I liked Elyse Fye before I ever met her.
Students talked in the hallways about the new teacher – “She’s so fun…she laughs a lot…she talks
fast…she looks like J Lo.”
Teachers
stopped by my desk to say, “Elyse is
fantastic! ...she’s enthusiastic…she’s creative… she’s passionate about her
work.”
I developed an image of her as a continuously moving,
constantly smiling mass of pure educational energy. When I finally saw her working
with the students, I realized that my impression wasn’t far off.
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| A very active lesson with Miss Fye |
Miss Fye has a special gift for teaching that’s evident from
the moment you step into her classroom. That this gift is from God is
undeniable. It goes beyond a learned skill to the realm of a “calling.”
She never intended to work in the disability field. Her plan
was to become an elementary teacher - but God changed her mind. He reminded her
of the deep love she developed for people with disabilities while serving at
Camp Hope for three summers. Miss Fye understood her purpose in life and
followed God as He perfectly orchestrated the details to bring her to Shepherds
College.
Miss Fye now teaches the Roots of Faith and New Testament
Letters classes. Her Bible-based lessons become
R.E.A.L. for the students – she
wears costumes, decorates the room, introduces lessons with skits, and plans
hands-on activities to help the students relate to the material. She stands up,
moves around and has her students standing up and moving around with her. She
uses things – pictures, objects, ideas– to get her point across and to plant lessons
firmly in the students’ heads.
Games,
songs, sign language and presentation are all a regular part of her lively repertoire.
And she does all this with a passion
that infuses the true joy of learning in the hearts of everyone participating
in her class.
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| Miss Fye making Resurrection Biscuits |
Her philosophy of teaching is
Make Learning Exciting! In order to encourage the desire to learn
in every student, she plans fun and interactive lessons that will engage her
class and introduce them to new things and ideas. Her lessons are never dull
and neither is she.
Mrs. Harvey says that sitting in on one of Miss Fye’s
lessons is like watching a movie wearing 3-D glasses – everything comes alive
and jumps out at you in brilliant color.
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| Amanda learning in color during New Testament Letters |
Just last week, Miss Fye asked maintenance for a measuring
tape so she and the students could measure out the length and width of Noah’s
ark in the Shepherds College hallway. They all measured … and measured … and
measured – and found out that the ark was as long as the farthest north to
south points of the Wood Center! You can
be sure that each student will remember this lesson every time they hear the
story of Noah and the Ark in the future.
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| Miss Fye measuring Noah's ark in the hallway with her 1st year students |
If you’re already thinking, “Wow! Miss Fye sounds like the
perfect teacher for students with intellectual disabilities,” just wait. God
not only blessed Shepherds College with a vibrant instructor that paints her classroom
with broad streaks of energizing, passionate color, He also tempered her palette
with the softer hues of patience and kindness – two very important qualities
when working with our population. The students grow to trust and respect her as
she takes the time to ensure that each one of them completely understands the
material and the life-giving message behind it.
Miss Fye invests so much of herself in her teaching and so
much of her love and energy in the students.
Her payout is huge. She cultivates students who are motivated
to learn for a lifetime … and students who are changed for an eternity.
Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at
www.shepherdscollege.edu.
Maika is a first-year student interested in the Culinary Arts Program.
