Special congratulations to Erin Sheets in recognition of her recent selection as one of this year's Building Bridges 2019 Outstanding Educator Award winners.

The 2019 Building Bridges Assistive Technology conference was held on April 16, 2019, at Grant Wood Area Education Agency. Over 240 educators were present and enjoyed a full day of learning related to the consideration and integration of Accessible & Assistive Technology in support of diverse student needs. Each year at the conference recognition is given to outstanding educators from across the GWAEA area who have demonstrated exceptional knowledge and use of accessible & assistive technology with students in the classroom.

"I have had the pleasure of working collaboratively in Erin’s preschool classroom the last five years. Over the years, she has shown time and again that she is willing to go above and beyond to ensure her students are successful communicators when they head to kindergarten. Erin has had the opportunity to support students with a variety of communication needs. She has collaborated with the speech-language pathologist in the use of light tech communication systems like core boards, single switch speech generating devices to give students the opportunity to participate, and high tech dynamic systems to ensure continued language development. This last year, Erin has really focused on how to help our students with complex needs connect with their peers. She has attended professional development, visited classrooms already using strategies, and supported students in developing peer relationships. Classmates were coached to model on the students’ communication systems to support language development. Erin is a fantastic collaborative partner and continues to expand her own skills to ensure her students become successful communicators." Jess Krob, GWAEA Speech/Language Pathologist.