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People
You Should Know – Mary
Ann Siller
Name:
Mary Ann Siller I have been
fortunate to hold many different roles in my professional career.
First and foremost I am a teacher, but administrator, diagnostician and
education activist for children are part of the mix too.
In January 2003, I was named director of AFB’s National Education
Program. In this role I am
responsible for developing grass-roots advocacy efforts throughout the United
States; building state and national legislative and policy-making coalitions;
designing national training programs and materials; developing curricula for
professional audiences; developing initiatives to address critical trends and
issues; developing public education efforts; targeting AFB’s focus for the
National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths, Including Those with
Multiple Disabilities; and responding to national inquiries from families, the
general public and professionals. Why did
you choose the career that you did?
Many of my
family members are educators who have specialized in art, music or K-12
curricula. Growing up I had the
privilege of having a behind-the-scenes look at education either from the
classroom or from the PTA president’s role held by my father.
And I saw first-hand the power of the teaching profession to change the
lives of children and their families while providing a stable partnership for
communities to thrive. While
beginning my undergraduate work at the What 2 or
3 accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction?
There have
been many wonderful opportunities that have come my way to be part of this great
profession of educating children with visual impairments.
I have always felt we don’t only teach the child, but are part of a
broader learning environment that includes the family, school and public
community. I have to say a true
honor has been in the opportunity to work with hundreds of outstanding
professionals throughout the A few of
the highlights include: Ø
Spearheading
the design of a national model for addressing a critical national issue with an
innovative solution-building framework. The
AFB Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum has a
national collaborative network of 44 organizations.
Ø
Being asked by the U.S. State
Department of State to develop and teach a college-level program about best
practices for teaching children who have low vision to teachers of blind
students in Ø
Being part
of the national committee with stellar leaders that initiated the movement and
national structure for the National Agenda for the Education of Children and
Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Multiple Disabilities was
exciting and meaningful. This
continues to be an important program for our field and AFB. Ø
Designing an
innovative campaign concept and writing a grant that built a new public
education campaign and corporate partnership for AFB through Verizon Reads.
The National Campaign for Literacy, Textbooks, Transcribers and
Technology gave the necessary funding segment for AFB to attain a million dollar
matching grant for AFB’s Ø
Acting as catalyst through my work
at AFB, I helped build a statewide public advocacy coalition called the Ø
Helping to
build the series of college courses and overall program for the new career of
braille textbook transcribing. I dream of
the day in 2004 that I can read in IDEA law that our national work to include
key principles of the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA) into IDEA
was a success. Then children in all
50 states will have true equal opportunities for learning alongside their
sighted peers. What is
the most important lesson you have learned from your work? There are a
number of lessons I have used and reused and many have come from my “ What do
you think it takes to be successful in our field? We have the
best profession. As I work with
national school systems and state organizations and agencies, I am continually
impressed with our professionals who work with children (0-21) with visual
impairments. But, I would say we
must have a true sense of enjoyment for learning; an understanding of the
importance of ongoing professional development and an unwavering commitment to
rolling up your sleeves and saying “I will do it; you can count on me.”
We must rely on a true balance among fun in life, family and profession.
We must be resourceful and have high expectations for ourselves, our
colleagues and our students. We must
step up to the plate and find opportunities to mentor others and share our
ideas. We need to understand the
important impact that policy has on the educational system and embrace advocacy
efforts. The children and their families we love and serve deserve the
best---our best, because teachers do make a difference.
How would a friend, colleague
or professor describe you?
I would hope
they would include these comments: A
person with an abundant reserve of energy. She
knows how to be a true friend; a person who you can depend on to be there to
support you in the good and bad times. She
has multi-tasking perfected to an art form.
A person who doesn’t drop the ball; understands the term “it is
fourth quarter and we have to move.” She
is a woman with integrity, a devoted educator of children and passionate about
her profession. What are
you interests outside of work? I love to
laugh, so I enjoy intriguing and somewhat controversial conversations with
friends and family. I enjoy all
types of music; I attend music events often.
I always gravitate to museums; any museum will be fine for me. I like to
shop for antique holiday items. My
wonderful husband (David) and I enjoy cooking for our friends and family.
I enjoy riding horses and yes—going on cattle drives. I enjoy anything
that brings me outside and close to nature; I especially like to hike in the
mountains. I wish I could say gardening, but I can’t. I must say I grow a mean
group of weeds. I have many volunteer interests and sit on several community
boards for children’s art programs and children impacted by poverty or
HIV/AIDS. What is your favorite book?
What are you reading now?
I read a lot
of professional journals and business magazines. I have always loved history; I
am reading John Adams by David McCullough. It
is difficult to select just one favorite book, so I will go back to my
childhood. As a child, I remember
wonderful evenings reading stories with my mother and father (Mary Alice and
Roland); I will always be inspired by the simplicity and beauty of the Laura
Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series. If you
could do so, how would you plan your career differently? I have
enjoyed my years of teaching, working as an administrator at the Texas Education
Agency and working on a national basis for AFB. However, taking time prior to
beginning my career track or in the middle of my professional work to expand
educational services abroad would have been exciting to me. I would only add
that I would like to serve in an elected role as a school board member in the
future. What
words of wisdom would you like to share with the members of DVI? People must
understand who they are and what makes them tick; it is a lifelong journey.
We need to look to the many innovative works of our colleagues and apply
these to our own work on a regular basis and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Each of us possess an innovative mix of skills; mentor young leaders for they
are our future. We need to take time to be involved in professional growth
opportunities and become members of professional organizations. I would also
remind my colleagues to open new doors for families to be part of all
decision-making issues and the life of the school system. Begin now to build an
abundant store of new partnerships. And of course, make time each day to hug
someone. I couldn’t
leave this story without saying that we have a unique and life-changing
opportunity in 2004 to make a significant difference in the lives of children
who are blind, low vision or print disabled. Knowing there are still basic
issues proposed in the legislative language for IDEA that are alarming to us,
yet there are two provisions for access to textbooks and instructional materials
that have made it in the Senate’s version (S.1248) which must be included in
the final IDEA reauthorization process. For children in all 50 states to have
equal access to the general education curriculum, WE all must take the time to
advocate to our What
challenges do you see before us? As the
population changes in our profession, we must realize how critically important
having a national campaign to recruit people to our education-related fields is
for all of us and take the initiative seriously. And with the limited number of
teachers, the caseload size issues grow at a horrifying rate. A recruitment
solution cannot happen overnight; we have to be committed for years (yes years),
but we must begin with a master plan. I am pleased to see the Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) taking
this to heart with the assistance of partnering organizations. I am truly proud
that AFB made the stand to programmatically and financially support this
national effort. Plus we can’t pretend anymore; we don’t have the large
numbers of leaders entering doctoral programs or enough university training
programs preparing well trained professionals. This is a true crisis issue. We
must network our resources to a higher extent beyond our state borders and build
teacher preparation coalitions. There must be reciprocal agreements among states
for professional certifications. We must embrace research with an open mind and
truly learn to apply it at the classroom level.
The time has
come when we have to make a serious and concerted effort to reach out beyond our
own field. We must realize we have to build new, innovative and long-term
partnerships with other disciplines and corporate partners.
I am
concerned that we still find infants and toddlers with visual impairments
entering the early intervention system late. Early referrals from the medical
community to the education system are still not being carefully and
systematically initiated in all 50 states. Agencies/organizations
in our field must join together to develop a multifaceted public education
campaign for early identification from the medical community and then referral
to the education system. We must build collaborative partnerships with the
allied health fields and especially with children’s medical centers across the
The alarming
rate of people with visual impairments who are under or unemployed continues to
grow. The ownership begins with us. We must improve our action steps to
collaborate with rehabilitation service professionals, businesses and the
government to build a successful workforce of people with visual impairments.
We must
realize that policies drive our programming. We have to have a mindset to get
involved and actively get people in our field (which always includes parents and
adult consumers) to be part of community, state and national policy boards and
committees. We know policy decisions
will either be made for us or by us.
I prefer the latter. Anything else you’d like to
add …
What a
pleasure and honor for me to be asked to comment for this article. I am rewarded
each day by collaborating alongside so many extraordinary people throughout the |