It is my pleasure as President Elect of MAISEA to be a part of this year’s presentation of the 2009 Murray O. Batten Award. Of all of the awards that are available for those who work in the field of Special Education, this one is extra special for me, because it is based on such positive human qualities as honesty, integrity, trust and compassion that Murray was known for. It is also special that the award winner is supposed to be “kept in the dark” until the honor is bestowed. Let’s see how well we did this year.

If you are waiting for me to slip into the “he” or “she” language we usually use, I hope you will be disappointed. I’m trying extra hard to consistently say “this year’s award winner,” “they” or something like that instead.

OK, that’s enough of the preliminaries.

This year’s Murray O. Batten award winner took classes from four (4) different universities within the state – including Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University. They started out as a Speech Therapist for about eight (8) years and was a guest lecturer for two (2) other state universities. Their career path eventually led to Supervisor and Director of Special Education positions for the next several years at both local school districts and ISD’s.

During this time our award winner had experiences supervising classroom programs for low incidence students, preparing federal grants, creating Behavior Review Teams, training staff in “Non-Violent Crisis Prevention” strategies, helping negotiate contracts, overseeing transportation, monitoring, helping to initiate such efforts as START and MiBLSi, overseeing Medicaid billing, etc. In terms of our award winner’s relationship with MAASE, they chaired the Special Education Rules and Legislation Committee and served on other various committees. They are a past President of the Special Education Supervisors of Michigan. They are involved with the Council for Exceptional Children. They have been involved with the Human Services Collaborative of their county and active with many other local efforts that support exceptional children.

This year’s award winner was described by colleagues as providing “a work environment that encompasses respect and professional growth. [They] always had time to listen, even when there is really no time to spare.”

Another colleague wrote, “[They] have a talent for bringing people together, appreciating them and removing the obstacles in their path to working for the best interest of children. [They] are fully accessible whenever someone has a problem, or just needs the encouragement of a trusted ear to understand their struggles better. If there is a necessary, but disagreeable job to do, it is very unlikely to be delegated out to others. [They] will find a creative way to accomplish it. In all team efforts, [they] bring a sense of fun and cohesion that inspires others to greater achievement.”

Another colleague wrote that he remembered our award winner showing a “respect and dignified way [they] worked with people, and most particularly with parents of children with disabilities.”

Furthermore, this individual’s boss writes, “[They] truly emulate the highest degree of honesty, trust and integrity to our Special Education program. He truly is a leader among his peers.”

Finally, our award winner “recently announced that he is almost complete in his Transition Plan as he moves to the retirement phase of his life. There would be no greater honor, than to acknowledge [this individual] as a person who exemplified the work that Mr. Batten started many years ago.”

Having worked most of his career on the east side of the state for Beecher School District, Tuscola ISD, Saginaw ISD, Bridgeport-Spaulding School District, and presently for Bay-Arenac ISD, please join me in congratulating Randy Schantz, your 2009 Murray O. Batten award winner!