“As this new year begins, I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers who permanently, positively impact students’ futures. As I pondered this, I realized that I can’t think of a teacher with a more challenging position for a high school teacher than Sierra Fichialos. Ms. Fichialos has taught reading to general education students at Granger High School for 10 years, as well as conducting literacy training for other teachers so that they can help support students in reading.
So many students reach high school unable to read on grade level for many reasons, but no matter the reasons, students who reach high school reading well-below grade level face academic challenges, and often have a more negative attitude about school because of these difficulties.
Clearly, Ms. Fichialos’s position as a reading teacher is immeasurably important. Ms. Fichialos takes on the insurmountable task of teaching the most struggling, most resistant students how to read, and she does this with so much passion and dedication. She knows that, for many of these students, this is their last opportunity to gain this necessary skill…