Mary Fran Melton, Teacher Recognition Award2007 Teacher Recognition Award
The Central Kentucky Special Education Cooperative (CKSEC) has selected Mary Fran Melton as recipient of the 2007 Teacher Recognition Award from the Kentucky School for the Deaf. Mrs. Melton was nominated by Debbie Martin, Jackie Day and Tom Kearns for this award. This should come as no surprise to all of us the have known and worked with Mary Fran and I cannot think of a more deserving person. I have included the nomination that was submitted for her. Congratulations and thanks for all you do Mary Fran.
It is a pleasure to nominate Mary Fran Melton from the Kentucky School for the Deaf for the Central Kentucky Special Education Cooperative's Teacher Recognition Program. Ms. Melton has been working in Special Education for 13 years. She began her career with a BA in Speech and Language Pathology from the University of Kentucky and then earned a MA in Deaf Education from the University of Tennessee. She has often served as an interpreter for the deaf for a variety of situations and has now become a Temporary Licensed Interpreter. Ms. Melton works in the Primary School of Kentucky School for the Deaf as a kindergarten teacher. She has often mentioned that this level is very rewarding to her because of the language needs of the youngest children who begin at KSD. Her classroom is filled with a variety of exciting hands on materials, readiness activities and language-enriched media. It is common knowledge among the staff that if they come back to school in the evenings to work, Ms. Melton will be there, as she is a tireless worker and spends much of her free time preparing units and materials to develop the deaf children's background knowledge, which often is limited due to the nature of hearing loss itself.
During the past two years, the kindergarten class has seen an increase in the number of students with deafness and autism as well as deafness and limited vision. Ms. Melton has made a strong effort to learn all she can about these additional disabilities and to find ways to meet the challenges of those disabilities within the classroom. While others might complain about the struggle to meet such various needs, Ms. Melton is always looking for solutions to these needs and exhibits a wonderful positive spirit that is contagious among those who work with her.
Ms. Melton is viewed by the staff at Kentucky School for the Deaf as a true team player and she is highly respected for her work and commitment to the young children who enroll at KSD. Her dedication to all children, regardless of disabilities and unique needs is an inspiration to us all.