At age 64, with 73 marathons under his belt, there’s no stopping Steve Coffman. Aside from full-time teaching, he is training for his 35th consecutive Boston Marathon in April 2012. Coffman says his love for running started when he was stationed with the Marines in Hawaii. Officially peaking his interest, he ran in the...
Read more »

When it comes to giving back to the community, Spartans are leaders — and the heartwarming story of John Shinsky and his orphanage in Mexico is no exception. Growing up for Shinsky was far from typical. When he was only seven years old, his father suffered a fatal heart attack, and shortly after that, his mother placed him in an orphanage for a...
Read more »

For the past two years, the state has pressured Detroit Public Schools to reform its special education evaluation system, which had an exceptionally low rating. After facing threats of losing $5 million in federal funding for noncompliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, DPS has now implemented successful changes to its special education program. The new program will ensure that the district’s...
Read more »

The results of a first of its kind study of public school services provided to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were presented to the Michigan State Board of Education Sept. 13. Researchers Summer Ferreri, assistant professor of special education, and Sara Bolt, associate professor of school psychology, both within Michigan State University’s Department of Counseling,...
Read more »

Two Michigan State University professors have completed the first-ever statewide study of how Michigan’s public schools are responding to the fastest-growing developmental disability in the country – Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. Summer Ferreri, an assistant professor, and Sara Bolt, an associate professor, both hold appointments in the MSU College of Education’s Department of...
Read more »

Valerie Suszko, who graduated from Michigan State University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in special education, has been named the 2011 Woman of the Year by Greater Lansing Woman magazine. As a Special Olympics coach and special education teacher at Washington Woods school in Holt, Suszko is regarded as an inspiration and a hero by...
Read more »