Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12

Lindsay Perrelli 2011 Pays it Forward

Jodi Amatulli
Lindsay Perrelli, Class of 2011, graduated from Ithaca College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Education. We thank Lindsay for this update on her meaningful work.
Servicing my community and paying it forward have always been strong values of mine. While I was a student at Ithaca, I volunteered to be a guide dog raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. I raised Grainger, who is now a stud for GEB and has over 40 puppies! That experience fueled my innate passion for helping others and humbled me to not take the little things, such as our eyes, for granted. 
After Ithaca, I attended Wheelock College, earning a master’s in elementary and special education. I took several state tests to become a certified elementary and special education teacher in Massachusetts. Since I was young and while at Ithaca, I always thought that my calling was to be a schoolteacher. After graduating from Wheelock, I taught in public and charter schools, but did not feel that I was entirely fulfilled. My enthusiasm and love for community service kept speaking to me, and I researched and found what seemed like—and is—a dream position at Boston Children's Hospital. I am humbled and feel complete gratitude for having been hired as a teacher for children who are unable to attend school due to illness. This is my calling.
I work for a company called Education Inc., an organization which partners with Boston Children's Hospital, to ensure children are being educated during their stay. I am the first lead teacher at Boston Children's Hospital. My job doesn't feel like a job; I wake up elated to go to "work." I am responsible for the upkeep of the children's knowledge and skills while they are in the hospital. On a day-to-day basis, I teach a wide range of patients, ranging from ages 4 to 17. Some of my patients are long-term. For example, I have been teaching one patient for six months. It is not unusual, however, to teach a patient for one week or just a few days. This means finding a balance of attachment and non-attachment to each patient, to be genuine in my approach to teaching and getting to know them, but also keeping in mind that a hospital teacher's responsibility is to support each child's education and ensure that he or she acquires the skills to return to school.
I work on 11 floors, including the Intensive Care Unit (ICU,) Oncology, and Dialysis. Sometimes the patients already have schoolwork, and if so, I support them (one patient at a time) for 30 to 60 minutes per day. If patients do not have schoolwork, it is my responsibility to alleviate for parents the burden of obtaining schoolwork for their children. I work closely with each patient's school, specifically a guidance counselor or teachers to gather schoolwork. A lot of what I do relies on my own passion for creativity, as I often find that I create lesson plans for my patients as well. My hope is that my patients' time with me is a fulfilling and happy part of their day, and that I make them feel confident about merging back into the classroom. 
I work closely with Child Life at Boston Children's Hospital as well, and several child life specialists are assigned to each wing of every floor of the hospital. Child life staffers are responsible for ensuring a comfortable and safe stay for the patients and families on their unit. I coordinate with child life staff to learn background information on the patient I will be teaching, as well as coordinate ideal times in the day to see each patient. One of my other responsibilities includes making the schedule for all of the tutors at this site, including myself. This means I am constantly in tune with what patients are admitted and discharged.
Being exposed to the ins and outs of what these children experience makes me take absolutely nothing for granted and makes my problems feel small. I am truly gratified by this opportunity to work alongside such amazing staff and care teams, and above all, to spend time each day with brave little souls, determined to conquer their illness and breach their four-walled rooms.


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Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.