Maverick McClendon, Director of Special Education for Marietta Public Schools, is a Marietta guy, through and through.
He did most of his growing up in Love County and graduated from Marietta High School in 2012. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Education in May 2016 and began his teaching career at Marietta that fall.
After a year of teaching high school math classes at Marietta, he moved to Plainview where he taught for three years. It was a Plainview, where he began teaching Special Education classes and found his true calling.
“My mom had worked with special needs kids for years and became a teacher herself, so it had been a part of my life for a long time,” he said, “and I eventually realized that special needs kids are the kids I felt like I could help the most. They needed an advocate and I wanted to be that person. The kids in advanced math classes didn’t need me, but the special education kids did.”
McClendon had taken several special education classes while in college, so all he had to do was pass the certification tests and he was ready to enter the Special Education classroom full time.
While at Plainview, McClendon had been teaching Special Education for half the day and advanced mathematics the other half. When he found out that they intended to pull him out of the Special Education classes, he began looking for a full-time Special Education position.
He found that position back in Marietta and returned to his alma mater in 2021. In 2022, McClendon earned his master’s degree in School Administration.
“Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, I taught full time during the day and also took on the position as the Director of Special Education,” McClendon explained.
Now he’s ready to begin another year as director. He won’t be full-time in the classroom, although he will still serve as the Special Olympics coach and work with the Gifted and Talented program.
McClendon loves his job, and he loves his students.
“When I talk about my job, I talk about being able to help the kids realize that they have someone who is advocating for them, and I talk about convincing them that there’s nothing that they can’t do. I also say that a lot of people think that I teach the kids. It’s my job, after all,” he smiled.
“But what I don’t often tell people is that I feel like they teach me a lot more than I teach them. Some of my students have every right to be angry because of some of their struggles, but they aren’t. I learn so much from them about how to live my life.”
One of McClendon’s favorite teaching memories is of a Special Olympics contest.
“One of our students had won first place in an event, and the kid who finished second was really upset because he wanted to win so badly,” reminisced McClendon. “So our student just looked at him and said, “We’ll trade. You can have this ribbon,’ and to him, it was that simple. They teach me about life every single day.”
This year, the Special Olympics team swept all the award categories. Recipients of Family of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year, selected by all the coaches in the Red River area – all were won by folks from Marietta.
“The people who vote on these awards see us at the events, and that they think we’re doing things the right way, well, it’s a huge honor for us,” he said, “and we are so proud.”
As Special Education Director, McClendon is charged with reporting and data, ensuring that teachers have the assistance they need, and working with psychometrists, psychologists, counselors, and speech, occupational and physical therapists who provide services to students in the district.
It’s a high-stress job, and McClendon said that handling that is sometimes tough.
“It’s really the only part of my job that is hard,” he said. “I love what I do, but I don’t always handle the stress in the best ways. What does help me with that is that we have such a strong team of teachers and para-professionals at Marietta. They’re just incredible at what they do, and they support me, too.”
In addition to his myriad duties at school, McClendon enjoys spending time with his extensive family, acting as the music director at Enville Community Church, and teaching evening classes at SouthernTech.