Cherokee County Schools Recognizes Four Special Education Staff Members as Staff of the Year

The Cherokee County School District honored four special education employees at its annual Special Education Staff of the Year ceremony, recognizing outstanding service to some of the district's most vulnerable students.

The four honorees represent a cross-section of the specialized roles that make up a modern special education department. Mindy Ureche was named Itinerant Staff of the Year for her work as a districtwide teacher of the visually impaired, a role that takes her across multiple campuses to serve students who might otherwise have no access to vision-specific instruction. Dr. Anne Stair of Little River Elementary School took home School Psychologist of the Year honors. Rebecca Costales of R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy was named Special Education Facilitator of the Year, and Chris Kramer of Bascomb Elementary School earned recognition as Speech Language Pathologist of the Year.

Special Education Directors Melissa Sneed and Don Garner presided over the ceremony alongside Emily Hewitt of Credit Union of Georgia, the program's presenting sponsor. Each winner received a $100 Visa gift card and a branded tote bag provided by Credit Union of Georgia, a designated CCSD community partner that has maintained an ongoing relationship with the district to support programs and recognitions like this one.

The work being recognized touches thousands of Cherokee County families directly. CCSD's Special Education department serves students with a wide range of learning differences and disabilities across more than 40 schools in the district. The staff includes classroom teachers, itinerant specialists who travel between campuses, school psychologists who assess and support student mental health and learning needs, facilitators who coordinate services and ensure legal compliance under federal disability law, and speech-language pathologists who work one-on-one with students on communication skills that affect everything from classroom participation to daily life.

That breadth matters in a district the size of Cherokee County's. With more than 42,000 students enrolled across the county, CCSD ranks among the larger school systems in Georgia, and the demands on its special education staff scale accordingly. These are professionals who often carry heavy caseloads, navigate complex federal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and build relationships with students and families that can span years. An annual recognition program doesn't change the workload, but it does put names and faces to work that frequently happens behind the scenes, away from the visibility that classroom teachers more often receive.

For parents of children receiving special education services, seeing that work publicly acknowledged is a reminder that the district views these roles as central, not supplementary, to its mission.