Georgetown Teacher Honored For Work With Autistic Boy - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

Georgetown Teacher Honored For Work With Autistic Boy

GEORGETOWN, Del. -- Every month WMDT and Accurate Optical surprise a very deserving teacher, making a difference in the lives of their students. 

In our first surprise of the school year, WMDT  honored Mrs. Donaway at Georgetown Elementary, a teacher who works directly with autistic children.

5 year old Cole Miller, was diagnosed with autism just over a year ago. Cole enrolled in Georgetown Elementary's Speak Program, and was in Adrienne Donaway's class. Donaway was a teacher that not only understood him, but helped him develop a love for learning.

"I don't like the myth that is autism the children that I hade last year were extremely bright and children with aspergers are extremely bright and I think there's a misconception about autism," Donaway tells WMDT.

Over the summer, Donaway went the extra mile and offered tips to help Cole succeed even though he is no longer in her class. She even visited him at daycare on her own time.

It was her efforts that inspired his mother to write to WMDT.

Laura Miller was a teacher herself and knows first hand the lengths Donaway went through for her son.

"I know what teachers do so to me even as a teacher she went above and beyond," she tells us.

For Mrs Donaway it was just second nature.

"As a teacher you know that you are going to have those times where you need to go above and beyond and you don't get paid for that and it's just something you do because you want to make a difference in the life of a child," she says.

If there's a teacher you feel makes a difference in the lives of their students, click on contests then "Teacher Who Makes A Difference."