By Todd R. Hansen
Two weeks as a high school volunteer at camps for special education students shaped a career that spanned four decades, and saw the evolution from segregation to inclusion for the children who inspired him.
“I volunteered in the spring at a camp (in the Santa Cruz mountains) when I was in high school in both my junior and senior years for a week,” said Jay Speck, 64, who has spent his entire career with the Solano County Office of Education. “I just really liked the kids, and they all had significant disabilities, and it was something about their spirit.”
The experience convinced him he should be a teacher.
Speck started as an elementary teacher at T.C. McDaniel and is finishing as the elected county superintendent of schools.