Athens Special Needs Teacher Recognized

Tracy Serviss traveled all the way from the East Coast to Michigan for college. She was going to be a zoologist. After several semesters, she realized her passion was for people.

As a teen, Serviss had worked as a counselor at a camp for children with disabilities, and her family and friends could tell the work was fulfilling. So when Serviss changed her college major to special education, friends and family cheered. “Thank goodness you figured out what we all already knew,” she recalls them telling her. That was 25 years ago.

Serviss has spent her entire career in the Wake County Public School System, teaching students with moderate intellectual disabilities at Athens Drive High School for the past 14 years.

This year, WCPSS nominated her for a statewide 2013 Exceptional Teacher of Excellence Recognition from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Serviss will attend a conference for special educators in Greensboro in November, where recipients will be honored.

“Ms. Serviss has mastered the elusive art of being firm but fair, having rules yet maintaining relationships, and keenly remembering that, though she teaches numerous content/ subject areas, she is really teaching children, whom she freely offers love, acceptance, and grace,” wrote Karen Hamilton, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Services, in her nomination letter.

Principal William Crockett considers Serviss, who won Teacher of the Year for her school in 2003, an example for her peers.

“She is truly gifted and works as an advocate for her students,” Crockett says. “Her students learn skills to help them be independent and successful adults. Parents appreciate her because of the growth they see in their children from her teaching.” Continue reading. >>

Paulette Carrieri