Our QDR Gold Star Teacher of the month for January is Ryann Riggs, teacher at True ABAlities Learning Academy.
Ryann was nominated by Heather Constantatos, a parent of one of her students who says, “Ms. R is such a blessing to our family! She is doing what no other teacher has been able to do with our son, who has Autism and needed to learn skills to effectively communicate with others outside of our family. In the last year, she has given him the ability to communicate with others in the community and in our home so that he can gain independence. She shows up every day giving 110% to her students. She sends daily videos with the skills she works on with our son and other students so that we can see what is happening at school and can work on at home. She is an excellent model of how to support our son at home with specific interventions. She is always smiling and has such a positive attitude. She takes her time with each student to ensure she gives them what they need. The students in her classroom all have unique learning needs, and she does an outstanding job at identifying the specific skills that will help them function in the community and at home. In the last year, she has helped our family increase our son’s ability to be independent and learn new skills that will help him gain independence and employment in the future. She is extremely thoughtful in her daily plans. I love that she takes the students out in the community to practice the skills and is extremely patient with them as she is teaching them skills they need to communicate with others. We cannot say enough “thank you’s” for all of the love that she shows not only to our son but the other students and how she is supporting the growth of these learners. We should all have a Ms. R in our lives! We are so thankful that we found True ABAlities and have Ms. R as our teacher!”
Mrs. Riggs received a commemorative plaque from Creative Images in Cary, a $100 from Crabtree to shop at Sephora, and an additional $100 to shop anywhere at Crabtree, a community staple for more than 50 years! Her picture will also be featured on the jumbo screen at Crabtree, just below the food court for the month of January!
Want to nominate a teacher that you feel has gone above and beyond for their students? Click the button below to fill out our short form!