Colorado Council for Learning Disabilities 2021

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Kathy Oviatt

A Colorado native, Kathleen “Kathy” Oviatt graduated from Arapahoe High School and then received her undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado in secondary English education. After spending several years outside of education, she realized her true passion was teaching. After doing a long-term sub job as a special education teacher, she realized that teaching students with learning disabilities was her true vocation. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in Special Education also from the UNC.

Throughout her almost 30 year career, she has kept her passion for teaching and her commitment to the students she teaches. Her membership in CLD and CCLD has allowed her to develop her professional skills and to interact with others in the field of learning disabilities. Attending Math on the Planes and Courage to Risk annual Conferences have been invaluable in her growth as a teacher and educator. Through CCLD and Adams State, Kathy earned her Math Interventionist Certificate.

Kathy’s strength is her commitment to professional development and to providing research-based instruction and interventions to students with specific learning disabilities. She participated in both the Denver Writing Project and the Colorado Writing Project and presented about how writing in math promotes mathematical understanding especially for students with learning disabilities. She has taken graduate level courses in reading and writing instruction and implemented these strategies with the goal of helping students reach their full potential both academically and as they transition into adulthood.

Being flexible and providing opportunities to develop new approaches and new strategies is another leadership skill Kathy has demonstrated in her career. She worked with both special education and general education staff to make co-teaching in the high school more effective by bringing in district trainers to provide training and coaching in order to better serve students with learning disabilities in the general education setting. She helped implement effective progress monitoring tools in reading, writing, and mathematics for secondary students in both middle school and high school at both the district and school level. She also helped to develop an IEP review system for Northglenn High School to ensure the IEPs truly reflect the students’ strengths and needs as well as meet the criteria for Indicator 13.

Her goal has always been to put students first and provide them with the instruction and support they need to reach their goals and dreams. As she always states, “The students are always the best part of my job. It is my privilege to be their teacher.”

Congratulations, Kathy! Thank you for your contributions to Special Education in Colorado!