HONOREE JUDY ST. CLAIR

Momma Bear

Any teacher will tell you that one of the joys of a long career in the classroom is leaving one’s mark on the lives of students and having those students later point you out as someone who made a difference.

Judy St. Clair never held a teaching degree and never led a classroom of her own, so she can’t accurately be remembered as a teacher. Instead, the generations of special education students and families who she worked with for 32 years think of her as something much more: a surrogate mother whose love and compassion knew no bounds.

“I cared so much about those kids,” she said. “Special ed can be very challenging, but there is so much to look back on and feel good about. They’re just very loving, and I loved them back.”

St. Clair was working part time in a local office supply company when she heard about an opening at what was then the Day Service Center. Something told the Illinois-born mother of three that this was the job for her.

“I decided I wanted to do that because I felt like that was more of a calling,” she said. “I started out working as a teacher’s aide there for Rhonda Martin, who was the first special ed teacher that Mountain Home School District hired.”

The experience of working with special needs children was many things, and no two days were ever the same.

“It was very challenging because we didn’t have a whole lot of guidance like you do in a school today,” she said. “We were working mainly on teaching students how to eat, how to feed themselves, how to do self-help things. I had one student in particular, he couldn’t tie his shoes. And it took almost two years for him to learn how to tie his shoes. When he did, that was very rewarding.

“We had a student who was afraid of food, and I think the teacher and I worked with him for almost a year to get him to eat something besides baby food. And he did finally did it — he fed himself. He was scared to death, and he held that spoon in his hand, shaking, but he stuck it in his mouth.

“That’s just how it was, little baby steps of things that we all take for granted that for someone else is very rewarding when you see progress.”

Judy St. Clair

Photo by Jason Masters

I cared so much about those kids. They’re just very loving, and I loved them back.

— JUDY ST. CLAIR

Even moving from classroom to office, St. Clair found ways to stay engaged in the kids’ lives and development. In fact, her subsequent duties made her even more connected to the student body.

“I worked in the office probably most of the 32 years I was there. I ended up being the office manager of the Special Ed Office,” she said. “And they knew me as the bus driver; I got my CDL, and it allowed me to take students to physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.”

In these roles, St. Clair became mama bear to all the students, not just one classroom full. And she also was a familiar, welcoming sight to many parents through the years.

“Parents of special needs children are very sensitive and sometimes very frustrated,” she said. “I guess I’m a people person because it was easy for me to be kind to them and to be patient with them. We had some hard parents, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with any of them.”

Ten years ago, St. Clair stepped into retirement, officially anyway. In reality, she’s hailed all over town by former students and their families. She’s even helped organize class reunions for alums of the special ed program.

“We’ve had two reunions with those kids, and they don’t forget anything. They always remember us,” she said. “I run into parents, still. You know, ‘How’s Bobby doing?’ and stuff. They don’t forget us either. It’s like a bond you build, and it’s just there.”

For her longtime service, she was recognized with the Earnest Perry Retired Classified Staff Award, something for which the attention-shy St. Clair is grateful. But no award can duplicate the life-altering relationships and experience she gained during her time serving her most special students.

“Having the opportunity to work with special needs kids gave me patience, taught me stamina and mostly, it showed me what they go through in their lives,” she said. “Whenever I thought I had a problem, I realized theirs were so much bigger. Yet they always had a smile, they were always happy and they were always excited to see you. It was just a very special place to be all those years.”