Ms. Gera Recognized as FCPS Cares of the Month Recipient!
May's Region 4 FCPS Cares of the Month
Congratulations to Lindsey Gera who was recognized as the May FCPS Cares Recipients of the Month for Region 4 by the Department of Human Resources. Congratulations, Ms. Gera!
Below is the write up submitted by Susan Holland, a colleague from Pimmit Hills Early Childhood Center.
For the past six years, Lindsey has been a special education teacher in non-cat, enhanced autism, and emotional disabilities classrooms. In addition to that, Lindsey is enrolled in the ABA consortium through George Mason University, a rigorous program which she is pursuing to further support her students. Her dedication to her students alone would qualify her for an FCPS cares award, but what makes Lindsey even more special is her creation of Toys For Teachers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to collect and redistribute donated toys to teachers of students with disabilities in Fairfax County. Lindsey seeks out donations for gently used and/or new toys and then fills wish lists for special education teachers. Lindsey has been on a mission to ensure that our teachers have access to a greater variety of toys and other learning materials to better support their students in the classroom. Lindsey runs this organization almost single-handedly from her two-bedroom condo. She reads through wish lists, boxes up supplies for the teachers and ships them to a variety of schools. In one year, Lindsey has shipped over 150 boxes to schools all over Fairfax County. She recently sponsored a library drive which allowed Pimmit Hills to create their first ever library! As if that is not enough, Lindsey, through Toys for Teachers has also partnered with the Key Center providing those students with significant disabilities the opportunity to develop important job skills such as sorting and packing. So many teachers and even more students have benefited from Lindsey's dedication and generosity. She deserves to be recognized for all she has done for the Special Education community.