Lauren Tierinni is a Special Education Teacher at O’Brien Elementary School. She has taught in East Hartford for 21 years and currently teaches in a self-contained classroom with students having exceptionalities. She uses positivity and flexibility to help her students reach their individual goals as she advocates for inclusion in her school, community and beyond.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Lauren this year as my first year here, and you can automatically see the positivity that just exuberates from her,” said O’Brien Principal Diane Leja. “That positivity just goes right through our whole school.”
One example of this shared joy is the weekly video news show Tierinni puts together with her students. Principal Leja said this really gives a voice to her students and everyone in the school loves watching the show every week.
“First and foremost, she is an advocate for the students, and she really makes sure that her students get what they need. She actually goes into the regular classrooms when her students are there, just to see how they're acclimating to the classroom. She's very conscious about making sure that they're included in everything,” said Leja.
EHPS Pupil Personnel Services Director Dr. Craig Outhouse nominated Tierinni for the Staff Spotlight feature also noting her positivity and her fight for inclusion.
“In East Hartford, we believe all students can learn at high levels and no one epitomizes this more than Lauren,” said Dr. Outhouse. “Everyone who comes in contact with Lauren is a better person because of her intelligence, passion and advocacy.”
Learn more about Lauren Tierinni in the Q&A below.
Tell us about your teaching journey and what led you to your current role at O’Brien.
Tierinni: I've been in East Hartford my entire career. I started out at O'Connell doing my student teaching there in a first grade classroom, and I haven’t left. 21 years later, I’m still here.
Once I left student teaching, I took a long-term sub job at Langford as a teacher there in third grade, and from there, I got hired as a kindergarten teacher. I taught kindergarten here at O'Brien for 18 years.
Three years ago, the job that I have now opened up. It was something that I always thought about doing. I have a master's in special education, and when the job opened up, I knew it was something that I was passionate about, and I really wanted to go for it. East Hartford gave me the opportunity to finish up and work toward my certification. So, I took on the role my first year. I worked toward the certification, got my certification, and I'm loving every day being in that classroom.
What is a typical day like in your classroom?
Tierinni: We are a very busy room, but we are a very fun room. If you walk in, you'll see the paraprofessionals and the nurses helping the kids. They're incredible. They work so, so hard.
You'll see a very inclusive environment. You'll see us being very adaptive. You'll see us being very flexible. I think in a room like mine, it's really important to have some flexibility and some adaptability based on what the kids need that specific day, that specific moment of the day. So, everything really is catered toward the students.
We do a lot of music, a lot of movement. We really just work on their individual goals. So, what we work on with each student looks very, very different. And I think we're a place where we celebrate successes. Whether it's learning to walk, learning to feed themselves, learning how to write their name, we celebrate all the successes along the way.
My room is special because I have kids from kindergarten through fifth grade. And I really get to see their progress day to day, month to month, year to year. I see where they come in and I get to celebrate where they leave and all the successes along the way.
How does it feel when you see them meet a goal?
Tierinni: Oh my gosh, it's the best feeling in the world. It really is. Just seeing the kids meeting their goals, it just makes my heart happy every single day, and the smiles on their faces. You know, we have our good days and we have our great days. I'm never going to say we have a bad day, but we have good days and we have great days. And I think just having that positive outlook on teaching and life in general, is really huge.
How do you work to balance all of the individual needs in your classroom?
Tierinni: Again, the paraprofessionals are a huge asset and without them there would be no balance. We really work together. We also rely a lot on our physical therapists, our occupational therapists, our principal, our speech and language pathologist, our nurses. You know, the entire team really does help us. We're a tight knit team, and we collaborate constantly. So, I think that really does contribute to the success of our classroom and just the overall success of students and their ability to reach their goals.
What do you love most about your job?
Tierinni: The kids. I love the kids. They keep me smiling. They keep me laughing. They keep me young, I've been doing this for 21 years. And I think just being able to to laugh with them and learn about them, to get to know them as people, to get to know their families, that's huge.
I think that that's kind of my “Why,” you know. I do everything for the kids. I want to advocate for them. I want to be their voice when they need a voice. I want to be their eyes if they need an extra pair of eyes. I want to be their ears. I just want what's best for them, and I want to help families and just the community itself. Not just our classroom, our school, it's beyond. I really want to push for inclusive environments everywhere.