{"id":161618,"date":"2025-01-27T16:12:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=161618"},"modified":"2025-01-27T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:12:49","slug":"disrupting-negative-pre-determination-and-inspiring-students-with-disabilities-mark-chartier-05-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=161618","title":{"rendered":"Disrupting negative pre-determination and inspiring students with disabilities | Mark Chartier \u201905 \u201914"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
Mark Chartier \u201905 \u201914<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAlways believe you can make a difference, but never let your differences keep you from what you believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s UCCS alum, special education teacher, published author, and motivational speaker<\/a> Mark Chartier\u2019s message for his students and the world. And it\u2019s a mantra he lives by every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI struggled mightily in high school as I was suffering from un-diagnosed Tourette’s syndrome, a nervous disorder that consists of involuntary vocal and motor tics. Because of this, I got into many fistfights, committed vandalism, and was a teacher’s worst nightmare,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And although he was eventually diagnosed with Tourette’s during his senior year of high school, Mark said by that time it was too late to get any assistance, even though he would have likely qualified for an Individualized Education Program or IEP. He graduated from Coronado High School in Colorado Springs with a 1.9 GPA and said he floundered for a few years after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, despite side effects from medication, a brain injury he suffered at the time, and a significant stutter, Mark completed a bachelor\u2019s degree in English at what was then the University of Southern Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was then that he decided he wanted to attend graduate school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pondered who made the biggest difference in my life, and the answer was an easy one: teachers,\u201d he said. \u201cThus, I decided I wanted to become a special education teacher to help students who had similar struggles as me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made the move to attend UCCS in 2003 after hearing positive things about the education department. He said the school was everything he had hoped for and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark earned a Master of Arts in Special Education in 2005. He went on to graduate with a second Master of Arts Degree, this time in Curriculum & Instruction, in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was super equipped to get into the field and be successful. I would recommend UCCS to anyone and I believe a UCCS education is of paramount importance to the success I have enjoyed,\u201d he said. \u201cI had wonderful professors such as former Associate Dean of the College of Education Dr. Lindy Crawford and Dr. Julie Armentrout, assistant professor of teaching, who motivated me while also cheering me on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Mark credits Crawford as one of the people who inspired him to get into motivational speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“She had me speak to a class I was in. I spoke for close to an hour. The students in class received the message of my story very kindly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past 14 years, Mark has shared details on his journey and success in overcoming disabilities, abuse, and mental illness at schools, libraries, universities, and churches. He has been a featured presenter at The Broadmoor during the Courage-to-Risk Conference, a keynote speaker at the Equity & Excellence Conference in front of the Colorado\u2019s special education administrators and directors of Title I, as well as the keynote address at the Alaska State Special Education Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark has also authored two books of poetry, “Fingerprints\u201d (2018) and “Tell Me Something Good” (2024), both published by Turning Point Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was 16 years old and was getting into a lot of trouble at school. I had a black and white striped t shirt that was reminiscent of the prison uniforms from the 1950’s. My dad and older brother told me to get used to that shirt because they said I was headed to prison the way I was going,\u201d Mark explained. \u201cNot only did I disrupt that pre-determination, but I annihilated it with the success I have attained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is now the only member of his immediate family with a college degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I have three of them to boot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark currently teaches in Pueblo District 60 but also worked in Fountain Fort Carson School District 8 and Westminster Public Schools. In his nearly two decades in the profession, he said his favorite part of teaching is the chance to share with his students and watch them grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a person of diversity, I needed positive relationships. Today, my students need those same positive relationships as they navigate life with a disability and, often times, more challenges in tow,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark is quick to acknowledge the ways in which his students impact him, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTeaching has been a healer for me.  It has helped me focus on helping others and putting others first in my life, which has helped me mentally,\u201d he said. \u201cI am pretty open with my students about my Tourette’s.  If they’re older kids, I use the name of my condition. If they are younger, I keep it simple and tell them that Mr. C gets nervous sometimes. They are always kind and understanding and empathetic to me and are so sweet and loving when my tics get severe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For current UCCS students, Mark said it\u2019s important to aim high, set goals, and never give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife wasn’t easy growing up with a disability, but the world wasn’t going to stop and feel sorry for Mark Chartier, and the world isn’t going to stop and feel sorry for you, so keep pushing forward,\u201d he said. \u201cFailure is the first act of all great winners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAlways believe you can make a difference, but never let your differences keep you from what you believe.\u201d That\u2019s Mark Chartier\u2019s message for his students and the world. And it\u2019s a mantra he lives by every day. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":161619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,427],"tags":[370,369,82,332],"class_list":["post-161618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-alumni-stories","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-success","tag-college-of-education","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Mark-Chartier_diversity.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-G2K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161618"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161622,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161618\/revisions\/161622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/161619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}