10 Within 10 Recognition

As the director of special education for Ionia Public Schools, Jimmy leads, supervises and coordinates special education programming for more than 500 students and administers the county program for students with emotional impairments. Jimmy also serves McNeese State University as an assistant professor within their applied behavior analysis (ABA) program.  Prior to joining the faculty at McNeese, Jimmy has worked as adjunct faculty for various universities, including CMU, instructing pre-service and in-service teachers on ABA, assessment, research and autism. 

Jimmy has served in positions of increasing responsibility within the field of special education, starting as a special education substitute paraprofessional, working as a self-contained teacher of students with emotional impairment, and working as an intervention consultant and an intervention specialist. He has been the director of special education at two school districts – all in less than 10 years since earning his undergraduate degree. 

He is also working on grant-related partnerships with CMU as part of the Michigan Department of Education’s Grow Your Own initiative to help educate and certify special education teachers in districts with a need for teachers of students with disabilities. 

Jimmy holds a bachelor’s degree in special education and elementary education from CMU, a master’s degree in special education with a concentration in ABA from Oakland University, an education specialist certificate from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Northern Colorado. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) at the doctoral level.