During my vacation last week, I did my best to decompress. Part of that meant avoiding emails, staying off the computer and not answering any work-related phone calls.

 

Of course, when you have a smart phone and follow Connect-Bridgeport on Facebook, you see some of the news feeds. Although I avoided most of them, I was eager to see the list of the Bridgeport High School Alumni & Friends Foundation’s 8^th Hall of Fame Class.

 

Each year, they seem to outdo themselves with their selections. This year, however, was a banner class. In fact, you can read about all the selections by clicking HERE.

 

As I read the list on the sunny South Carolina beach shore, a smile crept across my face to see Pam Hotsinpiller chosen as a member. Many in the community know Hotsinpiller due to her steadfast face of courage after she lost her son Derek, a U.S. Marshal, who was shot and fatally wounded in 2011. That came not long after her husband Lt. Jim Hotsinpiller – a highly respected member of the Bridgeport Police Department – had passed away.

 

If you only knew all she’s done since those tragedies, often in tandem with her son Dustin, one might be led to believe it’s the reason she’s being inducted. While that certainly is a huge part of the person Pam Hotsinpiller is today, many may not know that for decades she taught special needs students for 35 years. That, too, has molded her as a human being. Of course, for those that know Pam but didn’t know that, they’re not surprised.

 

Before I go further, let me preface Pam’s story with full disclosure. I am, and always will be an advocate for the teaching profession. And in my mind there are no better educators than those who devote their lives to teaching those with special needs.

 

What is truly amazing is that she didn’t get into special education teaching by accident. In fact, her undergraduate degree was a double major in Social Studies and English, but the 1970s job market only had a job offering in Franklin, West Virginia.

 

“I just didn’t want to be that  far from Jim,” she said.

 

An alternative presented itself in neighboring Taylor County. She was offered a job to go to and teach homebound students.

 

“In 1974 they were just getting started with special education,” said Hotsinpiller. “Plenty of those homebound students I dealt with had severe disabilities.”

 

As Hotsinpiller was getting started in the teaching field, times were changing. Some counties were beginning to incorporate special needs students into schools. And more importantly, the law was soon going to require it.

 

Yet before that, the kind and gentle nature of Pam Hotsinpiller that so many of us have been exposed to was on display in Taylor County. She wanted to get those special needs students out of the homes and into school.

 

“I talked to someone, I don’t remember who, about getting all the kids into a classroom. These were kids from four and five years of age all the way up to 23 and we got them into a school,” she said. “They weren’t there every day and we had to stagger them by age to make sure we could get them all, but we did it.”

 

Eventually, Taylor County would be like every other county and have the programs throughout the school system. But its start came from Pam Hotsinpiller, who would return to Bridgeport High School to teach special needs students in 1979 until her retirement decades later.

“By that time, everyone had them as the pressure was on the counties to make sure those programs were in place,” said Hotsinpiller. “Not all of it was easy. It was a learning experience for all of us. What I remember back then were a lot of the educators took the special education jobs on permit until they could get into another field. I knew I wanted to stay where I was.”

 

And thus began a journey where Pam Hotsinpiller influenced the lives of hundreds and perhaps thousands of the most precious children on God’s earth. To this day, however, she said it was among the best experiences of her lives and something she wouldn’t trade.

 

“We had so many success stories and to be able to be part of that in any way was just so rewarding. What you really learned about the students we had is that they were just nice kids,” said Hotsinpiller. “I’d say 98 percent of the time you didn’t have discipline issues because they were just tender hearted and good to be around. The best part is that they never ceased to amaze me. You think they’re not getting something and then they do something that just knocked your socks off.”

 

Hotsinpiller recalls the time when Bridgeport High School began including the special needs students in with the general student population. As much as she was for it and knew its value, she also said there were concerns she had.

 

“You cared about those kids and you wondered if you were getting anywhere with them in those classes, but as they almost always would do, someone did something to put me at ease,” she said.

 

In this particular case, the teacher in a science class was talking about the sun and its importance. The teacher asked the class about the necessity of the sun and what it meant. A surprising and correct answer came from the special needs student in that class.

 

“The kid looked up and said ‘salad bowl.’ In that student’s own way, they got the right answer,” said Hotsinpiller. “Too often everyone is too quick not to give them credit that they can take part and do fine. I learned early that they shouldn’t be pigeon holed to the special needs class rooms. They needed to include them in other things and let them experience life. When they became part of the regular classes, you could see the difference.”

 

Hotsinpiller said that was one of the biggest – and most satisfying – things she witnessed during her career. She said the benefits went way beyond the school and well past when the students attended BHS.

 

“The students needed that. When they were done with school they were going to find out that there aren’t any special needs banks or special needs grocery stores,” she said. “Being included in school made that transition easier.”

 

And watching that transition and working with so many of those students made it hard for Hotsinpiller to finally step down. She called the experience a “blessing.”

“Without a doubt, I wouldn’t trade time with those children for anything. They’re all in my hall of fame,” she said.

 

For those that follow this blog, you know Pam Hotsinpiller is a first ballot selection to my Hall of Fame and probably a lot of yours as well. It goes without saying that her contributions to so many for so long make this selection to the BHS Hall of Fame more than worthy.

 

Congratulations Pam. You’ve earned this.

 

Editor's Note: Middle photo is of Pam with her son Dustin, who is currently  a U.S. Marshal. In the bottom photo, Pam Hotsinpiller shares a few words with Director of the U.S. Marshal Service Stacia Hylton during the dedication of the federal building in Clarksburg in honor of her late son Derek who was fatally wounded while on duty as a Marshal. To purchase tickets to the Hall of Fame Dinner call 304-842-6510 or 304-842-3474. Tickets for the Sept. 26 event that starts at 6 p.m. in the BHS Cafeteria are $25.