Employee Testimonials - Paraeducator

For Kim Miller, her roots as a paraeducator at Heartspring provided a solid base for her to grow a career. She began as a weekend para working four years in the group homes where all residential students live while enrolled at the Heartspring School.

Although she was nearing completion of coursework for a degree in anthropology, she made the decision to pursue speech-language pathology (SLP). After completing her Bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in anthropology, she began working on her Master’s in speech-language pathology. She is scheduled to graduate in May 2008. A year into her studies an assistant position was posted for the Heartspring Speech department. “Heartspring has guided me to my current career path. I didn’t know that Speech-Language Pathology existed before this,” said Kim. “I was inspired to see the difference that could be made.”

Now in her third year as an SLP Assistant and student, Kim’s time is divided between Heartspring and WSU. Even though she is busy, she is extremely dedicated to the students at Heartspring. She directly provides services to eight students and assists the SLP department in a variety of capacities as well, including creating visual supports, communication books, data graphs and collaborating with the SLP team, staying informed of ever-changing student programs and goals. Needless to say, Kim keeps very busy. “My goal is to support each student to increase their communication skills, one step at a time,” said Kim. “I believe that each child can succeed.”

Kim’s experiences as a para helped her in her current position by really working hands on with all aspects of the students’ programs. Being able to observe other skilled paras was helpful in teaching her the variety of situations she may find herself in with different students. “As a para I learned to really try to relate to the students,” recalls Kim. “I learned to recognize when a student did or didn’t get something I was trying to teach them and how I could creatively help them or explain something differently.”

Kim was awarded a scholarship from Heartspring through the Sigma Alpha Professional Scholarship Fund helping to fund her tuition. “Heartspring has supported by career goals by not only being flexible as my schedule changes, but also through the educational assistance program. I am truly grateful to have found a community that values my educational endeavors in such a great way,” said Kim.

Working as paraeducator presents a wonderful base of knowledge and experience for a variety of career paths including nursing, psychology, occupational and physical therapy, education, social work and many more.

“Being para helps you appreciate the hard work that it takes to be there all day working with special needs kids,” said Kim. “The best part is the moments when you see the ‘light’ click for a student – as if something that never made sense before is now within their reach.”

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