Rita Large - Plymouth Community School Corporation 2017 Retiree

 

Menominee Elementary School Speech and Language Pathologist Rita Large, has worked for the Plymouth Community School Corporation for the past 43.5 years. She was originally hired by the director of the Joint Educational Services in Special Education, aka JESSE.

“I started the first Deaf and Hard of Hearing Class in Plymouth and it was housed at Washington Elementary School (now Washington Discovery Academy); I had students from ten school corporations,” said Large.

She said choosing her career path was actually easy for her! “I have always loved working with children and had a passion to help them. Just seeing the excitement of the students when they are/were successful, either with their ability to sign or speak new words, or communicate more effectively. I have students that communicate a variety of ways. Some use pictures to communicate, some use an iPod/iPad, some of my previous students signed, and the majority of them talk,” said Large.

What she said she will miss the most about the workplace is her students and her passion for their excitement for learning! As for what she’ll miss the least she said, “The enormous amount of paperwork that has gotten progressively worse.”

Her advice for someone who is just getting in the profession, “Don’t expect to know everything when you graduate. A great deal of our profession is trial and error.  If it doesn’t work, figure out some other way to address the problem.  Rely on the people who have been in the field for a longer time. They are valuable resources.