Coming into college, special education teacher Walt Williamson wanted to pursue a degree in physical education. During his time at Madison College, he worked with the special olympics, and he fell in love with it and decided to pursue a different form of coaching in the form of teaching.

“I thought I wanted to stay involved with athletics and coaching, so that’s why I thought about teaching. Back in the old days, you thought you didn’t need money, just live on love,” Williamson said.

Known as Mr. Walt by his students, Williamson works each and every day to shape and guide them and give them the skills they need, all with a smile on his face. Williamson is always ready to be hands-on with his students, and that one-on-one approach has stuck with him for all of his years as a teacher.

“I think with special ed, it’s always been hands-on, lots of modeling, and again just getting down and dirty with kids… lots of hands-on, lots of modeling. I don’t think [my teaching style has] changed much. I’m still probably as crazy as I was 37 years ago,” Williamson said.

Even after all of his time as a teacher, Williamson doesn’t lose motivation to keep going. He finds joy in seeing his students achieve, and it pushes him each day to get out of bed and get to school to teach with passion.

“[My favorite part is] seeing students light up when they achieve something that they hadn’t been able to before.

37 years later, Walt still pushes on and makes the most of every day

“[I just] appreciate every day. There’s folks that are dealing with much greater issues than I am, and it’s just been a fun ride.”