Teacher Hannah Ehrli’s commitment to Exceptional Student Education (ESE) started at home when she learned her newborn son required ESE services. As a result of her experience with her son, she realized her goal was to teach exceptional children in the public school system. Ehrli went to college, became a teacher of ESE, and as she says, “I became a part of the puzzle turning what could have been devastating into a door of entry to wonderful experiences.”
Today Hannah Ehrli from Dr. Phillips Elementary School received the 2010 Florida Council of Exceptional Children Marjorie Crick Teacher of the Year, awarded at the October 2010 state conference. Marjorie Crick was a pioneer in special/exceptional education in Florida. Crick was one of seven individuals who decided in 1946 that Florida needed a Council of Exceptional Children to define best teaching techniques.
Ehrli, a National Board Certified teacher, has taught exceptional students for the past 10 years always at Dr. Phillips Elementary School. A colleague says in Ehrli’s nomination packet, “Passion is a word that comes to mind when I think of Hannah, everyone around her wants to become a learner, leader, and collaborator to achieve the same high standards.”
Hannah was an Autism Spectrum Disorder Scholar at the University of Central Florida and collaborated with special educators in Serbia. She presented her collaborative initiatives at the Nashville CEC Expo, subsequently going to Serbia to present lectures on inclusive practices. She has been invited to return to Serbia to develop their first inclusive summer camp program.
Inclusive in education means students with special needs are included in activities or education with students who do not have special needs.
As a winner of the Marjorie Crick Award, Ehrli was required to demonstrate exemplary instruction as well as innovation, imagination, and creativity. Ehrli is the Kindergarten through fifth-grade Varying Exceptionalities Resource Teacher at Dr. Phillips.
