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Top of the class

He speaks their language

George Cannella is an ideal teacher for special-education kids, in part because he can empathize with them.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published September 1, 2005

INVERNESS - Teaching in a room where he was once an elementary school student, George Cannella can relate to his students in a way that most exceptional-student-education teachers cannot.

He was an exceptional-education student himself.

Having gone through school with a learning disability, the 24-year-old Pleasant Grove Elementary School teacher has a good idea how his students struggle to do what comes more easily to other children.

"It sometimes feels like an undercurrent is pulling you out," he said. "It's rather unsettling."

He knows how he struggled, and he knows what is possible for students who need an extra nudge to keep up. "It's very frustrating to be in a class when things are just flying by you," he said.

As he moved through the school system, Cannella wasn't particularly preparing to become a teacher. An opportunity in high school guided him in that direction.

Although mainstreamed for most classes, as a sophomore he had a class in exceptional student education learning strategies. His teacher, Stephanie Hopper, had a year to recognize his qualities. As a junior, he showed interest in a credit course as a teacher's assistant, and she requested him.

"He was meticulous about doing any job that I asked him to do," Mrs. Hopper said. "He never got upset or anxious or lost his temper. He was almost perfectly calm and kind." These, she said, are good qualities when working with special students. Cannella worked with her for the remainder of high school.

He graduated from Citrus High School in 1998, went to Central Florida Community College and earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Florida State University.

Then Cannella decided to leave Florida for a while to try big-city life. He moved to Boston and became an AmeriCorps member, teaching English as a second or other language at the Notre Dame Education Center, a nonprofit school for adults.

"It was an incredible experience. I actually had some of the Lost Boys," he said, referring to the Lost Boys of Sudan, orphaned children who walked far distances through Africa from war-torn Sudan before being relocated to other countries.

Cannella stayed in Boston for two years, returning briefly this June to take and pass the exam for a Florida teaching certificate. He returned for good in July and has been a teacher of language arts, math and reading for about four weeks.

"I love it," he said. "They keep me going."

[Last modified September 1, 2005, 00:57:17]