UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE STUDENT DEDICATED TO SPECIAL EDUCATION 

When Miriam Perez talks about her life as a substitute teacher at Duarte High school, there’s a subtle change in her tone.

Still soft spoken and friendly, the tone is that of inspiration grounded in doing what she can for students with special needs.

The University of La Verne student is working toward a credential for mild to moderate special education and a master’s in education.

In the classroom, the 27-year-old is using a self-developed teaching plan to help teach high school students, with special concern for developing understanding in the arts and sciences.

A recent recipient of the Elly Graham Scholarship – a fitting reward considering Graham’s own contributions to special education – Perez is working on starting a nonprofit organization that will help fund field trips for students in special education programs at public schools.

“I want to teach, and that’s what my goal is and that’s what I’m working for,” said Perez. “But if the nonprofit starts to take off, I’m going to do that as well. I don’t see why I can’t do them both.”

The path to educator

Perez was born in El Salvador, moved to Los Angeles at age 4, and graduated from Belmont High School.

Fresh out of high school, Perez took on the role of a teacher’s assistant at Shirley Avenue Elementary School in Reseda.

Still working at Shirley, Perez enrolled at Cal State Northridge, working her teacher’s assistant job early in the day while working toward a liberal studies degree in the afternoon.

Though special education wasn’t her primary focus at the time, a few chance experiences would eventually change that.

In previous years, Perez had spent her summers babysitting a child named David who lived with autism. Being around David and learning about his condition was something that moved her, and shaped her thinking about special needs in the classroom.

Perez’s interest in special education continued to grow at Shirley, where she worked one-on-one with special needs students in class.

Perez met her future husband in her last year of college. By 21, she was married, graduated and soon expecting a baby. After taking two years off to stay at home, she returned to the classroom as a substitute teacher at Duarte High School.

What she wants to do Perez had the opportunity early on to work with a special education class, and that’s when things clicked.

“They gave me an assignment to work with this class at Duarte High School,” said Perez. “It’s one thing working with a student, one-on-one. It’s another thing to be in a classroom with 13 students. After that experience, I told myself this is what I want to do.”

At the end of the first day of class, she headed home with a deep sense of gratification. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. She was happy.

As things began to steady, Perez enrolled at the University of La Verne while continuing to teach the special education class.

Today, Perez applies her own learning plan toward the class she teaches at Duarte.

“It’s good to read a book, it’s good to learn from a book, but we also need to apply what we are learning and what we are reading and do something with it,” said Perez. 

Extending this idea, Perez recently introduced her students to “Sahara Special,” a story about a fifth-grader who does not let her special education needs define the person she is.

She had students write about the story and mention if they saw any parallels between themselves and the protagonist.

Perez also thinks it’s important to provide learning opportunities outside of the classroom, so she helped raise money to fund a field trip for several of her students to see Dr. Temple Grandin, a bestselling author with autism, speak at a conference in Glendale.

And it was that successful experience that sparked the idea for a nonprofit organization.

Doing it for the smiles Perez isn’t slowing down anytime soon. She has already set aside the money from her scholarship to be put toward her organization, Special Education Field Trip Foundation.

She also has a mission plan established: support students in public schools with mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe disabilities expand their knowledge in different subject matters.

A major priority for the organization is that the educational field trips will help engage students with learning while providing fun opportunities.

By December, she will be intern applicable for a teaching position – marking the tail end of her blended credential/master’s program at University of La Verne.

When asked what keeps her going, Perez’s tone changes again.

This time, it’s a bit softer.

“For the smiles,” said Perez. “That gives me more motivation to continue on.”

For more information about Perez’s nonprofit organization, contact Perez at specialeducation fieldtripfound@gmail.com.