Member Spotlight: Shaila Kokil
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NAEYC members are known for their curiosity and dedication to lifelong learning. Shaila Kokil is no exception. During her 20 years as a special education teacher, Shaila has continued to seek out new opportunities and venues for learning for her students, their families, and herself. She understands the importance of partnering with families in their children’s education and finds inspiration in NAEYC materials and conferences. We join Shaila in her efforts to celebrate curiosity, and we eagerly wait to see what she does next!
—Michelle Kang
Shaila Kokil
Special Education Teacher at Empower Children’s Academy, Niagara Falls, New York
Communicator, learner, and inclusive practitioner. Shaila Kokil entered the early childhood field nearly 20 years ago as a New York state-certified special education teacher at Empower Children’s Academy in Niagara Falls, New York. There, Shaila works in an integrated classroom, where she plans, teaches, and supports preschoolers ages 3 to 5 with and without disabilities. “The most valuable lesson I have learned over the years is the power of learning and communication: learning as a teacher from my students, as well as students learning from me as their teacher,” she says. “By customizing communication and understanding for each child, I have been able to witness significant progress and help children achieve their goals.”
When describing a moment that validated her decision to work in the field, Shaila’s commitment to communication, learning, and inclusivity shines through. In recent years, she worked with a child with autism spectrum disorder who was having a hard time engaging at home and at school. She worked closely with the child’s mother throughout the school year and implemented learning methods to promote active engagement and collaboration. These included working toward individualized learning goals in a one-on-one setting that was free from distraction, offering positive feedback and supports, and using hands-on materials. The child learned to count objects in a linear configuration by saying numbers and touching objects concretely up to 10. As the school year progressed, he became much more engaged, communicative, able to count numbers, and ultimately happy to learn. “To hear his mother’s feedback and share in the success story of her son was a true moment of job satisfaction for me,” Shaila recalls.
Open and ongoing communication with families is important to Shaila, and she strives to include families in the education process. In spring 2019, for example, she organized a schoolwide art festival that was free for all families to participate in. The art festival was themed around the illustrations of author Eric Carle. She sought to make the festival welcoming and accessible for all families, and she found that involving families promoted a sense of community. (Shaila’s love of community extends beyond Empower’s walls. Buffalo 60 Strong recently named her an ambassador for people in their sixties who are active and give back to the community.)
Because of her enthusiasm for learning about the latest research and recommended practices, NAEYC has impacted Shaila’s professional growth. Shaila first learned about NAEYC in 2016, and she has been a member ever since. That first year, she attended the NAEYC Professional Learning Institute and a session on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning for preschoolers. As she recalls, “I shared the concepts and my learning from the workshop with my colleagues, and they loved it. As a result, our school now has STEM resources, and children love it too!” Children participate in many hands-on experiments, making predictions and learning “via experimentation, trial, and error.”
Each school year, Shaila says, “I look forward to celebrating curiosity, making more scientific discoveries, and exploring themes of water, colors, shadows, sounds, and ramps with children. To see their young minds at work while learning is a true gift I’m fortunate to be a part of.”
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