A Very Special Kind of Hero
By Dennis Howard
Pro-life people are often
accused of caring only for the unborn. In fact, dedication to the care of the
sick and disabled is very much a part of pro-life purpose: to nurture life from
conception to its natural end.
I can’t think of a better example of one who lived that philosophy than
Anne I. Remis, who triumphed over
enormous obstacles of her own -- including a 10-year battle with tuberculosis
-- to become a pioneer in a brand new field, special education, and went on
to make valuable contributions to the lives of others.
Her story is also a precious
piece of education history, the story of the very early days of special
education for children with disabilities. Remis wrote about it in a book
called, Miss Teach: Handwritten with Love, published by The Movement for
a Better America, Mt. Freedom, NJ 07970.
Anne was one of those people who
instinctively make lemonade when God sends them lemons. Whenever she ran into a
major life obstacle, she transformed it into a precious opportunity. Her book has been called “a testament to the
power of what one person can do to leave the world a better place for today’s
children.”
She grew up in Clinton, NY, one of six children of Frank and Anna Jurcisin
Remis -- including two girls, Anne and Dorothy, and four brothers: John, Frank,
Stephen and George. She came of age in the middle of the Great Depression.
Determined to get an education, she went on to receive her Bachelor's degree in
1935 from SUNY, Oswego and her Master's degree in 1949 from SUNY College for
Teachers in Buffalo.
Her teaching career began in a one-room "little red country school
house" with a single student, but soon moved on to a regional center for
developmentally handicapped children. There she taught young adults in every
subject, including music, drama, dancing and academics.
Sadly, she contracted tuberculosis two and a half years later, and spent
the next 10 years in the famous Trudeau Sanitorium in Saranac Lake, NY. She
wrote about these years in a chapter she contributed to a book about Trudeau by
Victoria Rinehart, Ph.D. called "Portrait of Healing" that was
published by North Country Books, Utica, NY.
Always one to make the most of her challenges, she wrote, "No
doubt, my years at Trudeau were also deeply formative for the work I was
eventually called to do."
That was the beginning of her new challenge. In February, 1949, Anne became one of the first teachers at the
Edith Hartwell Clinic in Leroy, New York, a research center founded to develop
methods to meet the needs of children with disabilities. At the time, there
were few guidelines or even equipment to assist special needs teachers, but
nothing fazed her.
She used her ingenuity to
innovate whatever was needed, and the results can be seen in today’s advanced
equipment and techniques. Today’s sophisticated electronic communications tools
began with mechanical communications boards that Anne designed to give the
disabled a way to communicate. It was like taking down a wall that closed the
disabled off from the rest of the world
Three years later she moved on
to teach and develop similar programs in the Rochester public schools, where
she worked for the next 27 years. These
years were filled with experiences that Anne retells with verve and
humor in her book. Some are tragic, others full of hope, and many have amazing
outcomes. All the stories confirm that no child should be left behind, least of
all those with special needs and special gifts.
But her book, “Miss Teach”
is more than a teacher’s memoir. It is a testament to the power of what
one person can do to leave the world a better place. Ultimately, all of Anne’s achievements were personal in the difference
she was able to make in the lives of her students. Some went on to successful
careers in writing, social work, education, and marketing.
The book itself was written
painstakingly over a period of three years. She would draft chapters in
longhand on yellow, legal-size pads and send them to her niece, Anne Howard, in
New Jersey, to review and edit. Anne passed the ms. on to her husband, Dennis,
a retired journalist with more than 50 years of editorial and marketing
experience.
He recalls: “One day I realized
that, with a little more work, this could make a very publishable book that
would inspire a lot of other people, including the next generation of teachers.
Educating children with disabilities is very much a life issue, and that's what
the Movement for a Better America is all about.”
So far, the book has been well
received by parents and teachers of children with disabilities as well as by
libraries in colleges with education programs. “Our goal is to encourage
parents with disabled children as well as to inspire young teachers entering
this difficult field,” Howard said.
The Howards' daughter,
Elizabeth, who teaches special education classes in Colorado, wrote an
introduction to the book. In it, she said, “I remember the stories that I heard
from my mother about Aunt Anne as I was growing up. Some of the stories I heard
about her, no doubt, sunk deep into my young brain and had at least some
influence on my career choice."
Her experiences as a teacher confirm Anne Remis’ vision of how to build
a better world.
She writes, “Many students do not see much, if any, love and beauty in
the world just outside their window. My job, and the job of all teachers, is to
lift them up to see. Through the
stories Anne Remis tells we see how her message of love and hope has transformed
the lives of parents and children who bear the heavy burden of disability in a
world that typically rewards its opposite.”
That spirit is captured in a long-lost poem by Clare Tree Major that
was written in the 1930’s and recalled from memory by Anne Remis as she closes
out her book:
Would you set your name among the stars?
Then write it large upon the hearts of children.
They will remember.
Have you visions of a finer, happier world?
Tell the children, they will build it for you.
Have you a word of hope for poor, blind, stumbling
human kind?
Give it not to intelligent, blundering man.
Give it to the children.
In their clear, untroubled minds
It will reflect itself a thousandfold.
And someday paint itself upon the mountain tops.
Somewhere a Lincoln plays and listens and watches
with bewildered eye
This strange procession of mild-mannered souls.
Have you a ray of light to offer?
Then give it.
And it will help to light the world to freedom and to joy.
Clare Tree Major
Miss Teach: Handwritten with
Love is available for $12.00, including shipping, from Movement for a Better
America, Inc, PO Box 472, Mt. Freedom, NJ
07970. Additional bulk copies for church or classroom use are just $8.00 a copy, shipping included.
MBA President Dennis Howard is also available to speak about the book. Dennis is a
frequent talk radio guest and public speaker on topics related to the
life issue. Simply email Dennis Howard
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