Meghann Novak has been a special education teacher at Schenectady High School since 2011.

Before that she worked at a nonpublic school in Brooklyn. Novak said it was a bit of a culture shock when she started to work with older students.

“It took awhile to be able to figure out how we can get through the entire Regents curriculum, when we have all these other issues that have to be dealt with first before we can learn,” she said.

Novak has worked to transform her classroom into a welcoming space.

Learn more about how she connects with students by watching the video of Caitlin Irla’s story.