Retiring educator reflects on 30 years of meaningful work

Darla Maltby didn’t expect a 30-year career when she first walked into the Allegan Developmental Center in 1995. She was a young mom looking for a stable job after years of waitressing. What she found instead was her calling.

“I didn’t know if I could do it the first day,” Maltby says. “But by the second day, I loved it.”

Now, Maltby is retiring from the Allegan Area ESA, where she has worked as a paraprofessional supporting students with severe multiple impairments. Over the past three decades, she’s played a key role in helping students learn and grow, while also contributing to one of the most respected special education programs in the region.

Maltby has worked with students of all ages who have emotional and cognitive disabilities, as well as autism. She says these classrooms have always been her favorite.

“You need a lot of patience and an open mind,” she says. “What might take us a week to learn could take them a year.”

Witnessed greater emphasis on inclusion

She also has seen big changes in how schools support students with disabilities. When she graduated from high school in 1981, students in special education were often kept in separate buildings. That started to change as schools began to include more students in general classrooms and activities.

One big improvement was the MOVE (Mobility Opportunities Via Education) program, which uses movement to help students become more independent. Her classroom is now one of only five MOVE-certified classrooms in the state.

“We do more than just classroom work,” Maltby says. “We swim to help students stretch and relax, go to the movies, visit farms, and even go horseback riding. It’s about helping students feel part of the community.”

That connection to the community is important to her. Maltby still sees former students and their families around town. Some of those relationships have lasted decades.

“We laugh all the time in our classroom,” she says. “People don’t always realize how much our students understand. But when you make a joke and they laugh with you, you know they get it.”

Maltby’s journey is also a story of opportunity. She didn’t attend college and began working to support her children. Becoming a paraprofessional gave her the training, income, and sense of purpose she needed.

“You don’t have to go to college to have a good career,” she says. “You just need heart, patience, and a willingness to learn.”

Lasting relationships

Over the years, she’s built strong friendships with coworkers and families. One of the students she supported, DJ Betzner, was in her classroom for over eight years.

Just this week, she helped deliver graduation signs to students’ homes — a tradition that shows how close the staff is to the families they work with. DJ is one of the graduates.

“She believes in them,” says Jessie Cronkhite, DJ’s mother and longtime friend of Maltby. “She treats these kids like they can do anything. She wants everything for them that you’d want for your own child.”

Cronkhite has seen that belief in action for years. DJ, now 26, was born 17 weeks premature and weighed just over a pound. Over the years, he’s defied medical odds, gaining independence and confidence thanks in part to a supportive school community — and educators like Maltby.

“In the classroom, they do arts and crafts, music, everything a regular education classroom does. It’s about giving these students the same experiences,” says Cronkhite, who spent 21 years working as a paraprofessional herself and another 10 years driving a school bus.

She met Maltby when they worked together at the Allegan Developmental Center.

“She’s like me,” Cronkhite says. “She’ll never give up. For people like us, it’s not just a job. Your heart’s in it. You take it home with you.”

After retirement, Maltby plans to spend more time at her cottage on Gun Lake, visit her parents in Hudsonville, and catch up on home projects. She might also do some substitute teaching or respite care, because there’s a big need.

“I think people should get to know someone with different abilities,” she says. “Be open and more accepting of everyone.”

Her last day is June 6, and she’s already expecting tears.

“It’s bittersweet,” she says. “But I know I’ve made a difference, and that’s more than I ever imagined when I went in for that first interview.”

Photos courtesy of Allegan Area ESA