Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1497353
Wendy Matteson SPECIAL ED UCATION TE ACH ER Temecula Valley Educators Association Wendy Matteson says that a lot of the tools she learned as a waitress for 18 years have been useful since she became a spe- cial education teacher in 2019. "When someone orders a salad, you have to list all of the salad dressings: ranch, Italian, thousand island, blue cheese. And then you go to the next person and even though they just heard all the dressings, they want to hear them again. And then the next person and so on," says Matteson. " There's a lot of repeating things in both jobs!" Matteson had plans to earn her degree multiple times, finishing two years of col- lege before she needed to quit school to take care of two kids as a single parent. When both of her kids grew up and moved out, Matteson thought about what she wanted to do. "Waitresses don't have a retirement plan, so I thought 'I'd really love to go back to get my degree,'" she says, returning to school in 2015. "It was an amaz- ing journey and the doors kept opening and the path led me here." As Matteson progressed through college, she realized that she already knew a lot of the material through her own life experiences — she was filling in the knowledge with the book work. Raising multiple children with conditions like ADHD, autism and emo- tional issues helps inform her practice today as she supports students who face a lot of the same issues. "I'm helping students learn to think and to be adults who can effectively be a part of society in the best way they choose," Matteson says. Matteson is an active member of her local, serving as chair of the Special Education Committee. She said she had a lot of preconceptions about the union before becoming a member — some of which have been confirmed but most have been dispelled. "I have been able to use my voice on both sides: at union meetings and to correct people outside the union when their assumptions are wrong," she says. "I'm helping students learn to think and to be adults who can effectively be a part of society." 21 A P R I L / M AY 2 0 2 3