Jeffrey A. Berk

School proved challenging for Jeffrey A. Berk until a Huber Heights City teacher made a discovery that changed his life forever. “Reading comprehension tasks were always a major challenge for me,” said Berk, who has a learning disability. “My sophomore year (at Wayne High School), my English teacher identified a strategy to improve my comprehension skills. After learning this technique, I began to succeed academically and realized the importance of a solid education.” Berk went on to attend West Virginia University on a full athletic scholarship, where he received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in special education. He was a four-year starter on the university’s Mountaineer football team. In 2004, Berk received the prestigious Scholar-Athlete award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The award is only given to 15 student-athletes in all divisions of college football. Berk also received All-Conference honors, and was an Academic All-American. Today, he is an advocate for people with disabilities, a special education supervisor for Huber Heights City Schools and a varsity offensive line coach. “Starting in the fall of 2013, I will be an assistant principal at Wayne High School,” said Berk. “In January 2013, I published ‘NCAA Eligibility: Student-Athletes with Education Impacting Disabilities,’ a resource guide for student-athletes with disabilities. I also am the founder of Success for College Students with Disabilities, a resource website for current and future college students with disabilities that can be found at www.disabilitysuccess.com.”