Anne Babiuk

January 30th, 2010

Care of: Mary Ellbogen Garland, President

Dear Advisory Board and Staff of the John P. Ellbogen Foundation: 

I wanted to take a moment and express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for your substantial part in my attainment of National Board Certification. It’s difficult to verbally express the depth of my feelings without sharing some of the journey.

As an individual who is extremely goal oriented and driven, becoming a Nationally Board Certified teacher was on my list of goals. I had started out in residential treatment centers working with emotionally disturbed youth. After attaining my special education and elementary education degrees, I began working in a small town in Nebraska. I had left Nebraska to come home to Torrington, Wyoming, and teach special education at Torrington Middle School. I work with emotionally disturbed students and I love what I do. After adding a daughter to my family when I was 29 years old, I began to experience some unusual health issues. Right after my 30th birthday, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

I’m not sure if you’ve the opportunity to know someone with pancreatic cancer, but that first Google search was devastating. Survival rates are about 5%. Five. I had two beautiful daughters, a wonderful husband, and fourteen emotionally disturbed students counting on me. I gave it careful thought and I decided to live my life. I facilitated my treatment. A docile, compliant patient I was not. I researched everything, arguing treatment approaches, demanding reasons and rationales for protocols. I was an engaged patient to be sure. A year later, I found myself cancer free, having completed my chemotherapy and having a portion of my pancreas surgically removed. I felt like I had a new lease on life, quite literally. So I made the decision that it was time to look at the journey of National Board Certification. I had done the initial research on the process, and kept looking at the financial part. Cancer is not cheap. When I came across the Ellbogen Foundation, it was like a miracle. I started planning and signed up for the “Running Start” workshop.

About two weeks before I joined my fellow candidates, I found out I had tumors on my liver. I decided that I had two choices. I could put this off, and potentially never attempt to be a Nationally Board Certified teacher, or I could throw myself into the process. I’ve heard some people describe the process as intense and stressful. My view was a bit different. I attribute a large part of my survival on this process. This professional development opportunity was something I could actually control in my life. I couldn’t control the wayward cells dividing abnormally in my body, but I could impact my teaching and make a difference in the lives of my students and my family. I wanted to leave a legacy for my children…if I had to leave. I wanted my three beautiful children to know that I never gave up and no matter what the situation or how hard things can be, your attitude is always the biggest part of success. 

I admit, I didn’t utilize the Support Providers. In my district, we only had one NBCT. This individual is amazing, but in an ironic twist of fate, her teenage son had found out his leukemia was out of remission. Being a mother, she had her hands full and was in the fight of their lives. I attempted to make it to a few of the “work sessions,” but kept hitting chemotherapy treatments at the wrong time and just couldn’t get there. That was part of my motivation to become a candidate support provider. I know there are several other individuals in my district that are advanced candidates that need more support. I want to be able to offer that to them. 

A few months after I mailed my “box,” I was transferred to the high school involuntarily. It was a very difficult transition and I was so incredibly disillusioned with my current position I was looking at graduate school completely away from the field of education. I actually had two interviews scheduled and was considering resigning for the second semester of this school year. I can honestly say that the NBCT news couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. It was like a wake-up call. I had certified my first time out under enormous odds to the contrary, in light of my treatments and independent working situation. I pulled out my copy of my portfolio entries and read them right there in my classroom. I looked at the enormous growth and obvious love for my students and I not only felt pride, but I remembered why I was here. Cancelling the interviews, I renewed my goal and path as being a leader and agent of change in my school environment. I knew what was happening was not what was best for students, and I remembered that my most important role as a special educator is as a student advocate. 

I won’t tell you everything is perfect. I will tell you that I am working every day to help make it closer to what these students deserve. I smile, I listen, I learn, and I am celebrating every individual growth along the way in my students, and myself. Because isn’t that really the point? You never stop learning or growing or developing. 

I apologize for my wordiness, even though I’m still not sure I’ve remotely done justice to my feelings of appreciation. While at the CSP (Candidate Support Provider) training, we had a moment to express ourselves to you, and I knew I would not be able to do so without the tears and overwhelming emotion that has overtaken me while composing this letter to you. 

The mission of the Ellbogen Foundation is to elicit change in our world and I wanted to assure each and every one of you, that is has.

Sincerely, 

Anne Babiuk, NBCT