Dr. Ranita Dement is a self-described lifelong learner. With several advanced degrees and over 20 years of teaching under her belt, Ranita is most in her element in the classroom, though seeing the inside of a school seemed like an impossible dream when Ranita was born with severe epilepsy that kept her out of school until age seven. Because Ranita was so far behind, she was placed in a special education classroom that she describes as “like an emergency room.” In a special education classroom, Ranita explained, students from all grade levels and abilities are crammed into a singular classroom so “teaching skills like reading was not the protocol. The emphasis was to get them back in general ed.”
That experience inspired her to major in Special Education at the University of Central Arkansas where she later earned a Master’s in Elementary Education with an emphasis in reading. “I was called to it; I knew what it was like to feel singled out. I knew kids felt embarrassed to be in special education.” While teaching and later serving as assistant superintendent, Ranita never stopped learning and went on to earn two M.A’s and a Doctorate in Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Missouri.
After so many years in education, when Ranita moved to Dallas in 2018, she planned to finally retire. But destiny had bigger things in store for her. One day at the beauty parlor, Ranita ran into her friend Marjorie who was then working at Jubilee Park. “She was picking my brain about Jubilee’s new S3 program and I told her if this was going to work, you needed a special education teacher, and someone with administrative experience. When she said, ‘So, someone like you?’ I laughed. I said, no way, I just retired!” But when Ranita came to tour Jubilee Park, she couldn’t say no. “The park, the neighborhood, the cute kids-- that’s how they get you!”
Ranita joined with a bold and overarching vision for the program and has since been joined by two certified interventionists, Kendra Spears and Andrea Alvarez. With a bigger team, Ranita has big plans for 2020 and beyond.
"I want to show kids that it doesn't matter what your diagnosis is. If you stay the course, you can achieve anything."