25 Women in Leadership: Deb Rosas

PEORIA (25 NEWS) - Debra Rosas works at Schramm Educational Center.

She is a paraprofessional -- which is a teacher’s aide -- working with those with special needs, severe disabilities. They start from head start up on up to high school.

They do laundry, handwashing, basic needs and teaching how to count. They also do a lot of physical therapy and speech therapy -- and have a warm water therapy pool.

We have a lot of people here who work with these kids,” she said. “We help them as much as we can and if they can’t learn one way then we teach them something else.”

“Well, everyone says it’s hard work and I don’t think it is. My brother passed away when I was seven and he had special needs. These kids give me more satisfaction than I give them. For this job they need to have a heart…overjoyed that I make a difference in their life.”