Donna Casey is the CMS teacher assistant of the year

Donna Casey, a teacher assistant in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms at Beverly Woods Elementary School, has been named the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher assistant of the year.

Casey began her CMS career in 2008 at McKee Elementary and spent time as a teacher assistant at Ballantyne Elementary before making her way to Beverly Woods three years ago.

She said she helps hold students accountable for their learning and guides them toward the genres and books that will inspire a love of reading in them. Her job, she said, is to “pull out what’s special in each child.”

“To find them reading in class, or reading on the playground, it makes me go ‘Yes! This is why I do what I do,’” Casey said Wednesday.

CMS has about 1,600 teacher assistants, primarily in elementary schools. The district is expecting a shortfall in state funding for teacher assistants this year and has asked Mecklenburg County to contribute money to maintain the same number of positions this fall.

Superintendent Ann Clark said Wednesday that wasn’t about preserving jobs but about the district’s commitment to literacy. Teacher assistants spend much of their time helping students in small groups with reading.

“It’s important as a community that we understand the critical role our teacher assistants play,” Clark said.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Donna Casey is the CMS teacher assistant of the year."