The Campus School at Boston College???s Mary Lessard honored for her Exceptional Direct Service to Children with Special Needs
From left to right: James V. Major, maaps executive director; Mary Lessard, Life Skills and Transition Coordinator at The Campus School at Boston College; Anne McManus, president of maaps board of directors
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – A dedicated and compassionate life skills and transition coordinator, Mary Lessard, a Life Skills and Transition Coordinator at The Campus School at Boston College, was recently honored by the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (maaps) with its 2016 Albert E. Trieschman Memorial Award for Exceptional Direct Service to Children for her longtime work with students with special needs. maaps is a non-profit trade association which represents 87 private special education schools across the state, including The Campus School.
The Campus School at Boston College is a private, non-profit, publicly funded special education day school for students between the ages of 3 and 21 with multiple disabilities. Many Campus School students also have complex health care needs.
Lessard has been a direct service practitioner The Campus School for 28 years. Her colleagues wrote letters of praise to nominate her for the award that highlighted her longtime and devoted efforts to support students and her work to help guide parents and guardians of the school???s older students on guardianship and transition planning.
She was presented with the Trieschman Memorial Award on Friday, April 1 at maaps??? 38th Annual Conference in Marlborough.
???Mary is an extraordinarily gifted and dedicated member of The Campus School staff, whose contributions to the students and program are numerous,??? says Maureen Beauregard, assistant director at The Campus School at Boston College. ???No task is too large or too small for Mary, and she brings a wealth of energy, creativity, perseverance and humor to everything she does. The transition protocol Mary has developed could be a model for other schools, if not the state.???
In addition to helping students with transitions, Lessard is also the resident expert in Adaptive Design, helping create adapted power tools, adapted race cars, and even a battery powered truck designed to look like a turkey for the annual Turkey Bowling competition. She also trains other staff members in nonviolent crisis intervention, and provides behavioral consultation to teachers who are working with difficult children. Her work has led to significant progress in students??? quality of life and well-being.
???We are very proud to honor Mary for her inspiring and remarkable work,??? says James V. Major, maaps executive director. ???maaps member schools, teachers and staff work tirelessly to provide high-quality educational experiences to their students. Mary???s longstanding devotion to her students at The Campus School embodies these efforts and serves as a great example to her entire profession.???
The Albert E. Trieschman Memorial Award for Exceptional Direct Service to Children is annually awarded at the maaps conference to honor the legacy of the late Dr. Trieschman who founded Walker and served as the first executive director until his death in 1984. Throughout his career, Dr. Trieschman, a psychologist at Children???s Hospital, helped children facing emotional, behavioral and learning challenges get the treatment and support they needed to lead full lives. In 1969, Dr. Trieschman co-wrote The Other 23 Hours, which emphasizes the power of a therapeutic setting in the lives of children coping with complex behavioral health needs. His revolutionary work introduced a new residential care philosophy that outlined the need for treatment beyond the one-hour therapy session. The Other 23 Hours remains a classic text for child care professionals working in residential treatment settings.