Generosity of material objects is easy, generosity of spirit is a gift!

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

I have to tell you a wonderful thing I got to be part of this week at work. It starts off hard, forgive us all for that, but it ends beautifully!

I work in a local High School and graduation day is approaching. I was tasked with pairing students who had not chosen their own marching partners. On my list is a wonderful student, who also happens to live with Downs Syndrome. We'll call him "jake."

Well, Jake is on the unmatched list because another girl from his self-contained program was supposed to march with him, but her parents did not like it. They wanted their daughter "Sarah" to march with a "normal" partner and not someone from the program. (They said that, not me.)

Matching Jake is not simple because he needs someone to cue him on what to do, when to move and to remind him to stand strait, look up, walk slow, shake hands....you guys know the drill. Jake has been practicing all of this with his aide for months, but will still need reminders through out the ceremony. "Sarah" could have done all of this as she knows Jake quite well, and she herself is very high functioning. But who else can and will do this?

The unmatched list is short, teens are selfish and no one seemed to want to offer themselves up to march with Jake. I asked the one girl on the list who I thought would do it, and she kindly apologized but said she wanted to have her special day just for her and that although she knew it was not nice, she would not be marching with Jake. Two other students declined, one of them rudely stating that he would not march with "that _____ kid." GGGRRR


So back to the list I went and saw another girl who MIGHT do it. She is a pre-nursing vocational student. She is sometimes great and sometimes likes to pick fights with other girls. But, Jake is a boy, maybe this one, "Katie" ,will be THE ONE.

I call her out of her final exam (ooops) and told her the problem we were having and asked if she could help. She didn't even let me finish. YES! But, not only did she say yes, she was wonderful about it:

"Every one of us worked so hard for our whole lives to get to this graduation, of course I'll march with Jake, he deserves graduation to be special too. He deserves it more, it was harder for him. I'm so glad you asked me to march with him. I'm glad I'll get to share the day with him. ... What do I need to know to help?"

Ok, at this point I had tears in my eyes and hugged Katie.

Generosity of material objects is easy, generosity of spirit is a gift! Katie made my day. She made Jake's teacher (male- 50ish) cry! and Made all of us proud to know her.


I just thought I'd share this with all of you. Yes, the descrimination sucks, but there are still good people out there, "Katie" proves that.

 

[DannysMom]

So back to the list I went and saw another girl who MIGHT do it. She is a pre-nursing vocational student. She is sometimes great and sometimes likes to pick fights with other girls. But, Jake is a boy, maybe this one, "Katie" ,will be THE ONE.

I call her out of her final exam (ooops) and told her the problem we were having and asked if she could help. She didn't even let me finish. YES! But, not only did she say yes, she was wonderful about it:

"Every one of us worked so hard for our whole lives to get to this graduation, of course I'll march with Jake, he deserves graduation to be special too. He deserves it more, it was harder for him. I'm so glad you asked me to march with him. I'm glad I'll get to share the day with him. ... What do I need to know to help?"

Ok, at this point I had tears in my eyes and hugged Katie.

Generosity of material objects is easy, generosity of spirit is a gift! Katie made my day. She made Jake's teacher (male- 50ish) cry! and Made all of us proud to know her.

Awww, you made me cry too! "Katie" sounds like she has a great attitude and personality to be a nurse. (or maybe a social worker...) Having been in a hospital daily for 3+ months when my son was in the NICU, I know nurses can range from awesome to just awful (just like everyone else.) So I think she'd make a great nurse! I'm glad that you found someone willing and able to help "Jake" march w/ his class.

 

[Schmeck]

We've had similar needs at the high school I work at, but there have been a plethora of students willing to help. One young lady even assisted two of our special needs students at our prom - she wasn't asked to, it was her idea that she help them so that they could have that prom experience without extra aides there. We've never had a problem finding anyone to help out for graduation either - most kids jump at the chance, just like the OP's Katie!

I think one of the reasons we have so many helpers is that we have a 'Big Brother-Big Sister' program in our school and have many students each quarter come into the special ed. resource room to get to know the students there. One of our special needs students is so popular with the general school population that it's nearly impossible to get him to go to a specified location independently. He's stopped (and distracted) in the hallway by 5-6 kids every few seconds. But boy does that bring a smile to everyone's faces!

 

[ireland_nicole]

Thank you for sharing your story; there's a bit of serindipity in this thread for me; I am mom to two preemies Caitie and Danny. It's kinda funny that the thread is about Katie and Danny's mom replied... completely OT, I just indulgently thought it was interesting.
Nicole

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

Katie's parents should be proud that they raised a compassionate child.

 

[robin09]

I have to tell you a wonderful thing I got to be part of this week at work. It starts off hard, forgive us all for that, but it ends beautifully!

I work in a local High School and graduation day is approaching. I was tasked with pairing students who had not chosen their own marching partners. On my list is a wonderful student, who also happens to live with Downs Syndrome. We'll call him "jake."

Well, Jake is on the unmatched list because another girl from his self-contained program was supposed to march with him, but her parents did not like it. They wanted their daughter "Sarah" to march with a "normal" partner and not someone from the program. (They said that, not me.)

Matching Jake is not simple because he needs someone to cue him on what to do, when to move and to remind him to stand strait, look up, walk slow, shake hands....you guys know the drill. Jake has been practicing all of this with his aide for months, but will still need reminders through out the ceremony. "Sarah" could have done all of this as she knows Jake quite well, and she herself is very high functioning. But who else can and will do this?

The unmatched list is short, teens are selfish and no one seemed to want to offer themselves up to march with Jake. I asked the one girl on the list who I thought would do it, and she kindly apologized but said she wanted to have her special day just for her and that although she knew it was not nice, she would not be marching with Jake. Two other students declined, one of them rudely stating that he would not march with "that _____ kid." GGGRRR


So back to the list I went and saw another girl who MIGHT do it. She is a pre-nursing vocational student. She is sometimes great and sometimes likes to pick fights with other girls. But, Jake is a boy, maybe this one, "Katie" ,will be THE ONE.

I call her out of her final exam (ooops) and told her the problem we were having and asked if she could help. She didn't even let me finish. YES! But, not only did she say yes, she was wonderful about it:

"Every one of us worked so hard for our whole lives to get to this graduation, of course I'll march with Jake, he deserves graduation to be special too. He deserves it more, it was harder for him. I'm so glad you asked me to march with him. I'm glad I'll get to share the day with him. ... What do I need to know to help?"

Ok, at this point I had tears in my eyes and hugged Katie.

Generosity of material objects is easy, generosity of spirit is a gift! Katie made my day. She made Jake's teacher (male- 50ish) cry! and Made all of us proud to know her.


I just thought I'd share this with all of you. Yes, the descrimination sucks, but there are still good people out there, "Katie" proves that.

As a parent of a special Needs child (aspergers) I congratulate Katie for her warmth and compassion. Is it possible to let her parents know the wonderful thing she did? Such sensitivity is rare today.