The BiG Story
Cancer
and.with tremendous support from
his teacher, the boy started coming
for longer periods of time.
"Now, when he comes into the
I class, his wheelchair is placed
between the chairs of two other
1 boys, and the teacher makes it a
point to direct remarks to him," she
Presented by:
Gregory R Kalemkerian, M.D.
Director
Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Clinic
Collette Hodges, R.N., C.N.P.
Nurse Practitioner
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This child is "ecstatic" about being
in school, Hojda says. "Even more
important is the way he knows he's
included now, in the class and as
part of the community.
"Everyone knows that his favorite
food is chocolate ice cream. When
the teacher was speaking about the 1
laws of brachot, he would specifi-
cally mention ice cream [for the
proper blessing over certain foods],
[so] this child knew he was part of
the class. At Purim, friends brought
him chocolate ice cream. Until he
became part of this program, the
boys in his neighborhood knew of
him, but they didn't really know
him. Now, they have a relationship
with him. They say 'hello' and
come to visit.
"Before, he was so isolated. Sucl-
denly, he has life in the community,"
Hojda says, adding that before this
school year began, "the teacher
phoned the boy's mother to say,
'School is starting this Sunday. We
I hope your boy is coming. We can't
1 have school without him. –
Hojda describes the accommoda-
tion made for a student in the pro-
gram with cerebral palsy. The boy
enjoys participating in the morning
prayers and studying Torah. What
he cannot do is certain course work
that requires abstract thinking.
Recently, when the boys were
learning about Yom Kippur in the
Holy Temple, instead of sitting in
front of a text the boy worked
directly with a tutor who built him a
model of the Temple, then showed
him what the High Priest did during
the holiday service.
School officials needed convinc-
ing to help another child. Hojda
says, "I remember presenting the
idea that a special-needs student be
allowed to attend a computer class,
and the administration told me,
'No, absolutely not. This child will
not be able to keep up and it will
leave the teacher too occupied.'
"In the end, thank God, we got
the okay to try it — and the effect
was nothing but positive. The stu-
dent was able to develop skills on
the computer that surprised even her
and that was encouraging to
everyone.
"This year, when I returned to the
same school to place another stu-
dent, I was expecting another chal-
lenge. But what happened? it was
amazing. I went in there and they
were so enthusiastic. In fact, the
administrators themselves had ways
to include the new student [with
special needs]."
Other students are understandably
curious when a child with special
needs joins their class. But Hojda
says she hasn't received a single
parent or child call to object to the
presence of a student with special
needs. And why should they? she
reflects. Respecting others, regard-
less of their abilities, is a central
concept of Judaism.
"We say we want our children to
learn kindness, treat others with
respect, practice what we're learn-
ing about Torah values — isn't this
why they are in a Jewish school?"
Rabbi Nathaniel Lauer is the edu-
cational director at Beth Jacob. He
has nothing but praise for the
School Inclusion Program.
"Those individuals selected [to
participate] did extremely well,
thanks to the cooperation of JARC,
the family and the school," he says.
"I also want to say that the 'shad-
ows' did a beautiful job. There
were tremendous gains for all."
The Flower Blooms
Last year, Blimie Youngworth gradu-
ated from Beth Jacob. She is mov-
ing on.