Cindy Calcagni
What do you like best about working as a special education aide?
“I love the students. I think they’re amazing and they have so many gifts and they bring everybody a lot of joy.”
What do you do over the course of a day as an aide?
“We help the students with money, time, communication, and speech and language skills. I work with CAP [Community Access Program], and my job is to try and coach the students in job skills so that they can have a meaningful job once they graduate from our program.”
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your job this year?
“We were not able to go out at all last year, which was a struggle, and the only place we were allowed to go was Special Olympics. Now we’re starting to be able to go to more and more places, which is wonderful. We get more involved with the community.
What do you think about working at ARHS?
“I love it here, I really enjoy it. I love the people, I love the students, and we have a great camaraderie around here.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“I work at an after-school program, so I work with little kids, which I love. I read a lot, [my husband and I] have a house on a lake, we go swimming and boating, and we have a dog. My husband and I love to go to restaurants and eat out. I am going to be a grandma soon, so I’m going to be busy.”
What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
“I used to work as a private sector for Hewlett Packer years ago, and I was a senior system software engineer,”