Her commitment to students goes beyond mere words.
Speech and language pathologist Dena Levin has for 40 years helped students improve their speech, vocabulary and writing skills — but when tragedy struck one of her students at Williamsburg Charter High School, Levin became much more than a teacher.
Bianca Mendoza — who this week will graduate from the Brooklyn school — learned her sophmore year that her mother had colon cancer. All the progress that Mendoza, who is deaf, made in fine-tuning her pronunciation and improving her writing skills came to a halt after the awful news, Levin said.
By junior year Mendoza was her mother’s only caregiver, and school was far from a priority.
“Bianca left school to take care of her mother because there was nobody else around to take care of her,” said Levin. “Her grades slipped significantly that semester, and she wasn’t thinking of coming back to school.”
Mendoza’s mother died in her arms. The heartbreaking loss was compounded by the fact she now had to support herself. Levin said she helped Mendoza, who had just turned 18, apply for state benefits to allow her to finish high school and apply to college.
“At first Bianca didn’t think she could succeed in college being deaf,” Levin said. “She had been told she was better off sitting at home taking classes online, but I saw her potential.”
Barry Williams/for New York Daily News Levin helped Mendoza apply to Gullaudet University, get a full scholarship and the support she needed to be able to further her education.
Barry Williams/for New York Daily News ‘I want my kids to do the best they can.’
Previous Next
Levin was by Mendoza’s side during her admissions interview in Washington.
“She could never have gone alone, and there was nobody in her family to go with her,” Levin said.
Source:
http://ift.tt/1pAtpfp