San Marcos CISD special ed teacher helps students publish book

Central Texas special ed teacher publishes book

A San Marcos CISD special education teacher is being recognized for her amazing work inside and outside the classroom. FOX 7 Austin education reporter Jessica Rivera has the details.

SAN MARCOS, Texas - A San Marcos CISD special education teacher is being recognized for her amazing work inside and outside the classroom.

This school year, Mrs. Jamie Lilly, worked closely with her students to publish their own book.

The backstory:

Lilly has been a special education teacher at San Marcos High School for four years and in that short time she has already made a huge impact on her students.

"I instantly fell in love with the job and the students. And I couldn't picture myself doing anything else. And so, I made the decision to get my teaching certificate," says Jamie Lilly, San Marcos High School Special Education teacher.

This year during a class discussion she asked her students what they plan to do after graduation and their response were endless.

"So, there is Caden's construction worker, and he's on, actually he's on course to graduate with a construction certificate. OSHA 10 certified in all that stuff. Anthony did a ceramicist, so he chose to do a pottery wheel in his own writing. Jacob is in ROTC; his third year he's on a path to join the military. And it's something he's very passionate about," explains Lilly.

After hearing their plans, Mrs. Lilly got an idea and brought it to life.

"I just thought it would be a really cool idea for them to have something published with their name and what they want to do because they don't always get that voice,"

What they're saying:

Everything in the book was produced from the students themselves.

"One side of the page, they had to do a drawing, if they chose. They could color it, they could do whatever they wanted to here, but this is their own drawing. They colored them in, and then we found some descriptions of their job, and then I printed them off for them so they could look at them, read it, figure out exactly what they wanted to say, and then they wrote him in," says Lilly.

In Mrs. Lilly’s classroom you will get hands-on experience in the workforce. She says this helps students with special needs to become independent and advocate for themselves.

"I get a district suburban twice a week and we go everywhere. We shop for the culinary classes, we do a snack shack fundraiser for ACl (Alternative Curriculum Learning)
and they shop for those items. We also do Rattler Roast and we make and deliver specific, very specialized drinks every week," says Lilly.