MARIBETH Fonda
35 | Windham Southeast Supervisory Union | Behavior Analyst
Residence: Brattleboro
Career highlight(s): The career highlight I'm most proud of is becoming the Behavior Interventionist assigned to our Intensive Service programs. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to grow my skills in Applied Behavior Analysis as well as gaining 
experience working with a variety of students and staff. I'm very thankful to be the first person to hold this position in our school district.
Community Involvement: My community involvement includes mostly Zumba Fitness related activities. I've been a Zumba Fitness Instructor since 2009 and have enjoyed teaching at and organizing many Zumbathons over the years which are fundraisers for a variety of organizations/programs. A sampling of some of the organizations I've helped raise money for include: Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Cancer Network, Women Helping Battered Women, Little Arrows Preschool Playground fundraiser, and Feed the Thousands.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I was motivated to live and work in Vermont because I have lived here my entire life! Though my family no longer lives here, I still think it's a beautiful state with friendly people. I've made many life-long friends here in Vermont. I'm very lucky to have found a supportive school system in Brattleboro where I've been able to attend graduate school, accrue internship hours, receive supervision, and ultimately be employed doing what I love.
Favorite part of your job: My favorite part of my job is directly working with my students. I work in grades K-12 with students with a variety of disabilities. They make me smile and laugh everyday and remind me of why our work is important.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: Few people know that I am working toward visiting all 50 United States and I collect Christmas tree ornaments from my trips. I love looking at my tree and remembering all of the places I've been. I've currently visited 39 states so far!
What three words best describe you: Three words that best describe me are passionate, hardworking, and traveler.
Favorite Vermont escape: My favorite Vermont escape is Woodstock, VT! During the pandemic, I stayed there 3 times since I couldn't leave the state due to my job requirements. It's a lovely town with delicious restaurants!
Favorite downtime activity: My favorite downtime activity is watching Netflix. I'm a huge Walking Dead fan and love to rewatch the series!
What career goal(s) would you like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years? The career goals I'd like to accomplish in the next 5-10 years are implementing the Essential for Living assessment and curriculum fluently, increasing my knowledge of verbal behavior skill acquisition programs, and presenting on Applied Behavior Analysis topics to a variety of audiences.
How has your community service changed since the pandemic? My community service during the pandemic has changed because we haven't been able to gather large amounts of people together in spaces and exercise freely. Limited travel has also not allowed me to teach at other events throughout the state. I still participated in Green Up Day this year because that's something that we can participate in safely and individually.
How has your job changed since this pandemic? During the pandemic, my job has changed tremendously. My students require individualized programming that is specific to meet their communication modalities, cognitive understanding level, and special education goals. I have learned how to move some of my teaching procedures to a virtual format, teach students how to attend to a screen and receive instruction in a 2D format, how to support parents in carrying over goals at home, and increasing my technology knowledge. Being in school throughout the pandemic has changed everything from what we wear (e.g. overshirts, gloves, masks, and face shields), to limitations of our physical interactions and proximity with students, to mastery criteria for programs because of student attendance, and we're currently learning how to adjust expectations and programming due to being incredibly short-staffed.