Social Work Student Earns Golden Apple Award

Published February 24, 2012 at 9:21 am in Academic News by Rachel E. Dewey.

While she hasn’t yet completed her bachelor’s degree in social work from Keuka College, Canandaigua resident Melanie Nwaobia is already practicing the skills that will come into play for a career serving others.

Over the last three years, she has worked as a one-to-one teacher’s aide with Noah Haus, who is now a fourth-grade student at Canandaigua Elementary School. While Noah’s autism means that his verbal skills are limited, he is “an incredibly smart young man” who works hard and excels with hands-on tasks, Nwaobia said. Using calendars and schedules with visual cues and icons, as well as technology tools like an iPad with apps he can manipulate and receive electronic “applause” for completing, Nwaobia assists Noah as he works through classroom lessons.

In December, Noah’s parents nominated Nwaobia for the Golden Apple Award from WROC- TV (Channel 8), the CBS affiliate in Rochester. A TV crew then came to the classroom to surprise her with the honor and to film Nwaobia and Noah going about the routines of his school day. (Click HERE to see the TV footage.)

In a letter to the station, Noah’s parents wrote how each day, Nwaobia sends home a full note detailing their son’s entire day, since he does not have the typical language and social skills to tell them himself. She sends text messages and photos too, so that they can celebrate the little successes Noah has each day.
“Melanie is Noah’s constant in a day of several classroom and therapy changes and transitions,” his parents, Heidi and Gary Haus, wrote. “She knows Noah so well as to when he needs her and when she can help him strive for more independence. She makes Noah’s day safe, educational, social, and fun and he would not be in the same place in his areas of development without her.”

Currently studying social work in the Keuka College Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP), Nwaobia said she would love to continue working in a school district as a social worker when she completes her bachelor’s degree. Nwaobia takes Keuka courses in an adult cohort that meets at Finger Lakes Community College.

“Taking the courses we’re working on now [through Keuka] and applying, I see it as broadening my skills and being able to fine-tune, and I’ll be able to assist in whatever way I can,” she said.

Confidentiality and ethics are a huge factor in both her work and schooling, she said, describing how not just Noah, but the regular-education students in his integrated classroom are learning what confidential means. If another student asks what Noah did “downstairs” in an external special-needs classroom, Nwaobia lets them know they must ask Noah directly, but that if he says “No,” then “No” is the answer.

“It’s nice to see fourth graders be so honorable; it makes me very proud to do what I do‑ to use the skills and knowledge I’ve learned in my coursework and apply it to where I am [working,]” she said.

Thanks to her bond with Noah, Nwaobia has learned how to identify when he might be frustrated or struggling and has worked out a system so that the two of them can work together as a team to address it.

“As a social worker, one of your primary goals is to help somebody learn how to work through things and be able to come up with [solutions] on their own. When Noah gets frustrated, I can say, ‘Wow, I can see on your face how that upset you, what do you need to change, what do you think you need to do?’” she described. “It takes a little longer to work through the process, but the end result is he comes up with his own solution or one jointly with you and he’s able to apply it.”

On the day that the TV crew and Noah’s parents surprised Nwaobia with the honor, his excitement for her showed in the way he jumped up and down, she said.

“I know that I’m in the right place,” she said. “Having a family write this letter shows me that in my work to help others, social work is right where I’m supposed to be.”