Srinivas Pannela
Position: Advanced Certified Autism Specialist/EC Teacher
School: Northwest Collegiate and Technical Academy
School District: Halifax County Schools
City, State: Littleton, NC
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Srinivas Pannela was nominated by Katrina Mills, a parent of a student.
"I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Pannela for several years, as he has been the Exceptional Children's teacher for both of my sons, now 18 and 15, who are both on the Autism Spectrum," said Mills. "He does a phenomenal job with the children in his class. He makes them feel loved, important, and equal to everyone else at their school."
Mr. Pannela teaches important life and social skills to help prepare students for adult life. He loves them as if they are his own children. He goes above and beyond for them, including spending his personal time and finances to provide needed opportunities. Mr. Pannela works hard to keep parents and families involved in their children's education by communicating with them and planning events, outings, meetings, etc.
"The EC students, parents, and Halifax County NC School District could not ask for a better EC teacher. Kudos to Mr. Srinivas Pannela on being a LifeChanger for our kids and families," said Mills.
Congratulations! May you continue being AWESOME!
Congratulations again. It was an honor to serve with you.
I love this. You are so Worthy! Congratulations my friend.
Congratulations! This recognization is truly deserving. You are a strong advocate and pioneering creativity for our students. I thank God for your vision.
Mr.Pannela is a great example to the children, he has a special nurturing and patience to him that’s required for the work he does. My daughter, Sharmyia, adores him and enjoys going to his class. He is very good at communication and with co-teaching Sharmyia. I am very grateful Sharmyia has such a great teacher.
Thank you for all you do for the children!
Congratulations on your nomination!
Thank you sooo much for your dedicated,caring,compassionate demeanor that you bring into your classroom each day.This means alot to our families. Educators play a tremendous role in helping to prepare our children for their futures and we're very grateful that you are one of them?? Congratulations to you Mr.Pannela on your nomination you are the best description that fits the word *LIFE CHANGER*
Mr. P. as I address him is a person who has given his all to the growth of the kids he serves. I work with him daily and its been and eye-opening experience for me to obtain a wealth of knowledge in my first year of working with kids we serve. For many years I've heard and read the great things he done: now I'm witnessing the great work first hand. It's a honor to be taught along side the kids that we serve. You know when I say the best is being done here and Mr. P. is doing and you see the growth in the kids. I just say 'Wow" now I have became a better educator.
My hat off to the best I've worked with! If you choose Mr. P. He will be a great representative as a "LifeChanger".
Congrats on your nomination! Srinivas is a great educator who works to make sure that his students achieve their goals and leaves a positive impact on their lives! What an honor to be recognized!
Congratulations on your Nomination !!!! Well deserved . As one of your co-worker I have seen you always going above and beyond for the students .
Congratulations on your achievement!????
Thank you for all you do!!?
Congratulations Mr. P on your nomination. As a former NW parent I recognized Mr. P to be an humble man that cares deeply about his students and enjoys what he does!
Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our children!
It is my honor to congratulate Mr. Pannela on his nomination for the Life Changer Award. Mr. Pannela is a man of integrity who always put his students first. As a parent with a child with Down Syndrome Mr. Pannela has shown that his broad wealth of knowledge didn't just cover Autism. My daughter's education has flourished with Mr. Pannela as her teacher. Mr. Pannela has not only changed the lives of his students with his personal interest, he has changed the lives of the parents who hold him in the highest esteem.
Srinivas Pannela for his commitment to individualizing instruction to serve all students with care and inclusivity. Srinivas currently works with high school students to empower them to take charge of their future through creative education and personalized engagement.
Mr.Pannela's students’ intellectual abilities vary from mild to severe autism and mild to profound intellectual delays. Students in his class engage in positive, productive learning in an open environment, which is key to students' academic, emotional, and social success in school. He uses differential teaching strategies to utilize each student’s strengths and knowledge. Most of his students come from a low socioeconomic community with 100% free lunch. As a teacher in a low-income/high-poverty school district, his students face several challenges both in and out of the classroom. Despite the many challenges they face, he likes to keep things simple and provide his students with creative and meaningful learning experiences.
At the beginning of the school year, he discovers the interests, talents, culture and linguistic backgrounds, and learning styles of each student to find creative ways to adapt his lessons to each student’s interests, which strengthens their intrinsic motivation, and creates a productive and positive learning environment. The 2020 global pandemic created significant challenges for the special education community. Mr. Pannela rose to the challenge by creating educational resources and guidance to help parents manage their child’s unique learning challenges. He also connected with each student’s parents daily to ensure they have the emotional support, tools, and resources to be successful.
Mr. Pannela saw the sparkle in the eyes of Autistic (AU) children when he bought new innovative 21st-century technology to the classroom to engage them in reading, writing, and math. They had no idea that they were learning, having fun, and creating projects at the same time. (Ex-Cell project, Drone project). He uses several online websites for his classroom. He uses low-tech- high technology daily. He is a firm believer in using differential teaching strategies, so that he can provide an opportunity to utilize students' strengths and knowledge by using Big macs- switches boards - touch screen computers -Dynovax. He can communicate with the parents- online through Apps- zoom, Class Dojo, and class tag. It is beneficial to the parents and use Zoom and google meet for his virtual instruction during these difficult times with Covid-19.
Mr. Pannela’s commitment to his students doesn’t go unrecognized. Parents, colleagues, and community leaders consistently comment on his ability to help every student grow and thrive both in and out of the classroom. (Ex: proactive Behavior, Benchmark &Test scores increased, reduce the dropouts, and the Graduation rate increased.)
Mr. Pannela is an incredibly passionate, kind individual whose impact on his students’ lives extends far beyond the classroom. From helping students win ribbons and trophies at the Special Olympics to just extending a call to let parents know their child has had a rough day, his students not only grow – they thrive. (Local to state-level)
He serves voluntarily as communication chair of the North Carolina Council for Exceptional Children and NC- DADD. He works as a facilitator /co-host and monitors the technology and troubleshoot tech issues during the conferences.
Mr. Pannela serves as a mentor to help the beginning teachers, peer teachers, supervising and planning duties/ responsibilities, and instructional activities for paraprofessionals in the classroom and community settings. He served as a school improvement team member, District special Olympics committee member, District Autism parent-teacher association active member, District MTSS, and PBIS chairperson.
He has served as head coach of Special Olympics at the local and state levels since 2013. He serves as EC Dept. IEP chairperson.
He conducts and participates in several disability awareness programs every year in the school district. The programs are a huge success and various cultural activities were conducted such as marching band, face painting, drawing, sports, singing, and Autism poster-making contest. ((Autism carnival, Exceptional children week, Career week, and Down syndrome awareness programs).
Mr. Pannela's teaching career has seen various accomplishments and recognitions from his parents and administrators, school level, state, and National level. He was awarded Teacher of the year. He received State Educator Excellence Award from NCDPI Exceptional children division. He was recognized as Honored Educator Scholar from NCCAT (North Carolina Center for Advanced Teaching) and he received a High flyer Trophy from the superintendent of Halifax County Schools. He received the Exceptional Children Teaching Excellence Award from the NC Council for Exceptional Children Division and the Outstanding Special Education Teacher award in the nation by the National Association of Special Education Teachers. He was NCCEC Mini-grant for classroom project winner - by North Carolina Council for
Exceptional Children Chapter. He was awarded as DADD Teacher of the year 2021 in the nation by the Division of Autism and developmental disabilities. He received CEC Teacher of the year 2021 in the nation by Council for Exceptional Children. An article - Kind heart award was published in the local newspaper in his honor. An article about tips for parents during coronavirus was published in the newspaper. (Daily Herald)
Finally, Mr. Pannela goes above and beyond the call of duties/responsibilities. He arrives early and works late; He consistently looks for new and innovative ideas to help the students learn. He takes extra time and effort to reach students and thrive on their learning capacity. He motivates them to reach higher levels. He will spend his own money to acquire resources and material to teach as he believes that each student can learn and is capable of achieving high standards. His dedication and commitment to classroom excellence and always seeking ways to better serve his students with limited resources. We are so honored to nominate Mr. Pannela and could not think of anyone more deserving of the honor of Life Changer of the Year.
