Lending a helping hand
Parents found school for children with Down syndrome
Story by Laura McFarland • Photos by Krystal Powell
When the parents of three special children realized the negative impact the public school system had on their children, they decided to act.
Kim Marshall, the mother of Lindsey Marshall, 13, is one such parent.
“All three of us have a child with Down syndrome and we were all getting fed up with the direction our children’s education’s were taking,” Kim Marshall said. “So, we decided to see if we could help them ourselves.”
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Green Oaks student, 11-year-old
Kristin Jewell, points out pictures in the storybook she is reading
to Rise School students.
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Along with Jean Jewell and Terry Dunn, both mothers of a child with Down syndrome, Marshall has co-founded Green Oaks School, a private school geared toward the specific needs of children with Down syndrome.
The three mothers have known each other for 10 years. In that time, they shared with each other the heartache they saw their children going through.
“Our children were very unhappy in public school,” Kim Marshall said. “My daughter would come home crying every day. These kids have a great learning ability, but they have to be able to learn on their own level.”
The school accepts children between the ages of 11 and 14 and only if they do not have serious medical or behavior disorders. Currently there are four children enrolled. Dunn’s daughter, Erin Dunn, can’t attend because she is only 10.
In their new school, the students still do regular academics like math,
spelling and reading, but it is all geared toward their level. There are
three different reading groups out of four children so that each child’s
education
is individualized.
Haley Whitworth, 13, said she enjoys attending Green Oaks School.
“I like this school,” she said. “I like to read with my teacher. She’s nice. We read and do our months and math.”
The students are currently training to enter the Special Olympics. All four will be entered in the swimming and bowling events. The students also go to the public library and have craft time once a week. Every Thursday is reserved for special projects and a review of academics.
“They are all delighted,” Kim Marshall said. “We have four very happy children at this school — happy to be learning. Here, every minute of every day is spent in activities that our children can learn and enjoy.”
Lately, the students have been practicing their storytelling abilities in preparation for a reading they did at the Rise School last Thursday. The Rise School is a school in Starpoint School for children between the ages of 18 months and 6-years-old with Down syndrome and other disabilities. All four of the Green Oaks students read to the younger children.
“We will divide the students into four groups and each of our students are going to read to a group,” said Kim Marshall.
She said much of the progress in the students’ academics and outside activities is because of their teacher, Sara Mayo.
Mayo said she intended to take time off from her teaching position at Pantego Christian Academy to raise her two toddlers. When she heard about the mothers who had decided to start a school for children with Down syndrome, she called to offer her knowledge. When the owners offered her a job, Mayo said she looked into the offer and it worked out to everyone’s benefit.
“First of all, the job had to do with my desire,” Mayo said. “My heart’s desire is to work with people that have mental impairments. The second thing is that the passion of the women was just very contagious. They are determined. They have received everything by donations and the money was in place. It was a go.”
Mayo said she has been interested in special education since she was young and she was intrigued by the possibilities the school possessed.
“I think this is a unique opportunity in that this is just students with Down syndrome,” Mayo said. “They learn so differently from everybody else. It was a challenge to see what we could do with it and the measurable improvement that we’ve had so far has been tremendous.”
For Mayo, the biggest accomplishment has been to assess the individual needs of every student, meet those needs and also have the students show measurable improvement.
“Students who couldn’t tell time now can tell time,” Mayo said. “Students who couldn’t count money can count money now. Students who couldn’t read anything but their names are reading at a primer level. Those gains might be small in the world’s aspect, but they’re huge with these children whose past education has either failed them or has left tremendous gaps.”
In the future, the owners hope to increase the age limit by one year each new school year and add more vocational skills.
“By the time that they’re (in their) middle teens, they’ll be out in the community working on job sites,” Mayo said. “They’ll do job shadowing with different federal programs and we will really focus on the school to work transition.”
Though they are always looking ahead, the mothers say they are content to take the problems the school may face as they come. For the time being, they are committed to helping Mayo prepare the students for the life that awaits them.
“On top of vocational skills, we will deal with personal and family matters, social skills, how to buy groceries and how to adapt in the community,” Mayo said. “The biggest thing is being able to make them citizens that can give back to the community.”
Essentially, the lesson Mayo most wants her students to leave with is respect — for others and for themselves.
“I think one thing that I would want them to know is that God loves them,” Mayo said. “God loves them just the way they are and he made them the way they are for a reason. I think that reason is to show us joy.”
Laura McFarland
ldm_77040@yahoo.com