‘They are fighters.’ How daycare visits sparked CMS Teacher of the Year’s passion

Rebeckah Hauss’ career has been a homecoming in more ways than one.

She attended Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a child and, from as early as she can remember, wanted to be a teacher.

“Every time I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say ‘teacher’ ... I would always teach my stuffed animals when I would play.” Hauss told The Charlotte Observer. “I just grew into the passion for teaching.”

Her mother worked at a daycare for kids with special needs during her childhood, and Hauss recalls making friends there when visiting her mom.

“I realized I enjoyed being with that population,” Hauss said.

After graduating from Northwest School of the Arts as a dance student and, later, East Carolina University in 2013, Hauss made her way back home — to Mecklenburg County and to her calling. Today, she teaches at Metro School in uptown, a CMS campus dedicated to serving special needs students.

CMS named Hauss its 2026 Teacher of the Year at the fourth annual Gem Awards at Central Piedmont Community College on May 5. She was selected from a pool of 11 finalists from around the district.

Each school in CMS submits a nominee for Teacher of the Year, Teacher Assistant of the Year and Beginning Teacher of the Year, along with a portfolio and essay. A panel of judges then interviews and selects finalists. The panel includes former teachers of the year, executive directors and CMS’ recruitment, retention and talent development team.

As part of the award, the district gifted Hauss a new Honda from Honda of Concord and cash prizes totaling $5,550.

“I just do this work not to get recognition, but to show compassion and appreciation to the students and staff here at Metro,” Hauss said. “So, receiving this award just made it so much more meaningful and showed that I was truly making that impact.”

Many of Hauss’s students have complex physical disabilities, and most are nonverbal. They’ve taught her lessons about what’s possible.

“Even though they’re at a low cognitive ability, they persevere ... sometimes better than I see adults persevere,” she said. “They’re always wanting to try. It may take time – sometimes a substantial amount of time – but they are fighters.”

A day in the life

Hauss’ job is a bit different than most teachers: She works with students from ages 18 to 22, teaching communication and functional skills rather than traditional classes like reading and math.

The goal, she said, is to help them be as independent as they can after graduation.

“For example, today, they have swim class, so they get to use their fine motor and gross motor skills, and then we have community-based training, where they get to practice job skills,” Hauss said. “With my group specifically, we work on creating newsletters, and they’ll pick out the symbols and the information that goes in it.”

They have “community living” lessons, where students practice skills to help them navigate the outside world. For example, students learned about going to the dentist’s office, including what happens there and how to properly take care of their teeth every day.

Students also regularly do community service such as helping package items for distribution at a local food bank or making cookies and lemonade for firefighters.

“They’re able to not only overcome obstacles, but they can also give back to their own community,” Hauss said. “That’s sort of a misconception among a lot of people that don’t work with this particular population: that they’re unable to contribute in that kind of way.”

Hauss said the best part about her job is watching students make progress. For example, one of her students competed in the local Special Olympics last year, using a mobility device called a gait trainer to help her cross the finish line for a gold medal.

“That little bit of progress might not be as important to some,” Hauss said. “But to me, that just makes the whole difference – that I am helping their lives be better.”

“We’re very worried”

Budgets have gotten tighter over the years, she said. For teachers, that feels like an increasing number of tasks on their plate.

“I’ve seen that teachers are getting burnt out more because there’s more expectations,” Hauss said. “It can be cumbersome, so I feel like a shift has gone to more expectations, more demands, which leads to lower staff and lower morale.”

The precarity of Medicaid funding adds another layer of anxiety.

CMS receives millions of dollars from Medicaid each year as reimbursements for speech, occupational and physical therapy services as well as nursing and behavioral health for students with special needs. Each student in the Exceptional Children program has their needs spelled out in an individualized education program, or IEP.

Last school year, CMS served 17,245 students with IEPs in the Exceptional Children program. Approximately 3,000 of those had more complex needs and were supported by about 800 specialized staff members.

But Congress passed a budget reconciliation bill signed into law last year that will cut Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.

In North Carolina, lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill April 30 to fully fund Medicaid through the end of this fiscal year on June 30, to avert a looming $319 million shortfall. What happens after is still unclear.

Hauss said the uncertainty around Medicaid looms over Metro School.

“We’re very worried, because honestly, if we cut Medicaid, that’s going to impact what the kids are capable of,” Hauss said. “Because a lot of them need braces to support their legs to even walk, or they need a chair so they can get around.”

Things like leg braces and wheelchairs, she said, are not one-time expenses for kids not only progressing in their abilities but also physically growing like any other children.

“With growth spurts and everything, there’s constant changing of wheelchairs, and the same goes for their arm splints,” Hauss said. “They have to change those every year, or sometimes six months, and with the Medicaid budget being cut, it could be longer before they get it.”

Still, Hauss isn’t stopping. This week, she plans to receive a certificate from East Carolina University in education for deaf and blind children. That pursuit, like most things in her life, was motivated by care for her students.

“I just wanted to find better skills and techniques that I could use to gain a better understanding of some things they go through, what they could possibly be thinking and what their needs are because they’re nonverbal,” Hauss said. “I’m always about trying to improve myself and better help my students.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM.