Keith Erickson, retired director of special services for the Albert Lea school district, has been awarded the Legacy Award by the Minnesota Administrators for Special Education. Erickson will be honored for his commitment to encouraging, developing and mentoring leaders who reflect the MASE mission at a statewide recognition ceremony at the 2017 MASE Fall Leadership Conference scheduled for Oct. 25 to Oct. 27 at Cragun’s Conference Center in Brainerd.

Erickson served as a special education administrator for 40 years, with 30 of those years serving as a director of special education in the state of Minnesota. The first seven of these years in Minnesota were in the Area Special Education Cooperative in northwestern Minnesota, where he supervised comprehensive special services for 22 school districts across five counties. He spent the next 23 years as the director of special services for the Albert Lea school district No. 241.

Erickson has been a mentor to many emerging school leaders. When asked what he is most proud of, he mentioned the number of staff that he hired and worked with throughout the years who are now in special education administration.

“I met Keith early in my career as director for Zumbro Education District,” said Carol Anhalt, executive director of the Zumbro Education District. “He willingly shared his expertise and strategies with me on how to effectively work with several districts, how to encourage collaboration, and how to keep multiple independent school districts moving in the same direction. It was valuable advice for a new director.”

According to a press release, Erickson believed in the power of building and maintaining relationships with other directors and staff. He valued the collaborative efforts made by peers to be both fiscally and programmatically efficient through sharing services and staffing. His ability to collaborate was appreciated by all of his fellow directors and the districts with whom he worked. He valued the input of family members in the special education process. He not only had high expectations for their input, but also modeled it.

“Our field is full of generous, hard-working, loving people,” said Darren Kermes, superintendent of Southwest Metro Intermediate District 288. “But even in that group of servant leaders, Keith stands out. His wisdom guided me through more than one challenging situation. His knowledge, class, and style helped in others. But it may be his humor and kind spirit that guided me through more challenges than he will ever know.”

Erickson has served in a number of MASE leadership roles, including serving on the MASE Board as president elect, president, and past president. Even in retirement, he continues to be active in MASE. He currently supports MASE efforts by participating in scholarship fundraising activities, writing newsletter articles and attending conferences.

According to a press release, the MASE Nominating Committee selects the Legacy Award recipient based on a review of biographical information provided in the nomination materials. The recipient must be a currently active MASE member who has contributed to the professional growth and development of others through a service history as a long-standing, contributing MASE member. The recipient must demonstrate a commitment to the field of special education through training, mentoring, personal support, modeling and demonstrating an impact that is considerable and measurable over time; and contribution at the local, regional, and state levels.

MASE is a professional association organized to promote programs and services to improve the education of children with disabilities, to foster high- quality programs of professional development, and to study problems relating to serving children with disabilities and improving the leadership of administrators for special education.

MASE members are administrators for special education in public or private schools, cooperative regional, state and other education administrative units, college and university professors of special education teacher or administrator preparation programs and administrators, coordinators or consultants for the Minnesota Department of Education.