Ashley Morrison is the recipient of the 2023 Duxbury SEPAC Excellence Award and a Shining Light Award. She was nominated by two families.

Family #1

Mrs. Morrison “checked in with parent in the fall to discuss him & see how speech issues affecting him & how [she] could help. {Student states] "she's a very helpful teacher", prints out papers if he missed it, to help him not fall behind, helped him when couldn't post/schedule courses online, she emailed guidance counselor to ask her to help, will go over math item several times until he understands it. "She doesn't make it awkward when I stutter & carries on the conversation like she would with any other student", not drawing more attention to it.

Family #2

“Ms. Morrison is incredibly supportive of her students. She encourages them to ask questions and congratulates them for advocating for themselves. Ms. Morrison makes each student feel supported and “uplifts” her students even when they lack confidence in their own knowledge/performance. Ms. Morrison is very approachable and treats all of her students with dignity. Her support provides even her less intellectually gifted students with the confidence to ask questions and learn. Ms. Morrison’s efforts to establish a relationship with me has made a difficult class enjoyable for this student!!”

“Mrs. DiBona’s list of credentials and degrees in this specialty is impressive. I see her passion and her competence. Beyond academics, I see Mrs. DiBona attuning to her student’s wholistic needs, each unique in their blend of social, emotional, and educational needs. She knows her students are more than a learning disability. They are each their own person.

I’ve seen Mrs. DiBona discover and uncover my daughter’s passions and then artfully weave them into lesson plans. Creating her own comic strips becomes sneakily learning multiplication tables. Her love of animals becomes an inspired poem.

I’ve seen Mrs. DiBona connect students in her classroom to one another. The gift of belonging. And then the learning is happening in all directions not just from teacher to student. 

My daughter feels safe to be herself in Mrs. DiBona’s class, is challenged without being pushed, and feels a burgeoning pride that comes when things start clicking. Thank you, Mrs. DiBona!“

“Ms. Johnson saw our son. Not the pieces in his IEP or general classroom observations. Ms. Johnson saw our son hold back from trusting himself, maximizing his capability, utilizing the tools he had to put the reading puzzle together, and then she did something about it. She built a learning environment that fostered his confidence. She carefully considered his small group placement. She approached him discreetly around peers. Each interaction built trust and confidence. Our son began taking more academic chances, initiating independent work, and exhibiting self-assurance. We saw the change too. We saw the data trends, the progress moving through the methodologies, reading labels and signs around town, and then even reading to us! Ms. Johnson encouraged us, as parents, to ask questions, ask for data, and she took the time to explain it all. Ms. Johnson expertly combined academic, social and emotional strategies to maximize our son’s progress against his goals. Our son did more than achieve this year. He thrived. We are incredibly grateful for the lessons Ms. Johnson taught our whole family.“

“Mrs. Lincoln is by far the best special ed teacher I have met. She went above and beyond during covid when my daughter did not do well on zoom giving her incentives and encouraging her non stop. Boosting her confidence at her hardest times and never giving up on her. She was always accessible to answer questions and help. It was obvious she truly cared about her students. It was more than just a job to her.”

“Amy has served as our family's point person for our son's Special Education services. During the initial eligibility process, Amy was very clear and helpful about the process and findings. Our family sought an arrangement that fell outside of the formal program and Amy readily accommodated this request while ensuring that our son received appropriate services. As our family raised questions about the appropriate placement for our son, Amy coordinated supplemental assessments to provide more evaluation information to help our decision. When behavior problems have arisen for our son, Amy has personally conducted lengthy observations in order to consult with his school-based team and provide guidance to us as parents. Amy has been continuously kind, flexible, supportive, and collaborative with us as parents, and has made our experience with Duxbury Special Education enormously positive.“

Mrs. Steen was nominated by one of her students and parent. “Mrs. Steen made several accommodations around class participation stamp system due to speech (every stamp is proof for a grade that you raised your hand & answered question correctly in front of the class) where he can write down answers if having bad speech day & still get participation credit in a different way. She has asked him before a speaking presentation in front of the class if he feels comfortable & gave other options like speaking independently with her or wait for another day. On assignments where he stuttered she doesn't take points off for fluency because she understands & is empathetic towards his speech complications”

“After a positive experience at DMS, I was very apprehensive about my son beginning High School last year. As he was beginning his freshman year, Mrs. Bryan introduced herself as the Learning Center Teacher that was experienced and was new to the district. Although that made me nervous, after our initial meeting at Open House, I knew he was going to be in good hands. I will simply call it a parents instinct. There truly was no transition going into high school and the rigor it entailed, it was seamless. From Day 1 of high school, he felt good about school, no challenges with going day to day. Even through the challenges of Biology and the struggles he had with that content. This always tells me he is being supported appropriately.

Mrs. Bryan has always stepped up, especially in those classes that are most challenging, and helped him prepare and feel good about going into tests and quizzes. I felt so lucky and relieved when I knew he would have her again his sophomore year, even if she was on maternity leave for a portion of it. I just knew that if anything fell to the wayside, the pieces would be picked up. As I expected they were, fully. I do not think he will be so fortunate to have Mrs. Bryan again next year. But, I am thankful she will be there to help guide so many others in their futures. Thank you Mrs. Bryan, you are the best!!!