You Gotta Have...

"Dance in the body you have!"

—Agnes De Mille, Dancer, Author

by Sheree Crute

This Valentine's Day we're celebrating the love and dedication of teachers who've overcome serious illnesses or physical disabilities to teach—and inspire—children of all ages. Their acts of bravery are not the ticker-tape parade moments that make the evening news, but the everyday achievements of regular folks who've managed to turn life-transforming health challenges into opportunities to live passionately and succeed brilliantly.

These heroes have had to conquer discrimination and debilitating physical problems. What keeps them in the game? "Lots of motivation and inner resources, combined with great social skills," says Michael Dunn, a psychologist for the spinal cord injury service at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California. Kevin Stein, director of quality of life research for the American Cancer Society concurs, "It's part of human nature to resist tough problems and find ways to live a fulfilling life."

That's a lesson these NEA members teach, by example, each day.

Christy Craig

Photo: Sandy Schaeffer

"My students call me an undercover agent," says middle school English and language arts teacher Christy Craig. Craig—who is blind—drives her seventh and eighth graders crazy with her uncanny ability to detect their rowdy antics.

At age 2, Craig, now 50, lost her sight to retinal cancer, but she never considered letting blindness stand in the way of her dream of becoming a teacher. "My dad would send me off to school with my [sighted] sister and not tell anyone I was blind," says Craig. "By the time they figured it out, I was in class. They'd call him and complain and he'd say, 'is she failing or causing trouble? No? Then don't call me back unless she does,'" Craig recalls.

Armed with a 40-pound portable typewriter (dad taught her to type), student volunteers who read to her in each class (no Braille texts were available then in public schools), and a powerful memory, Craig graduated high school, earned a B.A. in English—along with teaching degrees in French, English, Spanish, and German—and an M.A. in education administration.

Craig's degrees, however, were no deterrent to discrimination. "My own university, Texas State, gave me a teaching certificate but would not give me a teaching assistant's position," she says. "They told me, 'blind people can't teach.'"

Today Craig teaches at Graham Park Elementary School in Virginia. "I have a teaching assistant, but the discipline, teaching, grading, and rules are mine," says Craig, who uses voice recognition computer software, her amazing memory, and help from her husband who sometimes reads entire texts to her (schools don't provide Braille texts for teachers) to get work done.

At the end of the day, Craig leaves her students with more than a love of language. "I hope I show them that life isn't always fair but you really can succeed, no matter what."

Donna Dillow

Photo: David Humber

Most folks would do anything to stay out of a wheelchair, but for Donna Dillow, those wheels are wings. "I'm fiercely independent," says Dillow, an education assistant at Pigeon Forge Primary School in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dillow, now 62, was just 18 months old when her spinal cord was injured, causing her legs to become weaker and weaker.

For nine years, Dillow used the crutches she'd used for mobility all her life to travel to three or four classrooms a day, tutoring third and fourth graders with learning disabilities. "But I finally swallowed my pride and got into this wheelchair so I could do my job better," Dillow admits.

A childhood marked by a school system that prevented disabled children from attending classes gave Dillow a special appreciation for education. "My parents had to fight to get me into Florida public schools by the fourth grade," says Dillow, who was home schooled before that. "I loved class, but school was also an escape from an unhappy life at home after I lost my mother on Christmas day the year I turned 13."

Dillow's positive school experiences helped guide her choice of careers as an adult. "I love encouraging young people and teaching them not to say, 'I can't,'" says Dillow, who also does volunteer work, is studying algebra and geometry for an upcoming teacher assistant's test, and now spends her free time learning to bowl from her wheelchair.

"Sometimes I get frustrated, but I prefer working through disadvantages," admits Dillow. "My greater concern is the kids. Making sure I'm getting through to a child is what really matters."

Willie A. Terrell Jr.

Photo: Jan Underwood

"Once a teacher, always a teacher," says Willie A. Terrell Jr., though the lessons he offers others today reach far beyond the classroom. Terrell, currently president of the Dayton Ohio Education Association (DEA) was in his 40s when he learned he had colon cancer.

While gearing up for a new school year at Kiser Middle School in Dayton, Ohio, Terrell got a surprise call after what he thought was a routine physical.

"As it happened, I didn't make the first day of class that year," he recalls. "Tests showed that I had early stage colon cancer and required surgery and chemotherapy right away." Already a vice president of DEA and carrying a full teaching load, Terrell was determined to get back to work as soon as possible.

It was a struggle but Terrell had plenty of support. "My students were so compassionate," Terrell recalls. "I was very tired and couldn't stand or get around the classroom easily, so they pitched right in." The students ran class-related errands for him, passed out their own papers, and shared stories about family members and friends who'd had cancer.

"I saw my illness as a chance to teach my students how to help and talk to someone who was ill," Terrell says. These days Terrell is spreading the word about the importance of early detection to friends and educators.

"Cancer was tough," he admits, "but just believing in a higher power strengthened and reassured me. By the grace of God, I made it through."