Garfield Elementary School’s Miss Vy Shines a Positive Light for Almost Four Decades

Vy Yeng, who has been with the Revere Public Schools for almost four decades, is one of the first people Revere’s youngest special education students meet when they begin their journey. Vy is a paraprofessional in the Intensive Preschool Special Needs Program which she has been in for almost 40 years.

Known as “Miss Vy” to her students and colleagues at the Garfield Elementary School, Vy has been through unbelievable personal struggles and tragedy. In the early 1980s, she fled the Cambodian Genocide after escaping the Khmer Rouge with several fractioned members of her family. After being sponsored by a Burlington, Vermont family, she moved with her own family to Revere.

Her first job was working full time with the elderly in the Revere area. Eventually she began working two full time jobs, one at Logan Airport from 3-11 and a second working at the Garfield Elementary School during the day while also raising her own two children.

According to her colleagues, many do not realize how pivotal Miss Vy actually is.  “If you have a child who has gone through the elementary special education program in Revere, Vy has made an impact on your child that you may not even realize. Does your child enjoy school? Did they become toilet trained in preschool? Do they understand empathy, being a ‘good friend,’ trying their best, being kind? You can bet that Miss Vy was an integral part of this. Decades later, our older students with special needs still get so excited to see her in summer school, and have made the progress they have with an amazing foundation all because of the early teaching of Vy,” said her fellow co-worker Jeannine Stanley, a Preschool Intensive Special Needs teacher.

Stanley continued, “Vy Yeng is the strongest woman I’ve ever met. I’ll say it again so you really understand the impact of that statement. The amount of horrific things that have happened to Vy are staggering. We could talk at length talking about the Cambodian genocide, the death sentence of early Covid for her and her family, the struggle of working two full time jobs for more than 20 years while also being a mom and so much more to so many.  The hard parts of her life are far too numerous and should never happen to such an amazing person. There have been at least five teachers in Garfield Room 119 since Vy started, and every one, most of all myself after the last 10 years, could absolutely not do their job without Vy. We would be lost without her. She deserves every single accolade and so much more. She really is the kindest, bravest, most patient, and loving human I’ve met.”

“I met Miss Vy two years ago when I began working with the students in her room. She was welcoming to me from the first day in the classroom. The thing that struck me the most is how loving and kind she is to every student in the room. Her heart is probably the largest heart you will find in any human. She is the most selfless person I know. One day I came to school and had a migraine come out of nowhere. She saw how upset I was when I had to leave school early and offered to drive me home. It may seem small, but it meant the world to me. The world is a better place because of her,’” said Colleen Reyes,  the district’s Adaptive Physical Education teacher

Vy is dedicated to all of her students. “In 2001, a student finally learned to walk up and down 12 steps without help. Vy offered to continue practicing walking on the stairs on a daily basis with our student so that he could get onto the MBTA bus with his mother to get to appointments and visit family.The goal for our student was achieved because of Vy’s dedication and determination,” added Pat Herlihy, a physical therapist

And the sentiment of hardwork and nurturing was echoed by Kim Pesculis, an Occupational Therapist for the district. “Miss Vy is one of the most hard working and good natured people I have had the pleasure to work with! She is so nurturing to all the students she works with and it shows through the relationships she builds with her students and colleagues. Miss Vy works really hard to help students be independent using the bathroom and provided me with some words of wisdom when I potty trained my own sons! I am forever grateful to have worked with Miss Vy at the Garfield School.”