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SPECIAL EDUCATION
P R O F I L E S I N S U C C E S S : Annie Sheedy Annie Sheedy says that without the supportive teachers and staff at Fox Meadow she might never have graduated high school. Now she is a teacher’s aide at the Walden School and looking to embark on a college degree in psychology.
"The teachers kept encouraging me to keep at it. I was so, so happy when I had all the credits to graduate. I couldn’t believe it!" Annie’s mom, Elina, says the change in her daughter when she went to Fox Meadow was "like the difference between night and day." She said that Fox Meadow was the first time Annie had shown an interest in school. "She had more confidence, and her social life was better; she seemed to fit in and was more like herself."
Sheedy says she suffered from depression and ADHD as a middle school student, and by the time she got to high school she was skipping more days than she attended. "I would either not go to school or leave early," she says. Her parents sent her to a local private school, but that did not help. "I hated it, and I wasn’t learning anything."
She also appreciated the communication the school had with her as a parent and the extra steps the staff took to make sure Annie graduated. "She has come a long way, and we’re really proud of her. It was nothing short of miraculous."
In the middle of her sophomore year, Annie started at BOCES’ Fox Meadow High School and everything began to change.
It was at Annie’s work at a day care center in Mahopac, which she began when she was still in high school, where she found her calling. "I love to work with children," she says. With three years’ experience at the day care, Annie made the move to the Walden School at PNW BOCES, where she is an aide in a third- and fourth-grade classroom. "I want to help kids in need: I feel I understand them because of my own experience." Annie also works after school as a babysitter for a family in Mahopac. She gets off around 8 p.m., which means she has worked a 12-hour day. "That’s the way I like it," she says. "I know I need to be busy – to have structure."
"From the first day I felt valued," she says. "The teachers and staff were so welcoming; they knew I was nervous and really reached out. And the students were so friendly, too. I felt I had a reason to be in school." Annie admits that she still did not have perfect attendance, but recalled that the teachers and principal would call her and encourage her to come to school. "They really cared about me." Although she felt more engaged with schoolwork at Fox Meadow, studying was difficult for her. "There were days when I really doubted I would graduate." But with the help of the school psychologist and teachers, she learned valuable stress management techniques and soldiered on, graduating in 2020.
It also helps her save for college. "I’ll probably go for my Associate’s degree first and see how it goes. I don’t want to overwhelm myself. But I definitely have a plan, and I’m going to act on it!"
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