Student Nomination Story

We met Rachel when my son Nicholas transferred from a small Catholic school in 6th grade. My son Nick aka Papa has been diagnosed with Tourette’s, mood disorder, Autism, ADHD, Von Willebrand Disease, has a 4mm cyst in his brain and suffers from severe migraines. We also decided to stop the medicine the doctor prescribed him with the doctors approval and he has been unmedicated for almost 4.5 years. We do homeopathic remedies and he changed his diet to a pescatarian diet. He misses a lot of school due to his many illnesses but always strives to complete all work he missed. Nick was bullied by a teacher at his previous school which caused him to shut down and caused him to be afraid of teachers, my son was failing and he had no friends. Rachel worked with him, listened to him and learned him so to speak. Nicks first year under her guidance and teaching was a huge success. He received several awards and even spent the whole year with merit and honor roll grades!! Rachel was moved to the high school and Nick started to fall back into a rut because of the lack of follow through and understanding from the other intervention specialists. Kids like my son find their people and Rachel was someone he saw who helped saved him. As high school was starting a few weeks ago, my sons anxiety was getting the best of him so much so that he asked me to let him quit school. He feared he would fail out. We worked through it and the day of orientation we walked to his room and there stood our on earth God sent angel, Mrs. Rachel Grabowski!! Tonight I received a message letting me know how my 6’1” 270 lb baby boy’s first week went, the ticks she noticed and how she diverted them and if he had any feedback she can help him with to transition better. It was the most unexpected message but a normal characteristic of Rachel and her ability to connect with her students. Words alone can not describe the human, woman and teacher she is. Her professional and personal ethics make her more than one of a kind...she’s almost euphoric. I along with my family would like to nominate Mrs. Rachel Grabowski for any and all teacher awards. May God always bless her and keep her safe so that she can continue to change and connect with every student she gets to teach!

Nicholas Rushnok

To see more exceptional teacher nominees, visit The Honor Roll.