Photos by Scott Buschman

Even on his best days, Joey Hocter wasn’t healthy enough to attend regular school. So he received instruction two or three days a week from Gianna Alexander, a home-hospital teacher who makes house calls to severely ill students.

On a good day, Joey sat in his wheelchair by the door,
eagerly awaiting a visit from Alexander, who spent a few hours with him each
time. However, there were bad days when he couldn’t get out of bed. That’s when
Alexander provided instruction at his bedside.

Alexander is a member of the Liberty Education
Association, a school site representative for Heritage High School and a State
Council representative. For more than 14 years, she has been a special
education teacher for students with mild to severe disabilities at three school
sites in Brentwood: Gateway Adult Transition Program, Liberty High and Heritage
High. She has also been a home-hospital teacher for the same number of years,
teaching severely ill students in their homes after the school day ends.

“Gianna is wonderful,” says Debra Hocter, Joey’s mother.
“He couldn’t wait for her to visit.”

Joey has spastic cerebral palsy and cognitive delay, and
is a quadriplegic. He attended public school for many years, but after numerous
illnesses and surgeries, his immune system became compromised, so homeschooling
was required.

Even though she has the word “hospital” in her job title,
Alexander seldom teaches students who are hospitalized, because they are too
ill to process instruction during their stay. Often her students are in and out
of the hospital; sometimes they get well enough to return to school.

Alexander has been Joey’s teacher since he was 17, and
she is considered a member of the Hocter family.

On his 22nd birthday, Joey “aged out” of home-hospital
teacher services, which he received through Liberty Union High School District
in Brentwood. He now receives services from an adult homeschool community-based
program for adults with special needs living in Contra Costa County.

Joey worried he wouldn’t see Alexander after he aged out.
Though she’s no longer his teacher, she still visits and helps strengthen
Joey’s connection to the outside world. She and his family have been on field
trips to a bowling alley, a Jelly Belly factory, music concerts, theatrical
plays, the Chabot Space and Science Center, the C.A.S.T for Kids fishing
program, and even school dances and proms.

“I don’t want him to become isolated from the world,” she
explains.

Joey loves using an iPad, so Alexander used life skills
computer programs that are engaging. She worked with him to practice the skills
that he was studying after seeing short video presentations on topics such as
how to order food in a restaurant, make a sandwich, create a shopping list,
fold laundry, and understand the value of coins and dollar bills.

As a mother of an adult son who is quadriplegic,
Alexander has the skill set and empathy to make a difference in the lives of
medically fragile students and their families.

“Teaching students like Joey is a way that I can give
back,” says Alexander, who currently homeschools three students with special
needs. “I definitely have a special rapport with these students. And as the
mother of a disabled son, I can relate to what parents are going through.”

Alexander formerly tutored children in homeless shelters
and foster homes. She enjoyed it so much, she decided to earn her teaching
credential in special education and help with the homeschooling of students too
ill to attend school.

“I get more out of teaching medically fragile students than you can imagine. We have a strong connection. Sometimes I’m tired from teaching all day and doing IEPs. But when I go to my students’ homes and they’re so excited to see me, it’s totally worth it. It warms my heart.”