MISSOULA - This week's One Class at a Time winner is Trevor Fuhrman who is in his first official year of teaching special education at Sentinel High School.
“My job and what I love is learning each kid as individual, and learning how they think, how they work, what they respond to," Fuhrman shared. "And then adapting the curriculums that we’re using and to make sure they can learn and grow and develop.”
Fuhrman stays busy teaching four different classes, from a Health and PE type of class to an Independent Living, and even a Social Skills class. Each class is designed by him to help his students who have very different needs and abilities in the life skills department.
“We can spend all this time making the best lesson plan, but if the learning environment isn’t conducive — if a kid has been sitting down for maybe the last 45 minutes and they really need to stretch their legs, they need to work at a different desk we should be able to offer that option if nothing else," explained Fuhrman.
To help him do what he loves and reach more of his students individually, Fuhrman will buy a set of standing desks. These will be helpful in each of his three classrooms, but also provide options to his students who have wheelchairs, or other physical needs.
“My ultimate hope is that kids leave here with coping strategies that will allow them to succeed.“
Fuhrman will use his $250 in grant money for the desks to help students see that sometimes just a simple change in environment can encourage more lifelong learning and lifelong coping.