C.O. educator honored for work on traumatic brain inury
The Oregon Association of Central Office Administrators has selected Central Oregon educator Sue Hayes as the recipient of the 2015 Achievement of Excellence Award.
As program administrator for the High Desert Education Service District, Hayes was chosen in honor of her work to champion services for students and their families faced with Traumatic Brain Injury.
“Sue has dedicated her career to helping students with special needs achieve academic success,” said HDESD Superintendent John Rexford. “Her work to coordinate services for Central Oregon students who have experienced from traumatic brain injury has become a model for other districts and ESDs throughout the state,” explained Rexford who added that Hayes was recently invited to present at a conference hosted by the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania.
Hayes’ work includes the coordination of education teams and medical care providers to identify and manage Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a condition that is hugely under diagnosed in the United States. Through this process, Hayes has increased TBI awareness and access to services in Central Oregon. Her championship has resulted in an extensive support network of Central Oregon educators, coaches, school nurses and health/mental health providers to serve students and families.
Hayes began her education career as a speech language pathologist and later became an autism specialist before taking on a leadership role with HDESD. In addition to her Traumatic Brain Injury work, she now oversees all of the autism specialists, teachers of the vision impaired, and teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing for all of the school districts in seven counties in Central/Eastern Oregon (Crook, Deschutes Gilliam, Harney, Jefferson, Sherman, Wheeler).
“Sue’s work doesn’t stop at the end of each school day,” said Rexford. “She works closely with the national Center for Brain Injury Research & Training, is a member of the State of Oregon TBI Team and has played a key role in bringing a national concussion conference to Bend, Oregon for the past several years. We are fortunate to have her on our team.”
About High Desert Educational Service District
The High Desert Education Service District (HDESD) is a regional support system that links school districts in Central Oregon to state and national education resources. Our programs help districts minimize duplication of services, preserve their local budgets and receive special programs that might otherwise be unavailable to them. For more information, visit hdesd.org.
About The Oregon Association of Central Office Administrators
The Oregon Association of Central Office Administrators (OACOA) is part of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA). OACOA works to provide opportunities for increasing the competence of persons engaged in supervisory activities in Oregon schools as well as an organizational framework which represents supervisors in statewide education discussion and decisions; and encourage professional communication among members. For more information, visit cosa.k12.or.us
