Sisters teacher honored for excellence

Josh Nordell, a special-education teacher at Sisters High School, has been selected as one of the top three Circle of Excellence finalists in the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education contest. He is the only finalist from east of the Cascades.

Nordell has created a life-skills program from the ground up for the most severely disabled students in the school. In the classroom, Nordell is responsible for the full-time education of five special-needs children, 13 to 19, in addition to two remedial math classes. His life-skills program includes weekly shopping trips, adaptive martial arts, visits from a trained therapy dog, skiing with Oregon Adaptive Sports, and a job-skills program.

"Josh is an amazing teacher," says Dave Huni, one of the parents who spearheaded the nomination. "He's created programs that all the special-needs children in the district can benefit from. Our son Max is still at the middle school, but he participated in the ski days and goes to martial arts every week. It's ... helped with his attitude towards school, his social skills, everything.

"Prior to this year, many students transferred out of the district because there was no program to meet their needs," Huni noted. "In seven short months, Josh has created an amazing program for our kids. His teaching and caring extend far beyond the classroom to all aspects of his students' lives."

Nordell's classroom will receive $1,500, and he will also receive a $1,500 prize for himself.