Not all kids are the same. But this Richland educator is proof that all can learn

Nanette Duncan goes from desk to desk on a recent morning, helping her high school students finish up their morning assignments so they can work on a fractions game in the back of class.

It’s exciting to see concepts click for students, she said. But her students also have taught her something important: Patience.

“The key thing is that each and every one of them are different,” Duncan, 74, tells the Tri-City Herald. “You’re going around and getting to know each individual.”

And she’s gotten to know her fair share of remarkable students.

Duncan is a longtime paraprofessional in the Richland School District, having taught social skills and assisting with special education instruction for more than 34 years. Her colleagues describe her as a selfless and compassionate educator.

That’s exactly why she was nominated for Washington’s state Classified School Employee of the Year award. The annual program recognizes exceptional work and dedication from classified employees.

Administrators surprised her with the nomination and a bouquet of flowers recently during one of her classes.

A state selection committee will choose the winner from a group of regional finalists. The statewide winner will be entered as a nominee for the U.S. Department of Education’s national Recognizing Inspiring School Employees award.

“For me, I was overwhelmed and completely taken for surprise. I would have never guessed in a million years that this would happen. I even couldn’t speak for a little bit,” said Duncan, who currently works in Richland High School’s structured program for autistic students.

Flowers and a balllon sit of the desk of special education paraeducator Nan Duncan at Richland High School after Richland School District leaders nominated her for state Classified School Employee of the Year. She has sent the past 34 years supporting Richland students receiving special education services.
Flowers and a balllon sit of the desk of special education paraeducator Nan Duncan at Richland High School after Richland School District leaders nominated her for state Classified School Employee of the Year. She has sent the past 34 years supporting Richland students receiving special education services.

Believe in potential

On any given day, Duncan shuffles between at least four classrooms. She does a lot for her students, including helping teach ceramics, structured mathematics, sociology, language arts and helps out with lunches.

The Herald caught up with Duncan as she was helping out Kristen Litke’s second-period math class. As Litke taught from the front of the room, Duncan worked one-on-one with students.

“We have some students who are selective mutes and they’ll just talk her ear off,” Litke said.

Litke and Duncan’s teaching partnership goes back five years. Litke said the para stood out because of her deep engagement with students and her belief in their potential.

Special education paraeducator Nan Duncan recently helps Richland High student George Murray with a classroom assignment in one of his general education classes. She has spent 34 years supporting Richland students.
Special education paraeducator Nan Duncan recently helps Richland High student George Murray with a classroom assignment in one of his general education classes. She has spent 34 years supporting Richland students.

After Duncan was nominated for Classified School Employee of the Year, Litke began calling her “Ms. Richland” and “Ms. Universe.”

But the work can be hard and time consuming, Duncan says. There can be a new challenge every minute, or every second, of every class.

“It’s playing by ear and flying by the seat of your pants,” said Duncan, a product herself of Richland schools.

She started her career in education full-time at Badger Mountain Elementary back in 1988. What got her into education after several years as a stay-at-home mom? Badger was just a short hop-and-skip from her house, so she could walk her daughter to and from school everyday.

She started out as a paraeducator and was “tossed into the fire” when she began working with a non-verbal autistic student.

Duncan remembers that they worked together on basic social skills, life skills and phonics.

Back then, Duncan said, there was little guidance. She recalls scouring her local library for any information on how to better teach special education. Compared with today’s professional development, it’s been night-and-day.

Special education paraeducator Nan Duncan smiles after recently helping a Richland High student successfully complete a classroom assignment. She has spent the past 34 years supporting Richland students receiving special education services and Richland School District leaders have nominated her for state Classified School Employee of the Year.
Special education paraeducator Nan Duncan smiles after recently helping a Richland High student successfully complete a classroom assignment. She has spent the past 34 years supporting Richland students receiving special education services and Richland School District leaders have nominated her for state Classified School Employee of the Year.

“They paired me with one of the most challenging students with absolutely no road map,” she said.

A few years later she transferred to Carmichael Middle School, where she spent about 29 years there mostly as a special education paraeducator.

That’s where she met Litke.

“When I came over (to Richland High School), she reminded me that she’d said she could never work with another teacher. So she followed me,” Litke recalls.

Staff say that the mutual connections that Duncan builds with students are what have allowed so many students to reach their potential.

‘Kind of a disciplinary’

Each spring, Duncan recites the same phrase to her fellow staffers: I’ll stay on just one more year.

She never does.

“I wonder why I’m here and what I’m doing. Am I insane?” Duncan says, laughing.

In an era of teaching, when paraeducators are seen as the backbone of special education classrooms, yet more often than not are overworked and severely underpaid, Duncan stands out as a perpetual figure.

“I’ve had to just go with the flow a lot,” Duncan humbly said of her years teaching. “But I’m kind of a disciplinary... I’m a little bit more structured.”

What worries her the most about her students are the ones who tend to shut down on bad days.

During those situations, Duncan said she works to meet them on their level and try to get to the bottom of why they’re feeling bad.

“The biggest part of this is you personally have to get to know each individual student, because they’re not the same,” Duncan said.

“None of them are the same, so you can’t lump them. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned: They can all learn, but they don’t all learn the same.”