Joliet Catholic Academy teacher gave ‘110%’ to students with learning challenges

When Amy Douglas of Joliet retired from Joliet Catholic Academy in May, the school lost “a tremendously valuable teacher,” JCA president and principal Jeffrey Budz said.

“Mrs. Douglas started the Academic Resource Program at JCA and has built and nurtured the program throughout her time at the school,” Budz said in a prepared statement. “She is one that challenges her students, but shows a compassion and love that her students will never forget. We will truly miss Amy and we certainly wish her the best in retirement.”

JCA’s Academic Resource Center is for students who need special academic assistance, according to the JCA website. Students participating in the Academic Resource Center receive tutoring in small groups by JCA’s certified learning Resource staff, JCA said.

Jennifer Buss, an associate professor of special education at Lewis University in Romeoville, who is aware of Douglas’ work, praised Douglas.

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Buss said Douglas embodies the textbook definition of “educator.”

“There is no other way to say it,” Buss said. “She knew what we needed. She would follow through. She basically was the voice for all of her students to make sure that they not only got a quality education but an education they deserved.”

‘This is not a special education program’

Before coming to JCA, Douglas taught at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Joliet for 13 years, she said.

Douglas then went to Taft Elementary School, also part of Joliet Public Schools District 86, to help students from parochial schools who were receiving services there, she said.

Three years later, JCA contacted Douglas to start a program to help students with learning challenges. Douglas said her husband taught at JCA, so staff there knew her and knew she was a special education teacher.

Douglas accepted the position and said she spent her first year at JCA looking for other Catholic Schools that had similar programs – which weren’t many at the time, she said.

“She basically was the voice for all of her students to make sure that they not only got a quality education but an education they deserved.”

—  Jennifer Buss, associate professor of special education at Lewis University in Romeoville

However, Mount Carmel High School in Chicago had established the McDermott-Doyle Program (named for two of its alumni) in 1992 to “meet the needs of students with mild learning disabilities/differences who have the potential and desire to succeed at the college level,” the Mount Carmel High School website said.

So, Douglas said she reached out to the school “and they were so nice to me.”

“I spent a lot of time here,” Douglas said. “I wanted to know how they had their program set up and brought that back to JCA. The following year, I put the program into place.”

Douglas said she wanted a program that kept JCA’s level of structure, ideals and curriculum intact while still fostering success in students with learning challenges and keeping them in a college prep program.

“This is not a special education program,” Douglas said, later adding, “All we’re doing is providing a program where kids get some help to be able to master or navigate their way through our college prep program.”

But for Buss, that’s exactly the point. Because of Douglas, students with learning challenges had the opportunities to succeed in a college prep program.

“Amy just looked at each kid as an individual,” Buss said. “What are their strengths? What can I do to assist? And then she was their guide.”

Buss said Douglas never wavered in her dedication to her students.

“Amy never took a day off in the sense she did it for those kids every single day of the year,” Buss said, later adding, “She did it 110% and the kids knew it. And the staff new it. She was respected in that community. I adore her; I absolutely adore her. We need to celebrate these educators more. Because they’re truly making the difference, every single day.”

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‘To be honest, I was a poor student myself’

Douglas said she came from a family of competitive swimmers. So her jobs growing up revolved around lifeguarding or teaching swimming classes to children, she said.

Because Douglas liked working with children, she became a teacher and “somehow wound up in special ed,” she said.

“To be honest, I was a poor student myself, mostly from a lack of trying and confidence,” Douglas said. “So the kids with the challenges just appealed to me and I was able to guide them.”

Douglas said the foundation for her success with the Academic Resource Center was the staff at JCA who supported her.

“Without them, this program would never have gotten off the ground,” Douglas said.

So why retire? Douglas, now 66, feels the program needs fresh insight that a new director could provide. Douglas is also deaf due to otosclerosis, so the two geometry classes she also teaches is now “very difficult for me,” she said.

Douglas said her deafness never interfered with running the Academic Resource Center.

“In a broad way, I think it just made me more empathetic and more open to disabilities,” Douglas said and later added, “By the grace of God I was given this wonderful chance to open doors for kids. I feel really good about what I’ve done.”