Westmoreland County recognizes paraeducator as she pursues teaching certificate in pilot program

After more than three decades working as a paraeducator in Westmoreland County, Terri Pajak’s favorite part of the job is watching her students grow.

Approaching her fourth year working at Greensburg’s partial mental health hospitalization program, Pajak fills in any needs her middle and high school students may have — from brushing their hair and serving them lunch to facilitating lessons and encouraging them to pursue a driver’s license.

“It can entail a lot sometimes,” Pajak said of the job.

Pajak’s years of service to the county were recognized recently when the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit named her the Outstanding Paraeducator of the 2023-24 academic year.

“It means a lot, because I come from the ranks of a lot of talented, amazing teacher assistants who work hard everyday,” said Pajak, 54, of Smithton. “It’s really humbling they picked me to receive it.”

In 33 years at the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, Pajak has worked at the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center, county juvenile detention center and former St. Clair School — now known as the Clairview School for special education students.

Pajak was inspired to enter the field by her mom, Janet Boris — a longtime special education teacher who died in 2020. She remembers watching Boris tutor students at the family’s kitchen table.

“My mom, growing up, when she got pregnant with me, she had to quit teaching, because in 1969, you were not allowed to be a pregnant teacher,” she said. “She would (substitute), and then she got hired full time with our intermediate unit.”

Pajak and her mom both worked at the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center for 16 years.

“We lived next door to each other. We would ride to work together,” Pajak said.

The year before her mom retired, Pajak worked as a paraeducator in Boris’ classroom.

“She would start a sentence and I would finish it,” Pajak said with a laugh.

The mother-daughter duo made a 25-year tradition out of attending the board meetings for the local teachers union.

“We would go to dinner and then run errands and then go to the board meetings on Tuesday nights,” Pajak said. “It was a long day. We wouldn’t get home sometimes until 9, 9:30 in the evening from school in the morning, but it was enjoyable.”

Pajak is continuing to follow in her mom’s footsteps, pursuing a teaching certificate through a Para-Teacher Pathways program.

She is the first Westmoreland paraeducator to participate in the program’s pilot year, taking online classes through Point Park University, said Matt Thomas, intermediate unit student services director.

“She’s hungry to become a teacher,” Thomas said. “She’s a leader among leaders.”

Pajak started the program in the fall and expects to complete it by spring of 2026.

“I’m thrilled that they picked me, but it’s a huge commitment,” Pajak said. “It’s a big workload. I’m (working) full time as a paraeducator and then I’m going to school full time for college classes, so you don’t have much time during the school year to do much else.”

The next cohort will start the program in 2025, Thomas said.

“We know that we want to put more people through,” he said, ”but we have to build it first.”

There is no one better to kick off the program in the county, Thomas said.

“She’s a person that loves to collaborate, she’s a good communicator, she’s patient, she’s kind,” he said. “I think the world of her. She’s truly among the coolest people I’ve ever worked with.”