the classroom? If it’s because the work is too hard, then we need to figure out how to make the work at their level,” she said. “If they are having conflict with another student, we need to figure out how to make that work. Maybe they need social skills instruction and to learn how to build friendships. It’s never one simple thing. We must dig deep and work together to find out what will work for each student.”

In her work at the Ranch, Sequoia embraces each child’s strengths and interests. She worked with one student who everyone said didn’t read. She talked with him and found some books that matched his interests. Now he is reading at the same level as his peers.

“You find what they like and embrace it,” Sequoia said. “Another student hadn’t made it through a full day of public school in years. He wouldn’t go into the lunchroom. He did nothing with his peers. He wouldn’t go into the classrooms or use the computers. After just a few months with us, he is coming to school half days and being successful. That is a celebration!”

Sequoia said it can take time to build a relationship, but once the kids let their barriers down, they are amazing.

“I love the kids here. They’ll test you and challenge you, and it’s really hard. Then the next day, you see them doing something amazing,” she said. “Once they begin to see the benefits of getting help, the kids want to get better. They want to be successful.”

Sequoia stays at the Ranch for several reasons. She sees kids making amazing progress. She enjoys the strong leadership and working with a team of people who really care about kids. And she likes being able to talk about her faith.

“The Ranch is faith-based, which I find really amazing,” she said. “We can talk about our faith and that’s important for these kids. We pray before the kids get here every morning and do a prayer together during morning announcements. They ask me all the time about my faith. It’s powerful and healing, and they are often searching for it.”

Sequoia is from Minneapolis, where her three sisters and parents still live. She and her husband moved around for his job before deciding to settle in Fargo, ND. They enjoy walking with their two dogs, camping, traveling, and watching movies.

---

Lyzz Harpster | Special Education Teacher, Fargo

Lyzz Harpster was born in Fort Worth, TX, and moved with her family to North Dakota when she was ten years old. Lyzz said elementary and high school were difficult, but she was tough.

“I graduated with mutual respect between myself and the three boys who really liked to target me,” she said. “I fought my way through all of high school because I wasn’t going to let them hurt me or haze me.”

Her difficult school experiences showed Lyzz the importance of kids having someone on their side. As a special education teacher, one of Lyzz’s goals is to help students feel emotionally and physically safe at school.

“When I lead Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings, I start by going around the table and asking everyone to share a strength of the child,” she said. “School has not been a safe place for our kids. They have been repeatedly told that they are failures and won’t amount to anything. When they come to a meeting I’m leading, they are going to hear what they are doing well.”

As a special education teacher, Lyzz pulls together the Ranch team of teachers, nurses, occupational therapists, and direct care staff to meet each student’s needs and help them be the best they can be. One of her current students struggles with reading.

“She is smart as a whip, but I would guess something in her past traumatized reading for her. This kid is capable of reading hard things, but she doesn’t believe in herself,” Lyzz said. “I got her a stack of hard books in graphic novel format because I know she can do it, and right now, she is reading a book about Julius Caesar.”

Lyzz is a firm believer that her journey at the Ranch has been a “God thing.” Her husband was doing IT work at the Ranch’s Grand Forks thrift store, and she was picking him up for lunch. When she walked into the store, she asked the cashier, “Are y’all hiring right now?” She had a job by the time she and her husband left for lunch.

When she finished her master’s degree in elementary and middle school education, her boss at the thrift store gave her an internal job bid form for a position in Fargo. She and her husband moved to Fargo for her to take a job as a Residential Treatment Specialist, working directly with the kids in the cottage. She moved to teaching when a position opened in the school.

“I love seeing the kids have those ‘aha’ moments. I spend most of my day working with kids who are struggling emotionally,” Lyzz said. “My favorite thing is when a kid picks up a desk, and before they throw it, they realize they don’t want the consequences that will happen. Watching them stop themselves in that cycle, seeing real growth, is my favorite thing.”

Lyzz said most kids at the Ranch are in survival mode 100 percent of the time.

“It’s really easy for people to judge them, but you and I would have the same struggles if we went through half of what they have,” she said. “They are brave and courageous. They have gone through more trauma than you can imagine, and multiple places and people have failed them. By the time they get to us, they just expect we are another place that will fail them. They are disenfranchised with humanity in general.”

Lyzz helps kids learn skills they need to regulate their emotions, get along with their peers, and get to a place where they can learn. She uses a lot of games to teach social and emotional skills.

“So much of learning these skills is practice. They need to practice interacting with people without being mean,” Lyzz said. “We play a game, we talk, and we have authentic interactions. You can do overt lessons to teach the skills, but that often backfires.”

Lyzz said the Ranch is like a family, with everyone pulling together for the kids.

“At the end of the day, we are all here for the kids,” Lyzz said. “Every single person working in any of our Ranch buildings is here for the kids.”

Lyzz lives in Fargo with her husband and their five-year-old son. In addition to parenting and spending time with her family, Lyzz likes to cross-stitch, read, watch competition and fantasy television shows, participate in taekwondo, and play video games.

---

Tammy Wolf | Special Education Teacher, Bismarck

In seventh grade, Tammy Wolf volunteered to coach Special Olympics and fell in love with the kids. That’s when she knew she wanted to be a Special Education teacher. She went to college right out of high school, but then life happened, and she took a 19-year break.

“In 2014, I had the opportunity to go back to school,” Tammy said. “It was a very scary time for me because I didn’t want to fail. My family was very supportive, and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in special education at age 43.”

At the Ranch, Tammy helps students through challenging times and helps them learn.

“You have to be flexible. You meet each kid where they are at. You can’t change the education standards and requirements, but you can change your instruction to help the student meet the standard,” Tammy said.

Tammy understands that when kids’ basic needs aren’t being met, they can’t focus on learning. Many of the kids have grown up in homes with drugs and alcohol and people coming in and out of the home. Others have been abused or sex trafficked for drugs. Some don’t have food and are trying to feed and care for younger siblings.

“Kids need sleep. They need shelter. They need food. If those needs aren’t being met, nothing else is going to matter,” Tammy said. “I don’t know what it’s like to not have food. I don’t know what it’s like to sleep on the floor. I don’t know what it’s like to not have a home. I’ve always had my needs met.”

Tammy said even the toughest kids are great. But they are often misunderstood and feel like they are naughty or bad.

“They just haven’t had the chance. I want them to feel safe in my room. I tell them I have faith in them and that they can get back this. It’s a blip in their life,” Tammy said. “We have a student now who said, ‘I don’t want to leave [the Ranch] because I feel safe here.'”

Tammy works with students in her room and in their regular classroom. When they are in her room, she teaches life skills, like where to vote, how to research basic laws, where to get their social security card, and how to choose life insurance or car insurance.

“They might not need these skills right now,” Tammy said, “but I hope what they’ve learned will spark something when they need it.”

She also helps them make and meet their goals and works with them on subjects where they are behind or struggling.

For instance, if a student is deficient in math computation, she spends individual time with them to improve those skills. She also works closely with the general education teachers, and when she finds a teaching strategy that works, helps them implement it in the regular classroom.

“In addition to working with kids one-on-one in my room, I push into classes,” Tammy said. “Kids are pulled so many times for therapies, so I try not to pull them from the classroom during core classes. I can observe and help manage behaviors right in the classroom.”

Tammy also enjoys working with the parents.

“A lot of the parents are really great to work with, and they want their child to succeed,” she said. “I work closely with them and text or email them things about their child. They’ve often only heard from their child’s school when they’ve had bad behaviors. I want them to know when their child does something well.”

“I love coming to work every day. People ask me why I work here because there is a stigma about kids at the Ranch. I tell them I love the kids and that kids at the Ranch need good teachers too. I have found my passion.”

Between them, Tammy and her husband have six children, four grandchildren, and one grandchild on the way. They have a cabin in South Dakota where they go to fish, relax, and enjoy the outdoors.

---

Roanna Parker | Special Education Teacher, Minot

Roanna Parker earned her first bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology at Multnomah University in Portland, OR. She then joined the Air Force, where she met her husband, had two children, and was a stay-at-home mom.

When the family moved to Minot, ND, Roanna decided to go back to school for special education so she could be a better mom, especially to her son, who has high-functioning autism. Teaching wasn’t new to her, even though she didn’t yet have a teaching degree.

“When I was in college the first time around, I taught English as a second language to Thai and Laotian refugees,” Roanna said. “After that, I taught Bible studies to middle school kids at a local church. I’ve always been teaching in some form or fashion.”

After graduating from Minot State University with a degree in special education and working in a public school for a year, Roanna accepted a special education position at the Ranch.

“I knew I wanted to work at the Ranch because, in some ways, I understand what the kids have been through,” Roanna said. “I felt emotionally neglected growing up. My mother was more concerned with her career than with me. She provided food and clothing, but that was it. She didn’t provide any emotional support, and if I asked a serious question, she told me to knock it off.”

Roanna uses these experiences to connect with the kids.

“They are going through way more than what I had to experience, but I try to discern what they are feeling, not judge, and help them through the process,” she said. “I pray for God to give me the wisdom to meet the kids’ needs, to be supportive, and to not just look at their behaviors. How can I help them feel cared for? How can I help them feel interested in their lives?”

Roanna has noticed that kids who come from a neglected background often lack vocabulary skills. They weren’t talked to or read to and they don’t have the reading skills they need to be successful in school.

“The lack of reading skills spills over into being able to access content in social studies, science, and literature,” Roanna said. “It’s hard to make up time learning vocabulary for that when they are 15 years old. How can you gain another hundred thousand words in a school year?”

Roanna works with the teachers and uses strategies that help students access the curriculum.

“They might modify the wording to make it easier to understand or go over vocabulary words in the lesson,” Roanna said. “We see a lot of kids who have been a ‘bother’ to their school. They aren’t a bother here. We see them. When kids are at a large school, they might hide in the bathroom or get into a fight. We are trained to understand how their trauma affects them. We don’t hold it against them if they have a down day. We push them when we need to, but if they are over-stimulated or depressed, we message everyone and tell them not to push it that day.”

In addition to general content, Roanna teaches sewing, cooking, life and relationship skills, general hygiene, and anything else that might pertain to daily life.

She recently helped two students graduate using North Dakota’s Option Two program.

With the Option Two program, North Dakota modified graduation requirements to allow students to receive credits for a passing score on the relevant portion of the GED assessment. The program is for students who are credit-deficient and at risk of dropping out of school because they will be unable to complete their graduation requirements with traditional credit recovery options.

“The GED has four portions: science, math, social studies, and English,” Roanna said. “If a student is in their junior or senior year and won’t have enough credits to graduate, but can pass that portion of the GED, they can acquire those missing credits and earn a high school diploma.”

One of Roanna’s students needed social studies credits to graduate. He spent two hours a day for two weeks in her classroom, studying everything to do with World War I, World War II, the Constitution, and the amendments. After about two weeks, he said, “I think I can do this,” so Roanna took him to the Adult Learning Center to take the test.

“It was very suspenseful,” Roanna said. “I checked online, and by the time we got to the Ranch, we knew he had passed, which meant he had automatically graduated. I let him walk ahead to tell people in the office that he’d passed. Everyone was screaming and crying and congratulating him.”

Roanna said, “As Mrs. DeGree says, even if these kids are lying on the ground or refusing to participate and don’t look like they are listening, they are absorbing information. They are capable.”

Roanna and her husband live in Minot, ND, with their 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. She loves anything to do with crafts and shares those skills in the classroom.

---

Michelle Racine | Special Education Teacher, Minot

Michelle Racine, who has worked in special education for more than 30 years, says special ed is for students who don’t learn the typical way. Special education teachers provide interventions and strategies students need to be successful.

“They learn the same material,” she said, “but maybe in a different way. We might break the material into smaller chunks, teach slower, or spend more time explaining the vocabulary words.”

Michelle recently transitioned from teaching high school to elementary students.

“The biggest difference I see,” Michelle said, “is that elementary students don’t have as much control over their behavior. They don’t have as many coping skills and tools, so it’s more of a struggle for them to regulate their emotions to handle the moment-to-moment frustrations.”

Michelle said a lot has changed since she started teaching, including the words people use to talk about special education.

“When I got my degree from Minot State University, it was called a bachelor’s degree in Mental Retardation. Years later, I got my master’s degree, and it was called a master’s degree in severely mentally handicapped.”

Despite the words used to describe them, Michelle said the kids are amazing.

She said, “They have so many needs, but when you get to know them on a one-to-one basis, they can be such sweethearts, in spite of the moments you want to tear your hair out!”

Michelle said the students are all so different and come with their own stories. Some of the kids are dysregulated in the cottage, but don’t have those same issues in school. Others are dysregulated no matter what setting they are in.

“And then we have some kids that come just for our day program,” Michelle said. “Their learning and mental health challenges, often combined with instability in their families, just pulls on your heartstrings.”

Michelle is responsible for IEPs and behavior plans for both residential and day students. She has a resource room where students can come to get help with their classwork or work on their goals.

“I get to witness some of the moment-to-moment successes. For day program students who are often with us longer, we can see how they have grown and succeeded over time,” Michelle said. “As far as residential students, you take it on faith that you have helped them be successful and that they have learned to overcome or cope with the things that make school difficult.”

Michelle said it’s important to set expectations for how students should manage themselves in the classroom, so they aren’t confused or unclear.

“And then you learn to read those little signs that they are becoming dysregulated so you can intervene before it escalates,” she said. “If you can catch it early, you can offer some of the coping skills, whether it be a fidget, music, or a mindful break out of the room.”

In her work, Michelle collaborates with other teachers and occupational therapists to meet each child’s individual needs. She really appreciates the residential treatment specialists who work with residential kids and says they do an excellent job caring for the kids and getting to know them.

“I have great co-workers at the Ranch,” Michelle said. “And we get so much support and backup from our principal and superintendent. If I need to say something or talk about a situation, I’m heard.”

Michelle has a son and daughter in Minot, a son in San Antonio, four grandchildren, and a great-grandchild on the way. She is actively involved in two animal rescue organizations in Minot. She also enjoys sitting in the sun with a good book and spending time at the lake.

---

Bethany Brown | Behavior Intervention Coordinator, Minot

Bethany Brown was a Special Education Teacher at the Ranch for five years before taking on the role of Behavior Intervention Coordinator, a new position created when the Ranch started serving more elementary students with significant needs. Bethany manages the students’ behavior intervention and safety plans.

When Bethany was in fourth grade, she always wanted to assist the teacher and read out loud to the other students. That was when she decided she wanted to be a teacher. After high school, she attended Minot State University and earned a degree in Special Education. Several years later, she completed her master’s degree in Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

“Once I finished that, I finally felt ready to look for an actual special education job,” she said. “I had done a practicum at the Ranch while getting my bachelor’s degree and wanted to return. I started part-time, and after just six weeks, Tina [DeGree] hired me for a Special Education position.”

Bethany defines special education as a way of making sure every student has access to education, is able to participate however they are able, and can get the most out of it.

“A lot of times, mental health or behavioral challenges are barriers to kids getting an education,” she said. “Before we can do anything else, we have to address those issues. Lately, we have seen a lot of students on the autism spectrum where social skills and executive functioning are tough.”

Bethany spends much of her time helping students develop social skills and coping skills. She said it’s often hard to tell if the behavior is because of a child’s mental health or trauma history, or if it’s because reading is really hard and stresses them out.

“Academics, behaviors, and trauma are often really intertwined. It takes time to pick that apart and find out what is really going on,” Bethany said.

She also involves the students’ parents whenever she can. At Dakota Memorial School, families are encouraged to be involved in their child’s education. Many have had bad experiences with their child’s school and didn’t get the help they needed.

“If you can listen and take in information, they feel like somebody has heard them and something is going to happen,” Bethany said. “They know their child better than anyone. It must be hard if they’re not asked, or no one is listening to them.”

Bethany enjoys walking around the school, sitting with kids in class, and talking to teachers about how it’s going and where they need help. In doing functional behavior assessments, Bethany gathers information from everyone involved with the child and then walks through the steps.

“What happens before the behavior? What is the behavior? What happens after the behavior? The behavior plan usually starts with the behavior and what we want to replace it with,” she said. “Then we talk about how we are going to prevent the negative behavior, how we are teaching replacement behaviors, and how we are going to respond to the behavior.”

“Every one of these kids is a unique individual,” Bethany said, “and there is usually something that will work for them. If we are willing to be creative and flexible enough, we will find a way to help them be successful.”

Bethany talked about one elementary student who screams when he needs an energy outlet. She participated in a group debriefing after an incident where they talked about the things he likes to do.

“He likes to rearrange the furniture and build things. He keeps a running journal with how fast he is,” Bethany said. “These are all little things that can help him get out energy. Someone said, ‘Well, that’s a weird list.’ But some of those ideas are probably going to work.”

Bethany carries around a packet of cue cards kids can use to identify coping skills that might work in the moment.

“If I’m walking through the school and see a kid struggling, I can stop and say, ‘We need a coping skill. Can you find something here that will work?’ They might choose one that is taking deep breaths or a card indicating they need a break,” Bethany said. “I gave one little guy a card he can hold up asking people to be quiet. He might not be able to speak up to say he needs a break, so instead of having a meltdown, he holds up the card to let the adults in the room know he needs a break.”

She loves being creative and trying different strategies for different kids.

“As educators, we are learning that we don’t always have to do things the same way,” she said. “We are also learning the value of including kids in the decision-making. Even younger kids are much more invested when treated that way. When I do a behavior assessment, I ask the kid what is going on. You get valuable information from kids when you talk to them about what is happening.”

Bethany and her husband live in Minot, ND, with their dogs. She likes to read, bake, do crafty things, spend time outside, and garden.

With special education integrated into the Ranch’s trauma-informed care practices, Superintendent Tina DeGree says the Ranch combines the best of educational quality and standards with knowledge about brain development and trauma so more kids like Austin can be successful in school.