His Story
Larry Statler grew up in a troubled household in inner-city Richmond, California, and school was his refuge. “Teachers were my lifelines,” he writes, and he became a teacher to repay them. His ninth grade journalism teacher, Mrs. Soo, monitored his progress through high school and, when he graduated unsure of what came next, “literally grabbed me by the collar, put me in her car, and drove me to San Francisco” to tour the campus of San Francisco State University. She wanted him to be a journalist; he wanted to be a teacher like her.
He moved from wanting to teach high school history to elementary school, and then special education, after volunteering at the San Francisco Recreation Center for the Handicapped as part of his credential program. On his first visit he “almost threw up” and swore he would never go back. He went back once more. A girl named Bonnie, who has Down syndrome, climbed into his lap and put her arms around his neck, and “my whole life changed at that moment.” He earned his B.A. in history and journalism (1970) and his M.A. in education of the exceptional child (1972) from San Francisco State.
He began teaching a special day class in San Francisco in 1972 and in 1973 joined the Oak Grove School District in San Jose, where he has taught ever since. His honors include the California Council for Exceptional Children’s Exemplary Teacher Award (2002), the Time for Kids Teaching Excellence Award (2002), a place on USA Today’s All-USA First Team (2001), the Walt Disney American Teacher Award (1998), two Intel Innovations in Teaching awards (1997 and 1998), and the California School Boards Foundation’s Golden Bell Award (1993). He has also been a regional and national judge for the Disney American Teacher Awards.
Beyond the Classroom
Statler has been the visual and performing arts coordinator at Santa Teresa and the link between the school and the Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose, which his principal says reaches “well over 300 students.” His family became a “theater family” when his older daughter performed with the company for nine years while he and his wife sewed costumes, built scenery and ran concessions. When the overcrowded school lacked a rehearsal space, he arranged to use a neighboring church’s auditorium and stage.
He is also the writer and coordinator of the grant proposals that have built more than thirty partnerships for the Discovery Program with local, state and national foundations. He has been a state reader of Visual and Performing Arts Education grant applications, a four-time mentor teacher in reading and video technology, and an adjunct instructor at Santa Clara University from 1996 to 2001. He has supervised over twenty student teachers, authored two magazine articles, co-written a book on Discovery, and contributed to USA Today’s All Teacher Team Ideas.
Philosophy Into Practice
Since 1982, Statler has worn a button that reads “Every Child Deserves a Special Education.” He helped build the Discovery Program, a full-inclusion classroom in which students from severely handicapped to gifted learn side by side at multi-level, hands-on centers. The room is “engineered and orchestrated” for success, with the teacher acting as a conductor of the “classroom orchestra.” As he describes it, the structure lets him “toilet train a severely handicapped student while a gifted and talented student receives accelerated reading instruction.” For many of the district’s most behaviorally difficult children, Discovery is the last stop before a non-public or residential placement.
“A Mosaic of Abilities, Ages, Cultures, Languages, and Love.”— his motto for the Discovery Program, from his essay “In the Classroom”
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”— quoted in his essay “In the Classroom”
In His Own Words
“Every Child Deserves A Special Education.”— from his essay, “Philosophy of Teaching”
“To help others realize a transformation of beliefs and attitudes towards those with disabilities became my goal and mission in life.”— from his essay, “Professional Profile”
“My greatest asset as a person and a teacher is that I never give up on a child.”— from his essay, “Getting to Know You”
“I feel that I am exceptionally lucky to have the most fulfilling job in the world.”— from his essay, “Getting to Know You”
“They need to put quarters into the Coke machine of life.”— from his essay, “Getting to Know You”
What Others Said
“Students who are not successful in other classrooms can be seen blossoming with Larry.”— Manny Barbara, Superintendent, Oak Grove School District
“Mr. Statler is truly a ‘man for all children’ and touches the life of every student at Santa Teresa.”— Barry Whittall, Principal, Santa Teresa Elementary School
“I have been Larry Statler’s collaborative teaching partner for 17 years.”— Carolyn Makin, collaborative teaching partner and parent of a former student
“We work with a teacher, Larry Statler, who is truly a ‘miracle worker.’”— Jena Miller and Nadine White, instructional assistants, Santa Teresa Elementary School
“Larry Statler’s impact upon the educational community is remarkable. He is in the vanguard of making mainstreaming and full-inclusion a reality for individuals with special needs.”— Darlene Mulliner, third grade teacher
“He looks for the one avenue that will unlock, with the right key, that secret door that everyone has within.”— Darlene Mulliner, third grade teacher
“Mr. Statler learned sign language in order to understand Kimberly. He took this a step further and taught Kim how to read using sign language.”— Carl Kenneth and Candace M. Rains, parents of a former student
“Even after all this time in educating some of the most difficult kids to educate, he still expresses pure joy in an individual child grasping one simple concept.”— Diane Thompson, parent of a former student
“Mr. Statler deserves this award because he is special to me.”— Kim Rains, former student, now a classroom aide in his room