National organization honors Harper-Archer special education teacher for ambition and classroom success

Sheena Varghese is this year’s recipient of The Sue Lehmann Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Teach for America, the organization that recruits and develops individuals to commit to teach in high-need schools, has awarded Harper-Archer special education teacher Sheena Varghese the Sue Lehmann Award for Excellence in Teaching.   The award honors second year Teach for America teachers who represent the organization’s ideals of transformational teaching, and embody their core values.

When Varghese arrived at Harper-Archer, she knew that teaching in a restrictive setting would be challenging; afterall, statistics suggested that these students were more likely to face a life of frequent institutionalization or permanent residency in nursing homes.

 Varghese, however, had a very different vision. As she developed relationships with the students and their families, she learned about their shared aspirations and the students’ true potential.  Varghese began wondering where her students would be in nine months, and more important, where they would be at age twenty-two, when they would transition from student life to adult life.

Varghese lobbied Atlanta Public Schools to secure funding to bring a Community Based Instruction program to Harper-Archer, making her classroom the only one in the district to receive these services. Her students’ disabilities range from moderately intellectually disabled to non-verbal Autism spectrum disorders.

Although she was newcomer to teaching, Varghese realized how critical it was for her students, who were often misunderstood and ridiculed, to find a place within the school community, and to be seen and treated as fully autonomous individuals.   And since Varghese believed they could make significant progress in their functional-life skills and grow to lead independent lives, she committed to working with their families to facilitate long-term advocacy on behalf of their children.

Since arriving at Harper-Archer two years ago, Varghese has led her students to remarkable academic growth.  In her first year in the classroom, 100 percent of her students passed the Georgia Alternative Assessment – an increase of 80 percentage points from the previous year, and she has helped her students grow to a third grade reading equivalency.  Varghese’s colleagues have seen the impact her high expectations have had on her students.

 “Before Ms.Varghese, the class was nonexistent,” noted one Harper-Archer teacher.  “Nobody paid attention to the class. The students would just actually sit all day and maybe they would color or something, but I don’t think they were learning anything.”

Harper-Archer’s peer advocacy program — Varghese’s brainchild — is further evidence of  her vision and commitment to her students.  The program allows general education students to develop relationships with her students, and spend time with them in the classroom and on field trips. 

The Sue Lehmann Award recognizes and celebrates the finest in teaching, and APS is proud to have one of our own receive this honor.