Background Information on
Mrs. Batie
Born and raised in Benson, MN
Graduated from Benson High School in 1995
Attended Northern State University from Fall 1995-Spring 1999
Married Dale Batie in May 1998
Graduated from Northern State University in May of 1999 with majors in Elementary Education and Special Education and a minor in reading.
1999-2000 school year taught in Sisseton, SD as a 5th-6th grade learning disabilities teacher at the Sisseton Middle School.
2000-2003 I was the K-12 special education teacher in Bowdle Public School in Bowdle, SD. While working in Bowdle I was employed by the Oahe Special Education Cooperative located in Java, SD.
April 20, 2002-The birth of our first child. Benjamin Benson Batie joined our family at 2:15 in the afternoon at Avera St. Lukes in Aberdeen, SD. Benjamin was 7Ibs. 3oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. Benjamin was born 2 1/2 weeks early.
2003-2004-I taught fifth grade at Edmunds Central Elementary School in Hosmer, SD. I really enjoyed my time at EC but my position was cut due to staff reductions. I will miss all of the great students at EC!
In May 2005 I was hired to teach kindergarten at the Eureka Elementary School. I taught kindergarten for the 2005-2006 school year. During the summer of 2006 I was offered the sixth grade position at Eureka. I have enjoyed the move to sixth grade. There are positive aspects to each grade level and each new experience that I have I become more aware of the individuality of each grade.
On October 27, 2005 a new addition joined our family. Anna Elizabeth Batie was born at 7:27 a.m. at Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen. Anna weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She has been a great addition to our family and Benjamin is the best big brother.
|
|
On October 11, 2007 another new addition joined our family. Arriving over three weeks early (and a week earlier than her scheduled C-section) we welcomed Ella Grace Batie into our family. She was born at 2:37 p.m. at Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen. Ella weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is a joy and is enjoyed greatly by her big brother and sister (although her sister feels jealous at times).
On July 10, 2009 the final member of the Batie household arrived. Becca Claire was 7 pounds 10 ounces and was born at Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen. Her big brother Ben wanted a hamster instead of a sister and threatened to move to Grandma's house if we brought home another girl. He now adores her the most!
My Personal Story for Becoming a Special Education Teacher-
Mrs. Batie's Story
Many times people ask me, “Why would you want to teach special education?” There is a simple answer to this question. The reason: my brother Thomas. Tom was born on June 13, 1978 and our family was changed forever. Our lives had been touched in a special way that most would consider a nuisance. On the day Tom was born the doctor talked to my parents and explained that Tom wasn’t normal. They were told that Tom was born with Down Syndrome and that he should immediately be placed in an institution for people “like him”. At that point my mother lost her cool, calm self and simply explained to the doctor that she had not waited nine months for this baby so that she could give him to someone else. Tom was not able to come home right away. He was in the hospital for the first few weeks of his life because he was not able to eat on his own (eating continued to be a struggle for the first years of his life). When it was time to come home I was forced to go stay with Grandma and Grandpa because I had the Chicken Pox. I had still not gotten to hold that new brother that I was so excited to see. I was only fifteen months old at the time. I didn’t know that there was anything different about Tom.
I never realized that there was anything different about Tom until I started school. Then I began to meet new kids. When these new friends saw me on the street they would stop, point, and stare at Tom. They were afraid to come and say "Hi" to me. I didn’t understand why they only liked me at school. I asked my mom and she told me it was because they didn’t understand how special Tom was. I asked why he was special and she never answered. Around the end of my first year of school my youngest brother was born. I asked my mother why he looked so different from Tom. My mom realized that I was starting to realize that Tom did look different from other people even though I thought it was other children who looked different from him. I remember that my mom sat down with me and explained Down Syndrome. This was only the first of many discussions about Down Syndrome that my mother and I have had. At this time I didn’t understand everything but I now had an answer to why Tom was so special.
During my entire educational experiences I was an advocate for Tom (even before I knew what an advocate was). I was always sticking up for Tom and having my friends let him play with us. I took part in activities with Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC). I did the things that came natural. I even lost friends over the fact that Tom was my brother. The hardest of these losses was of my best friend in 7th grade. It really hurt me that someone would not want to be my friend because my brother acted different and looked different from her idea of normal. To me, Tom was normal, my family was normal, I didn’t know anything else. At this point I learned what true friends were. I realized that if someone doesn’t want to be your friend because your brother is different then they are not the type of friend that you want to have. I also realized the wonderful educational opportunities my brother had experienced in Willmar, MN. I realized that if Tom would have been born 10-15 years earlier, he probably wouldn't have gone to school. I realized that I wanted to be able to help other children like Tom. I was going to be a special education teacher.
My choice to go into special education is the reason that I am in South Dakota. The two schools offering a special education major in Minnesota are very large and my parents didn’t feel comfortable with me going to one of them. They really liked Northern State University in Aberdeen. I learned to love Northern despite the fact that it really wasn’t the school that I wanted to go to.
Today my brother Tom lives in a group home in Willmar, MN. We still face problems for him even in the group home setting. Our family has talked many times wondering what our lives and family would have been like without Tom. I guess Tom brought more to our family than anyone who has never experience this situation can understand. Tom is the joy in our lives. Tom is the happiness that has carried us through. Tom is the glue that held our family together through all of the bumps we faced in the road of life. Tom- we all love you very much.
