You may not have heard of her, but she has been teaching in the building for longer than we’ve been alive.
Joy Brinckman teaches Special Education in the small room on the English Hall.
Unless you have been a student in her classroom, you might not have any background on Brinckman. However, she’s one of the longest working teachers here.
“Every year, we have been asked how long Ms. Brinckman has been working,” said Special Education teacher Barbara Martin.
Brinckman started teaching here right out of college and her passion still remains for the job.
“I really got interested in special education during my senior year of college,” said Brinckman. “I took a course taught by a professor that also taught special education. He is one of my big inspirations for me even today.”
Special education has progressed throughout the years with advancements in technology, so she has adapted different teaching styles to accommodate her students. “I started tutoring children in the second grade,” said Brinkman. “I thought that there ought to be a way to better assist students as there is an obvious need to help students with individual needs.”
Brinckman’s coworkers commend her on her strong work ethic and her dedication to each individual student.
“Her students make great progress with her personal attention,” said English teacher Lianne Mason.
Brinckman has not solely focused on teaching English to her students. In her previous years, she has teamed up in other subjects
including math, active physics, and history.
Day in and day out Brinckman puts the effort in for her students to succeed. Her coworkers could
not praise Brinckman enough as a teacher. Martin recalled last year that a parent actually called in and described their excitement in receiving her as a teacher.
“Everything that Ms. Brinckman had done for the previous student had prepared him well for college and the parent was ecstatic to see the other sibling to receive the same teacher,” said Martin.
Team teachers could not be more proud of her effect on the students.
“She’s a very dedicated teacher and she has a dynamic relationship with all of her students,” said Mason.
Brinkman believes that her students should have as fair a shot as anyone else at success; however, she believes that there are certain labels placed on students that learn in different ways.
“I don’t go for any kind of standard or stereotypes about people,” said Brinkman. “I just don’t want there to be a label on special education, because there’s so much more to it than what it there seems to be.”