Meet Micaela Bishop, a mother, a Putnam City middle school teacher, and a 2023 SNU Master's in Special Education Administration graduate. Bishop is happily married to her husband Dustin, a fellow middle school teacher, and together they have a beautifully blended family of two daughters and a son. As one of six siblings herself, Bishop believes that family is everything. She says, “I owe my work ethic and volunteerism to my Dad and my empathy and family core to my Mom.”
Before her career in education, Bishop worked in journalism for many years. It was not until she volunteered with her daughter’s school PTO group that she felt a call to and a love for education. She says that she pursued her alternative certification program during a difficult time in her personal life and found that it was a “blessing in disguise” pushing her into her life’s calling.
Bishop began her teaching career at Rollingwood Elementary, where she worked as a special education paraprofessional for three years. She is now in her fourth year at James L. Capps Middle School in Putnam City, Oklahoma as an eighth-grade resource teacher. She says, “I love teaching eighth grade because it is typically the age at which we introduce transition services to the IEP. SNU instilled servant leadership, and what that means to me is guiding a family through an IEP and what it means for their child in supporting their academic success.”
Within her first year of teaching, Bishop was honored as a Putnam City “Super Star” Teacher who “goes above and beyond to help her students.” She says, “I am known as the teacher to whom others can send their students with behavior challenges because I wholeheartedly believe in positive reinforcement and building relationships. I lost my Mom in 2019, and I know she would be so proud of me and all that I have accomplished.”
There were many schools Bishop could have chosen to attend, but she chose SNU. As the first in her family to obtain a Master’s degree, Bishop was faced with a lot of newness. She says that she chose SNU because she was “thoroughly impressed by SNU’s Janet Furr” during a Special Education boot camp and found that she “aligned with SNU’s mission of servant leadership,” which she now tries to live out each day through her work.
Alongside SNU’s values, Bishop found that SNU provided her with unmatched skills. She says, “SNU equipped me with a plethora of knowledge that veteran teachers were consulting me for.” She continues by saying that the tools and skills SNU has provided her have led her to better opportunities and put her in a position of financial stability, for which she is deeply appreciative.
SNU continues to impact Bishop’s life to this day. She says, “I am the teacher that I am because of SNU. The Special Education program and its director, Dr. Thompson, changed my life, and my degree has provided me with a fulfilling career that would have otherwise been impossible. When I experience burnout, I can pick up my phone or type an email to any of my SNU colleagues or professors for support, guidance, or advice. It takes a village, which remains when you graduate. I love teaching, and I love SNU!”
SNU is so proud to have Micaela Bishop as one of our graduates and even more excited to see how she continues to impact all of the little lives she pours into each day. Please join us in celebrating Micaela and her amazing journey!
Emma Dilbeck is a senior biology-chemistry major and English minor from Mustang, Oklahoma. She is very involved on campus and has held many roles over her time at SNU. She currently serves as The Echo (student newspaper) Editor-in-Chief, a student worker in the Health Center, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, and a member of SNU's Honors Program, premedical honors program, and biology honors program. Outside of SNU, she volunteers at Crossings Community Clinic as a volunteer medical assistant. Emma is planning to become a Physician Assistant (PA) and work in gastroenterology while also continuing her writing career.
