Mike Benoit’s Life’s Calling After An Unexpected Detour

With over twenty years of experience as a mental health provider, special educator, and school leader for under-resourced children, Mike Benoit has had time to appreciate not only what led him to the profession of supporting young people, but what keeps him energized and inspired by it.  Benoit reflects, “If I’d had a little more guidance or support, I would’ve been able to make better choices.” The experiences in his own youth alongside his identity as a proud dad of four sons play a huge role in his commitment to the young men and women of Baltimore.

To fully understand how personal this work is for Benoit, you must travel back to his very early childhood, which he spent living with various relatives in Haiti and Boston before fully settling with his mother and stepfather in New York City for middle and high school. Despite his advanced levels of academic aptitude, his school experience got off to a rough start due to the instability and transience of his early elementary years.  Compounding these gaps in his education was the draw of the streets.  His older brother was gang involved, and Mike was soon affiliated by association, as well as by a feeling of necessity.  “You don’t really feel like you have a choice when your older sibling is in a gang.  You automatically take an oath without question.”

After being kicked out of high school in his first few months, he got back on track at John Adams High School in Queens the following year, recovering all of his lost freshman year credits.  Still, he was living a dangerous double life that came with significant consequences. Mike was charged with a second felony his junior year that could have resulted in much worse than the probation he was currently serving.  Upon reflecting why he was able to escape the prison pipeline when so many in his community were not, Benoit wonders if his successes in academic and extra-curricular spaces played a role. “I don’t know exactly what my lawyer said to the judge, [but] I do recall them talking about my grades, that I ran track, and was employed part time at a local supermarket.  I was also a talented visual artist, and would paint murals in the local courthouses [as part of community service from a prior incident].”

So it was perhaps something as small as an image on a courthouse wall that allowed Benoit to graduate high school and matriculate to college.  Beginning at Brooklyn College, he transferred to Hunter College for his sophomore year, maintaining a 4.0 GPA.  While he was being recruited by several out-of-state schools due to his impressive track and field stats, his probation did not allow him to consider those opportunities.  However, when he once again found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as he kept company with friends from his past, his lawyer gave him critical advice. “He said, ‘You need to get out of here.  Find somewhere to go.’”  With his attorney’s help, Mike made a request to the probation office to get special permission to leave the state.  Not only was the request granted, but his youth record was erased, opening up doors of opportunity that he hadn’t previously imagined.

Morgan State University in Baltimore, one of four HBCUs in Maryland, was the institution that Benoit selected to finish his undergraduate degree and continue to excel on the track.  Mike was accepted into an honors psychology program to foster his goal of becoming a clinical psychologist.  He published research papers, secured coveted internships, and applied to graduate programs. After finishing Morgan State, Mike was preparing to make selections to grad school. He and his wife learned that they were expecting their first child.  Staying close to family became increasingly important, especially once they learned that there was high risk that their son would be developmentally delayed.  Mike quickly had to pivot, and it was through that unexpected career change that he found his calling as a Special Education teacher and enrolled in Goucher College’s graduate program for education.

Benoit found special education to be a promising path after his experiences at Morgan. “Whenever I had work study jobs, they were always at a school tutoring.  Even my research studies all involved adolescents.  Special education most closely related to my knowledge and interest in psychology and development.”  Mike’s prediction that the work would come easily was correct; he thrived right away, quickly becoming a mentor and a resource to his colleagues. 

Teaching students with emotional and intellectual disabilities was immensely satisfying, but it also brought a set of frustrations. He noticed that not all teachers took the time to implement students’ individualized education plans (IEPs).  Benoit also saw that there was not a universal belief that “students [with learning disabilities] are able to use their accommodations to be as successful as their non-disabled peers.”  On top of those challenges involving the fixed mindsets of some faculty members, he also found that administrators weren’t always allocating necessary funds to the students who would most benefit. “I refused to lie and say that kids were getting the services and supports that they needed when they weren’t.” These early exposures to the many obstacles that special education students face only made him more resolute to make a difference. 

Benoit spent five years in the classroom as a special education teacher before transitioning into coordinator and administrative roles in multiple schools.  He currently serves as the Education Associate at Baltimore’s Western High School, an all-girls public school, and appreciates the opportunity to serve as a role model and resource for young women.  “Even though I’m a dad to all boys at home, [the girls] really look up to me.  They see me as a person who is invested in them, and I’m honored that they view me this way.”

Despite Mike’s success across school setting types, he feels called to return to his roots. “I’m in the process of completing my full accreditation for a mental health agency.”  Having never lost his passion for psychology and providing therapeutic services, he is excited to work with young people in this capacity more consistently. These services are all the more essential as he reflects on what children are enduring in post-pandemic Baltimore.  “Our kids remain very affected by COVID.  Academically, they fell further behind.  Socially and emotionally, they are not well adjusted.”  He adds that increased numbers of homicides in Baltimore layer on additional trauma.  “With the exposure to violence, [young people need] an outlet to express their feelings in a therapeutic way.”

In addition to his myriad professional and parenting responsibilities, Benoit somehow carves out time to serve his community through leadership on boards and in the world of track and field, a sport that remains a lifelong love.  Among his many positions, he serves as vice chair of Baltimore City Special Education Advisory committee and he is also the founder and head coach of Maryland Blaze Track Club.

Mike remains in touch with many of the students whom he’s supported over the years.  One young man to whom he provided services from second grade to high school graduation makes him particularly proud. Benoit encourages any young person interested in a career in the classroom to consider special education: “The job is not an easy one, but what you put in is going to create something remarkable, not just for the student’s life, but for the teacher’s life as well.”