Rineyville paraeducator receives national award

Rineyville Elementary School Instructional Assistant Jody Vititoe says the kids are why she dedicates what she does to her job.

“It sounds cheesy, but people say ‘that’s my why,’ but they are my why,” Vititoe said. “They are why I go to work every day. I just want to see them succeed in every way, so that is what they mean to me.”

Vititoe’s efforts are receiving national recognition.

At the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities annual conference last week, Vititoe was presented with the organization’s 2025 Paraeducator of the Year Award, which “recognizes excellence in paraeducators who support students with autism, intellectual disability, and other developmental disabilities.”

Vititoe said the award was quite the surprise.

“I didn’t honestly even know this was a thing, and then I found out first that I was nominated and was hugely honored to be nominated, and then later on found out I had won, and I’m just super excited, super honored, and just amazed that people wanted to recognize what I do,” Vititoe said.

Vititoe is an assistant in a special education classroom at Rineyville, working with students in grades K through 5.

“We work with kiddos who have, really, a lot of needs, a lot of things going on that they need help with, and of all different levels and ages, so we just work with them to give them the best education that we can,” Vititoe said.

At the suggestion of her students, Vititoe was introduced at the conference as “Pop See Ko” by children’s entertainers Koo Koo plays.