Students walk down a hallway in a school.
BGSU Online offers students the flexibility to advance their education from anywhere while balancing professional and family responsibilities. (BGSU photo/Craig Bell)

BGSU Online provides flexible path for educator to advance advocacy for students with disabilities

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Virginia-based educator Kate Dedrick earned a BGSU master’s degree in secondary transition entirely online

A family of five poses for photo in front of a fountain.
Kate Dedrick, right, with her spouse, Elizabeth, and their children Alayia, Juelz and Briella. (supplied photo)

When Virginia-based educator Kate Dedrick '24 determined that she wanted to pursue graduate-level instruction in special education in the highly specialized field of secondary transition, a look at her professional and familial obligations made such a commitment impossible. There were no free periods in her day or regularly available open hours.

As the therapeutic foster parents for children with exceptionalities, Dedrick and her spouse have adopted two daughters and a son who have extensive medical and educational needs, and they will have several additional foster children living with them at any given time. Their family presently includes a seven-month-old infant with extensive medical issues.

“The house is usually loud and usually crazy, so trying to carve out time for something for me, such as meeting a strict graduate class schedule, was out of the question,” she said. “I needed a much more flexible option.”

So Dedrick, who creatively describes her day-to-day routine as feeling like she is “riding a bike while building the wheels,” sought out the BGSU Online secondary transition master’s program, which offered the optimal versatility of schedule she required.

The BGSU secondary transition program provides educators, counselors and other professionals with the tools and skill set to prepare teens and young adults with disabilities for a smooth transition to college, careers and community life.

Dedrick, who is in her ninth year of teaching, directs a high school-level program that specializes in meeting the educational needs of students with disabilities as they prepare to become contributing members of their communities. She found the advanced skills and training she needed in the BGSU program.

“Despite previously having several years of transition-based teaching experience, I gained a plethora of knowledge from my graduate courses that I was able to directly apply to my classroom for the betterment of my students and their families,” said Dedrick, who completed her degree in December 2024.

“The option to specialize in transition is ultimately what led to my decision to attend BGSU virtually.”  

She added that while not many universities offer the secondary transition specialty she was seeking, it was the flexibility of the BGSU Online format that ultimately made it the ideal fit for her.

“Being able to self-pace your education – I don’t know that I could have feasibly done this in any other arrangement,” Dedrick said. “The flexibility was a fantastic option. It didn’t impact my working life or my obligations to my family. It seamlessly tied in and I could not be happier with the way it worked out.”

Dedrick moves forward equipped with the additional training and education to better serve those young adults and children with exceptionalities that she is committed to champion.

“Everybody needs somebody to root for them and show them that they can do something,” said Dedrick, whose career path was significantly influenced by watching her grandmother care and advocate for Dedrick’s great uncle James, never allowing his Down syndrome to limit his opportunities.

“It is so easy as a society to overlook vulnerable people, but there is nothing more rewarding than to be that voice for those people and to help them find their own voice.”

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Media Contact | Michael Bratton | mbratto@bgsu.edu | 419-372-6349

Updated: 02/04/2025 08:00AM