Upper St. Clair special education teacher wins awards
Almost every educator says their job is “rewarding.”
For Christy Mikolaj, a fifth- and sixth-grade special education teacher at Boyce Middle School in Upper St. Clair, she believes her career in special education is “especially rewarding,” which led her to receive two education awards from Duquesne University in December.
“Teachers always say jobs are rewarding, but when you’re working in special education you have such a small amount of students to work with and you build those relationships,” Mikolaj said.
A little more than a year into her Educational Leadership doctoral program at Duquesne, Mikolaj won two awards from the program.
One of the awards, the Horton Coe Southworth Educational Leadership Award and Scholarship, is a commemorative award for the late Dr. Horton Coe Southworth, who was a scholar in residence at the Duquesne University School of Education and one of the original developers of the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program at Duquesne University. Mikolaj received the award from the professors in her program.
“For them to see I have that in me and that I’m willing to make that change in the future is humbling,” she said. “They’re all wonderful people. They’re so supportive. They’re the best professors I could ask for.”
The other award, the Mind, Heart, and Spirit of Educational Leadership Award, was given to Mikolaj from her peers in her cohort.
“I feel that one was especially important to me because forming those new relationships with everybody has been important to me,” she said.
Mikolaj received a plaque and money to purchase books on leadership for her own development.
“The pursuit of continued learning is a hallmark of our faculty at Upper St. Clair,” Superintendent Patrick O’Toole said in a district press release. “Ms. Mikolaj’s honors exemplify, at the highest level, this commitment to higher learning.”
While Mikolaj is passionate about special education, she also hopes to one day be an administrator.
That’s why Mikolaj, who already earned a master’s degree from her undergraduate alma mater Duquesne University, is pursuing her doctorate in Duquesne’s Educational Leadership Program with an emphasis on Social Justice.
“I wanted to begin making changes not only for special education kids but for all kids,” she said. “Being a lifelong learner, I wanted to continue getting the most up-to-date educational research, being that it’s changing so much and for me to take that next step into my leadership career.”
Mikolaj also said the social justice emphasis of the program interested her.
“Our classes really focus on there is equity and equality for all students in the education system and making sure that those students have a voice and that all students are being treated fairly and equally,” she said.
Mikolaj’s dissertation is on “project-based learning in an inclusions setting in order to decrease behavioral aspects and to increase appropriate classroom interactions,” she said. She hopes to complete her program in May 2019.
Before joining USC in 2009, Mikolaj, a Baldwin native, worked for the Elizabeth Forward School District for five years and the Holy Family Institute for five years. For all 19 years as an educator, Mikolaj has been a special education teacher.
“I have a dedication to those students who never really get an opportunity to show what they have to offer,” she said. “Working with emotional support students many times, their behaviors interfere, so people don’t get to see what they can actually do and produce and how independent they can be. I think me having the patience, the consistency and the passion to work with those kids is what led me to special education.
“I want them to demonstrate to the world everything that they have to offer.”