Thurston Morton recalls the talk he gave to his class on the fundamentals of public speaking at Normandale Community College nearly two years ago. His subject was Laurie Schmidt, a special education teacher in Jordan, Minn., whom he called a "modern-day female Mr. Rogers."
Morton, who has autism, described the powerful impact Schmidt had on his life when he was a student at Jordan Middle School — including encouragement from her to help younger autistic students with their school assignments.
"She was there for me whenever I needed her," said Morton, now 23. "She was friendly and outgoing. She always gave you a reason to smile whenever you went in her classroom. She was there to talk to when times were tough."
Schmidt, who taught reading, writing and math to 12 to 16 autistic students each year along with communication and social skills, died of breast cancer Aug. 19 at her home in Jordan. She was 57.
"She took all her students under her wing," said Lorri Komisar, a close friend.
"She wasn't a good teacher — she was exceptional," said Ben Bakeberg, the middle school principal. "She loved kids. She pushed them when they needed to be pushed, encouraged them when they needed encouragement and knew her content well. But she knew that kids were more important than any content that she taught."
Schmidt was named Minnesota Middle School Educator of the Year in 2020. Rose Johnson, a teacher of students with special needs at the school who had nominated her for the award, said Schmidt became an expert on autism by continually studying the subject. She was sought out by other autism teachers for information and advice, Johnson said.
In the summer Schmidt would take students on field trips so they could learn social norms, including visits to the Minnesota Zoo and to a program that packed food to send to children overseas, said Rose Gulbranson, another teacher at the school.
