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Member of the Family Special Education Teacher Honored

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

LANCASTER - Jeannine Arrigoni said there were so many reasons why she nominated Charles Ikerd, her son's special education teacher, for a special award.

He's an awesome teacher. He's loving and caring. And then, last Christmas, he rallied staff at her son's school to pitch in for presents for Arrigoni's six children after her husband suffered a stroke in November and the family was down on its luck.

Ikerd had called her, sensing something was wrong.

"I don't know how he could tell," Arrigoni recalled. "I burst out and cried, 'I don't know where to go or what to do.' He said, 'Don't worry about anything.'"

Shortly thereafter, she got a got call to come pick up presents at the school, and the family ended up having a great Christmas, Arrigoni said.

"He has become family to us, to our family," Arrigoni said of the 63-year-old instructor. "He's always been there for the family. He comes to birthdays, and we invite him to dinner. The thought of him retiring (in a couple of years) just breaks my heart."

Ikerd, a 41-year education veteran who teaches at the Linda Verde Center, was one of three special education staffers to receive a 2005 Special Educator Award.

The others were Iris Arroyo, a school psychologist in Palmdale School District's Head Start program, and Karen Nelson, a special education teacher at Alpine Elementary School in the Keppel Union School District.

Each of the three honorees has made extraordinary contributions to the field of special education, particularly in working with children with disabilities and their families, officials said.

Ikerd has taught at Lancaster School District's Linda Verde Center, a school for severely handicapped students, for seven years. The center has more than 40 students.

"He's been around in the valley for a long time," said Don Crane, director of Antelope Valley's special education local plan area, which helps coordinate regional services for special education youths in 10 school districts.

"He's got a real love for children. It takes a special kind of individual that shows patience and compassion to work with children with severe needs, and Charles certainly displays that."

Ikerd, who taught in Westside Union School District for more than 28 years before moving to the Linda Verde Center, said he was honored to receive the award, especially because he was nominated by a parent.

"Having it come from one of my parents, it was a great honor," Ikerd said. "I've had her little boy since the first grade. He's in the sixth grade right now. It just shows that what we are doing is more than for the school. It touches the family and home, too."

Ikerd obtained his bachelor's degree in elementary education and masters in supervision and curriculum from Point Loma Nazarene University.

He switched over to teaching special education in 1977 because he thought not enough was being done to assist the students.

"I thought stuff is not being done that needs to be done for these boys and girls," Ikerd said. "I went in and did my credentialing and got my certificates.

"The programs in the 1970s were just beginning as far as some of the stuff that's being done for students now. Some of these kids that we have now would have been institutionalized because there were no programs for them then. They didn't know what to do with them."

Ikerd has nine students in his classroom, students who range in age from 9 to 14 but whose cognitive ability spans from birth to 18 months. He is helped by three health instructional aides.

Some of the students have cerebral palsy, while others are deaf and blind. Some are fed by tubes inserted in their stomachs, and all of them wear diapers. Many can't walk on their own, and most of them have seizure disorders.

"It's not the traditional teaching of a teacher standing up in front of a class and having answers and questions because nobody talks," Ikerd said. "A day's job is never the same, but they are as sweet as can be."

Ikerd said his job is challenging, but he enjoys the work.

"I get a joy out of it because the kids give so much back to you," Ikerd said. "They give far more than you give to them. When they are happy, if you've done something for them or they've done something, they may not be able to tell you, but their faces will - grins and giggles and all sorts of things."

Arrigoni's son, Patrick, has cerebral palsy. He is 10 and in the sixth grade. He's had Ikerd as his teacher every year since first grade except for one.

"Patrick knew that wasn't his teacher; he may have CP, but he is not stupid," Arrigoni said. "(Ikerd) gets so much out of Patrick. He's just come around so much I think because of Charles and because of the love that Charles gives him."

Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

Source: Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.

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