Throughout a person’s life, there are moments that can define them and help guide them on the path that they take. Yvonne Schow is a teacher at Stillwater High School and she says that a moment when she was a high school student made her realize she enjoyed helping others.
“When I was a sophomore in high school, I saw a student with Down Syndrome, sadly, looking at the books that he had dropped on the floor,” she recalled. “I went over and helped him pick up his books, and when I handed them to him, a huge smile came across his face. As I walked him back to class, the gratitude that he showed through his awesome smile, touched me to the very core. Because of that one incident, it impacted me enough to want to go to college and get a Teaching Certification in Special Education.”
Yvonne teaches Special Education for grades tenth through twelfth at Stillwater High School. Her teaching responsibilities include History, Math, Science, Communication, Art, Life Skills, and Financial Literacy.
One thing that sets Schow apart from the other teachers is she is deaf. While some would see this as something that is impossible to work with, she looks for the positive.
“Being deaf comes with its own difficulties,” she said. “But it’s the ‘challenging strive’ to overcome those hurdles that really keeps me going.”
There were a number of teachers that Yvonne learned from throughout her educational journey. But she has one in particular that made the biggest impact on her life.
“In junior high school, I had a history teacher named Mrs. O’Mallory,” Schow said. “She taught the class using a lot of visuals, interesting stories, and just really kept you interested in what she was teaching. I couldn’t get enough of that class.”
Yvonne enjoys all aspects of being a teacher, but she says that she appreciates the bond she has with her students.
“They teach me just as much as I teach them,” she said. “I have a great relationship with all of my students and through using Sign Language and talking through an interpreter, the students get what I would call a 3-dimensional way of learning. This way of teaching is very beneficial to all kids, whether they are hearing, deaf, Special Needs, or General Education.”
