Aug. 12, 2022 

Wearing a green ISBVI shirt, Cathy Clady stands in front of a bulletin board in her classroom, surrounded by three elementary-age students sitting in comfortable chairs. The bulletin board in Clady’s classroom displays the words “Rockets Read” in sparkling gold letters over a space-themed background and is surrounded by various pictures of books

ISBVI teacher Cathy Clady truly loves teaching literacy.

“Literacy is my passion, and in some small way it’s maybe even the start of a superpower,” she says with a laugh.

After teaching at IPS School 34 for a total of 34 years, Clady decided it was time for a change, joining the staff of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 2021 as a third and fourth grade teacher.

“I knew another teacher that had come to ISBVI a year before who talked about it being a place where teachers who love teaching can really teach again,” Clady says.

In her first year at ISBVI, Clady quickly realized she was where she belonged.

“Within the first week of coming here, there were things I noticed that I hadn’t had in a really long time,” she says. “I noticed that I wasn’t holding everything in my shoulders. Multiple times a day, I caught myself just giggling with my students. I would stop, close my eyes a moment and think back to when I started teaching. I had the same awe, wonder and gratitude as I did back then.”

Now heading into the 2022 school year, Clady will work as an elementary school literacy teacher, making the most of her “superpower” to equip ISBVI students with the literacy skills they need to succeed.

“I always try to teach children of their power,” Clady says. “You have incredible power, and that power comes from your brain and your use of our language. That is power. That’s why literacy is so important to me at all levels.”

Stay tuned for more ISBVI teacher profiles throughout the 2022-23 school year.

 

 

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