Dave Bousfield meets a challenge by helping others meet them.

It’s been that way ever since an older sibling who did volunteer work started bringing disabled students to the Bousfield home on the weekends when Dave was a teenager.

Dave was fascinated by the connection. He became determined to help others less fortunate.

“I thought special education, kids with special needs, would be an area I think I can impact and make a difference,” Bousfield said.

Dave went on to become a special education teacher. He has spent the past 26 years helping students at Helen Lemme Elementary School overcome their disadvantages.

The job has many rewards, some when you least expect them.

Dave recently was at a local grocery store when the mother of one of his former students approached him in the aisle. Her son had died of cancer, but she still wanted to thank Dave for helping him become a better student.

“For that mom, even a decade after his death, to come back and say, ‘Can I just give you a hug?’ That is something that is so important to me,” Dave said. “Those are the affirmations that just make it all worthwhile.”

Dave works with students who have a range of learning disabilities, but mostly with those who struggle with reading, writing and arithmetic. He also works with kids who suffer from such disorders as autism, attention deficit disorder and dyslexia.

“It’s a chance for me to step in and help them affirm their dignity and their worth above all,” Dave said. “What we often have to celebrate are just the small successes with kids.

“Not only their ability to achieve, but their ability to recognize that they can do it.”

Dave keeps track of his students as they progress through high school.

“It’s a great sense of satisfaction to track a kid and know that this is the year they walk across the stage to get a diploma,” he said.

— Pat Harty

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