Beaming with Pride

Matt and I have enjoyed being a part of the TOP soccer program, Blake's team, this past year. We have watched it grow this past year and have been lucky enough to be a big part of St. Joseph's High School integrating their boys' team with the program. Blake and our entire family has felt so welcome at each soccer practice, at the SJHS half-time clinic, and as special guests of SJHS's regional game. The local paper, The Greenville News, has also reached out this past year giving Blake a beautiful collage of pictures taken of him by the photographer (and signed by the head coach) and now today publishing an article highlighting the program including a picture of Blake with some buddies from SJHS. *See link below.

Words cannot describe how much this means to us and how proud we are of Blake. We have had a rough week with Blake's IEP which is still not complete and we are still at odds with the school district. Matt and I are firm believers in inclusion, which the school district has unfortunately not come to in this modern era of education. BUT, this article exposes a program that does believe in children with special needs and integrates them with typical kids who serve as buddies and play and teach along side them. A quote from another parent, Beth Nichols, at the end of this article says it all to me..."She is highly motivated by normally developing peers and always will be." This is true not just for her daughter and Blake, which we as their parents know, but for ALL children with special needs. As a professional in the area of serving and knowing children with special needs, I see differences in progress between the midwest and here. The model used in South Carolina is lacking and certainly does not benefit anyone. We are in hopes that with increasing awareness and more articles like this one things will progress in this state...

Click on link below to read article...
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20120524/SPORTS/305240010/TOP-Soccer-program-about-being-buddy?odyssey=tabtopnewstextSports

Our Little Mentor

This past Saturday Dane received his first acceptance letter in the mail! We are so excited and looking forward to next school year when he will attend Oakview Elementary as a mentor in the Pre-K classroom! He will enjoy school Monday through Friday 8:00am-2:30pm and the perks of a K-5 school...carpool line drop off, lunch in the big cafeteria, PE/music/art/etc., and a full curriculum that will prepare him for Kindergarten. Dane will go to the same school as Blake where 900 kids attend, so in addition to being exposed to a diverse population (something VERY important to Matt and I) and having the very important role of being a mentor, he will learn to navigate a "big boy" school and, in essence, have a real world experience. We have loved his current school where he has attended since before he turned one year old, but feel it is in his best interest to come out of that bubble and be exposed to much more.

The process of becoming a mentor was a bit more than I expected. I had to virtually stalk the Pre-K teacher each week since January asking if it was time to apply. They don't announce it to the public as it is purely word of mouth. The stalking proved to be beneficial as I was one of the first to apply in March to this particular classroom and was able to hand it directly to the teacher that same day. We waited and waited until two weeks ago when he was asked to attend school one day for a screening and to see if he was a good fit. This public school educated gal was a bit squeamish as it felt like we were trying to get him accepted into a private school...it felt so foreign. But, all turned out well as he was accepted! We are so proud of Dane and excited for him to have this experience, especially prior to starting Kindergarten in San Diego.