I believe that teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world. An excellent teacher can change, impact, and sometimes save a student’s life, especially in the world of Special Education. This story is about one teacher who, after thirty-three years, his students still remember him and are grateful that he works for CW resources. William Vaughan, or Mr. Vaughan, has been in the field of Special Education for forty years and has impacted so many lives, including my own. Answering an ad in the newspaper in 1981, this incredible person, whom I am very privileged to know, would go on to improve the lives of Special Education students everywhere and would make a difference in the future of Special Education forever. Despite never having him as an actual teacher myself, he taught me so much about how to be a great friend, how to take accountability for my actions, how to be a listening ear, and how to turn one-word answers in an interview into a full-blown article. (I’m a miracle worker, Mr. Vaughan. You should be proud of me.)
At twenty years old, William Vaughan was trying to find his passion. He was going to school, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He was trying hard to find his passion, and he discovered that passion when he answered an ad for the Margret Chapman school for the emotionally disturbed and individuals with significant special needs. After working there for some time, he realized that this is what he wanted to do: helping individuals who have difficulty helping themselves. This was his calling. He was meant to help students with special needs and show the world how much they can do if people don’t judge them right off the bat.
Mr. Vaughan worked at Margret Chapman for about a year when the lady who ran the school came up to him and suggested that he go to Southern Connecticut State University to get his certification to be a special education teacher. She probably saw what bonds he had with all of the participants and how much he made them smile throughout the day with his incredible sense of humor. She knew that he would be the teacher who would be able to save a student’s life and put them on the right path for success. (Side note: he makes me and a lot of others at CW Resources smile every day when he comes in. Not just him, but all of the incredible staff here put a smile on my face every single day. You should give people who work here a raise just for making us smile daily.)
Mr. Vaughan ended up taking her advice and got his teaching certification from Southern Connecticut State University and he graduated without him having to pay the professors for good grades. After graduation, he got a job at Bristol Central High School, where he taught in a self-contained classroom, teaching math, reading, and life skills. After three years of this, Mike Georgeon, his supervisor at the time, called him into his office. Mike Georgeon had this idea to start something that would be one of the first in the state. He wanted to start a transition program for the students who were graduating high school but still needed more services before they entered the real world. Mr. Georgeon asked Mr. Vaughan if he would be willing to become the head of the program and help build, establish, and develop it. Being excited to start this brand new program, Mr. Vaughan jumped on the opportunity. In 1992, Mr. Georgeon and Mr. Vaughan started one of the first transition programs in the state of Connecticut.
When Mr. Vaughan first started the program, Mike Georgeon didn’t micromanage Mr. Vaughan in any way. He didn’t try to control him about making decisions for the program. He gave him free rein to do whatever Mr. Vaughan needed to do for his students, as long as it benefited and enhanced the students’ learning. You see, Mike Georgeon was one of those people who was there to help students succeed. And Mr. Vaughan was a unique person because, although he might have read about their disabilities in their Individual Educational Plan (IEP) and had a ton of knowledge about that particular disability, he saw the individual as a person first, and he would say to himself what he could do to improve that person’s life. He might have researched and learned about their disabilities as a whole; however, he saw a person who might need something different, other than what the books said they needed.
In the program, the students participated in job development skills four to five days a week and worked on functional life skills in the classroom or on field trips. When getting job experience for his students, Mr. Vaughan knocked on every single door in Bristol, including Chili’s, Bristol Hospital, World Fulfillment, Saint Paul High School, etc. When it came to planning field trips for his students, Mr. Vaughan went all out. When you asked him what trips he’d take the students on, he said you name the place, we went there, including the Big E, Durham Fair, Berlin Fair, and Meriden Mall for Christmas Shopping
Mr. Vaughan treated his students as the young adults they were. There was a saying in that classroom that said, ‘If you don’t like Mr. Vaughan’s answer, deal with it, you’re adults.” You see, he had the best interests of his students and wanted them to become adults who deal with the consequences of their actions. He treated his students the same way as he treated others without a disability. He gave his students love, affection, and support when they were going through a difficult situation or time in their lives. He protected them from anyone or anything trying to hurt them, and they knew that they were safe with him around. He encouraged them to try new things, and he joked around with them whenever he could because his sense of humor is to die for. If you’re having the worst day ever and he starts joking around, within five minutes, you’re smiling and having a good day. (I feel like I am at a comedy show when me and him get going with our little inside jokes that nobody else understands.)
Even though Mr. Vaughan is loving and nurturing, he also gave his students a dose of tough love at times when they needed it. Nobody received special treatment in his classroom. Not even the Queen of England herself would receive special treatment from him. If one of his students didn’t like Mr. Vaughan’s answer, they would have to suck it up and deal with it. They were adults, not children. No matter how much they cried and screamed (which he didn’t tolerate either), his answer wasn’t going to change.
Cool thing about Mr. Vaughan is that he didn’t really have to reprimand his students that much because he would nip it in the bud if you showed any kind of misbehavior, harassment, or bullying towards him or your fellow classmates. You knew when you were in trouble with him just by the way he looked at you. If he looked at you with a stone-cold face, you could tell you were in the doghouse with him. And if you were arguing with another student, he would pull both of you into another room, and the three of you would not be able to leave until someone got to the bottom of it. Mr. Vaughan is a role model for his students. He did an excellent job of preparing his students for the real world, and they are thriving because of him, even though he would probably say that he just did his job if you called him a hero for the lives he changed throughout his career.
At the end of every year, Mr. Vaughan would host a graduation dinner for the students who were graduating from the program. On the last day of school or a few days before, they would go out to a nice restaurant and have the graduates and their families sit in the front row. First, Mr. Vaughan would give his welcome and talk a little bit about how the year went. Then, after everyone ate dinner, Mr. Vaughan stood up and gave a speech about every student with a special memory he had with them. Then he would congratulate them and give them their diplomas. Although he was probably sad to see them go, he knew that it was time for them to soar in the real world with the lessons he taught them.
Mr. Vaughan ran the transition program in Bristol for thirty years until he knew that it was time to go. He realized that he had done all he could for the program, and it was time to let someone take the reins. In June of 2021, he retired from the school program. He said goodbye to his last group of students and packed up his classroom for good. When you have an excellent teacher like him, it’s very difficult to say goodbye. But even though Mr. Vaughan may not be with his students, the lessons he taught them are. If a student remembers a teacher’s lesson when they are going through a rough time or when they can’t do something, then they can just close their eyes and see their teacher right there with them, guiding them through life just like they had done in the classroom. We had one teacher who acted like a second parent to us. They guided us in the right direction, made sure we are ready for the real world, and let us fly on their wings when they are not around.
Luckily for some of Mr. Vaughan’s former students, he works at CW Resources. They get the privilege of seeing him every day, and they can show him how much of an impact he made on them. He may not be their teacher anymore, but he’s still watching them every single step of the way and will always teach them a valuable lesson that he didn’t get to teach them. There are many great gifts in this world, but the gift of a great teacher is the most precious gift of all time.