DEDICATION RECIPIENT Assistant Professor ofEducation Lisa Bryant's greatest passion was ensuring that people with disabilities received the services they deserved. After beginning her college career at the University ofArkansas, Bryant graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with an undergraduate degree in special education and a master's degree in secondary leadership in I 997. She has been married to Bruce Bryant for 25 years and has two sons - seniors Mills and Haydn Bryant. Prior to her teaching career at Harding, Bryant was a special education teacher at Morrilton High School.Her community-based instruction class taught independent living skills to individuals with severe disabilities. She was promoted to special education director at Morrilton High Schoolafter 10 years ofsuccess in the classroom. After adjunct teaching for Harding in the summer. Bryant came to Harding full-time in 2012 and spent her time at Harding teaching education majors how to teach people with disabilities in regular education classrooms while also being involved with the football team as the academic coach, the College ofEducation service organization SALT (Scholars Advancing Learning and Teaching), Relay for Life and Bison Praying Moms. Megan Stroud: How did you decide you wanted to be a teacher, specificallya special education teacher? Lisa Bryant: Well I was born a reacher. My favorite toy as a child was my chalkboard and my little sisterwas alway my student. For a long time, I thought I wanted to teach kindergarten. I took a little hiatus from college, and I worked retail as a manager in St.Louis. On my off days, I would substitute teach because I till knew I wanted to reach. I got a phone call one morning and [was asked to subin a class] for kids withdisabilites. I had no idea what I wa walking into. I don't remember the name of anybody in the classroom but I remember it being the best day ever. I remember being soinspired. I believe that Godorder our steps. I think we end up where we're supposed to end up. I was in that classroom as a slap in the face to saythis is what you're supposedto do. At that point, no joke, within a week I was making plans to go back to school to the U of A. It was that day in that classroom with kids with disabilities that made me realize that I had no business with little knee-biter kindergarteners and that specialed was what I was supposedto do. MS: What are the biggest difference in reaching specialeducation and reaching future special educationteachers here at Harding? LB: I always wanted to reach in college. I just didn't know I wanted to do it this soon.When I first took my director job [in Morrilton], I missed being with kids, but whenever I wanted to I could leave my office and go hang out in a classroom. When we moved here I didn't know anybody in classrooms. It was really different, but I told myself that I, from this place,could exponentially make the lives of peoplewith disablilitiesbetter through the training of general edteachers and special edteacher than I could having eight to 15 kids with disabilities in a classroom in Morrilton by myself. I'm teaching people whowill hopefullygo the extra mile for kids with disabilites becausee of something they learned in my class. MS: If you had to pick a favorite, what is your favorite class that you teach at Harding? LB: [My law class is] probably the one that I'm the most passionate about because it's what most school districts do incorrectly. I like to empower futu re teacher to go and seewhere the law is and read it for themselves. But that's where I feel like I can instill the need for advocacy that a good special ed teacher has. And then my most fun class to me is the [Educating Studentwith Moderate to SevereDisabilities] class because I'm teaching people how I taught and doing those skillsthat are totally different than most students learn in high school. I got really attached to folks in class and soI hate when they leave. I love all of them. MS: What is the most important piece of advice that you arriveto instill in all of your students? LB: Two things. All students can learn. There's a quote that I use. 'All studentscan learn, just not on the sameday, not in the same way.' And the other is to do what you love and don't waste your time. Don't waste your time doing something that you don't love. If you don't love what yo·u're doing, find something else to do. If it's not teaching, if you don't love teaching, go do something else. Life's too shortand too precious not to do what you love. I love teachingI love bring with kids. MS: Whydo you think Lisa Bryant deserves this honor and how have you personally been impacted by her? NatalieFrederick, senior special education with lisensure major: Lisa Bryant challenges everyone to seeability. Ability in themselves and ability in others. Shedemands excellence. She never asks that you come to her perfect or pristine, but shelooks you in the eye, she seeswhat you cando, and shechallenges youto seeitc as well. If I had to describe LisaBryant in one word it would be 'advocate.' Shetaught me and my classmates to advocate for the rights of those with disabilities --- more importantly shetaught us to teach them to advocate for themselves. Shetaught us to fight when the fight doesn't seem fair. Shetaught us to speak up when the world is silent. Shetaught us to find strengths when it seems like only weakness abounds. Mrs. B reminded us to find humor in everyday put commas where the world put periods, and to always use our nice words. There are innumerable things I have learned and carried into the world because my life has been influenced by Lisa Bryant, but the most important is this: if I ever have a student who has to describe me in one word, I hope that word is 'advocate.' interview by Megan troud 5 I DEDICATION
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