JANESVILLE — Amy Stevens peeked her head into a classroom at Woodlawn Special Needs school in Mandeville, Jamaica, in January as 18-year-old Tiamoye Campbell squealed at seeing her longtime friend.
Wanting her children to be closer to family, Stevens moved to Janesville from Texas to work at UW-Whitewater in 2005. She was a professor in special education, but has been the department chair for six years this August.
Amy Stevens
Stevens was excited to learn about UWW values, which spurred her to apply.
“Not only [is the university] known for education, but part of their mission is understanding diversity and being a global citizen,†Stevens said. “And those really struck a chord with me.â€
With more responsibilities now, Stevens doesn’t teach as much as she used too. She still teaches introduction to learning disabilities, introduction to dyslexia, and foundations of dyslexia and language based learning disabilities.She also developed the dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities certificate at the university.
Stevens says she went into special education because she believes everyone deserves to have better opportunities in their lives. Reading elevates people, if you can’t read your job prospects are limited, she said.
Stevens says she values equity over fairness.
“Fairness means equal resources and equity is more about making sure people have their individual needs met,†she said.
She admires how UWW focuses on meeting the needs of each student.
Global citizenry and understanding other communities and cultures is a big part of Stevens life. She runs the Jamaican student teaching experience at the university. She brings student teachers to Jamaica every January to gain experience teaching in a developing nation.
“This experience shapes these future teachers to be better equipped to equitably teach children who are culturally different from themselves when they are licensed teachers,†Stevens said. “The experience teaches them to problem solve and creatively plan instruction with limited resources.â€
She also provides a special education conference and workshop annually for Jamaican educators.
Twelve years ago, Stevens met a young girl with special needs, Tiamoye Campbell, who was age 6 at the time. Stevens helped the family with paperwork to get her into a school that would be a better fit for her.
Every year, Stevens comes to the special needs school in January to bring Campbell a cake for her birthday. This year was German chocolate.
In her school uniform of a knee length lavender gingham checkered dress, Campbell was using a rag to wipe down a class table when her eyes lit up as she saw Stevens at the door.
Wrapping their arms around each other, the two cherished the opportunity to meet again.
“Inclusion is also important when we talk about how we include people from different cultures into our own. By being exposed to other cultures for a long period of time, we’re able to monitor our own biases and try to improve ourselves overtime,†Stevens said.