An integral member of the North Penn Special Education staff and a volunteer-oriented individual, Mrs. Kathleen Kerper is heavily involved in many extra-curricular aspects of the special education program. But what drew her in to the field in the first place?
“I’ve always been drawn to people who have a harder time doing things,” explained Kerper, “I just, for whatever reason, love working with them. There’s no challenge too great – I always say that let’s figure out a way to do something and we’ll see if we can do it.”
Ever since Kerper began teaching at North Penn in 1978, she has also been a volunteer in the North Penn Special Olympics. She was in charge of the Special Olympic Track Meet at North Penn from 1979 to 2010, when it was moved to Souderton. “My favorite part of Special Olympics is watching our athletes’ skills and confidence grow,” professed Kerper. “I also love the interaction that occurs between peer buddies and our athletes. It’s a good way for each group to see that the other person is just like them – just with different strengths and weaknesses.”
She was also a Games Director for Special Olympics Aquatic meets and is now the Games Director for North Penn’s County Basketball Competition in individual skills and 3 on 3 team play. In past years, Kerper has also coached bowling, skiing, floor hockey, gymnastics, and track. She also has attended the National Student Government Conference when they featured “Special Olympics” five years ago.
Kerper’s commitments range outside of North Penn as well; she owns the grooming salon “Groomingdales” in Collegeville with her family. Because of this, Kerper admits to becoming “very involved with rescue agencies. I also advocate for pit bulls, whom I feel have gotten a bad rap. They are really gentile dog that, if trained properly, make a good family pet.”
She also enjoys singing in the United Schwenkfelder Christmas Choir, having served as secretary in the ensemble for twenty years. As a member of the Worcester Ladies Auxiliary, Kerper served as secretary for five years and now assists with fundraisers.
Valuing being a teacher in special education as her greatest accomplishment, Kerper infuses meaningful lessons into her life skills support class. “[We] have [the students] think about other people who might not be disabled and because I have a multitude of cultures in my classroom, I try and do different things that involve different cultures. In African American Awareness month, we turned [the lesson] into avoid prejudice. We’re talking about how prejudice can hurt your self-esteem, and so we talked about different ways that you can avoid prejudice and put yourself in the other person’s shoes.”
From choirs to pets to Special Olympics, Kathleen Kerper exemplifies a teacher committed to bettering the education of her students and at the same time staying engaged in the local community.