Parents need to advocate for children (06/10/08)

To the editor:

I have often read the letters and responses of others and many times thought I would respond, but never did.

This isn't in response to anyone else, but submitted with the hopes that it will make a difference to another parent or student.

I have a child with a learning disability. Testing done in second grade proved that she needed extra help in math and English. We proceeded to get the help from tutoring and one-on-one time with "resource room" teachers, and she improved each year.

During her sixth grade year she joined band and wanted to play flute. We at one point were told to send back the flute because the teacher didn't know how to help her learn. We realized that she loved to play, worked very hard at it and decided until she completely failed we would stand by her. She kept the flute.

At the end of eighth grade we met with the principal, special education officials, guidance counselors and her resource teacher to discuss the plan for high school.

The resource teacher had called my husband's cell phone just days before to say we needed to meet. During the conversation, someone stated that as far as she was concerned our daughter was "hopeless."

She stated that she couldn't be taught any further.

During our case conference we were told that if we wanted our daughter to go to college she would need a Core 40 diploma. If our child couldn't pass the courses the only thing to do would be for us to sign off and let the school give her a certificate of completion. The resource teacher spoke up and said our daughter wouldn't be able to earn a diploma. We reminded the group of "No Child Left Behind."

What we were told was that we were setting her up to fail.

Thanks to a very knowledgeable guidance counselor, we were told there is a regular diploma available. The difference for college would mean starting at a smaller school like Ivy Tech and then transferring to a larger university. This is the route we chose.

After four long years of hard work, summer school and late nights, our daughter received her diploma June 1 from Jay County High School.

The major point of this letter is to tell others just because someone with credentials says "this is what you should do for your child" doesn't make them right.

Every parent must advocate for his or her child, listen to your heart and your child, and don't be pushed into a corner.

If you don't give your child a chance and just settle on the word of others, how will you know what could have been? If you don't reach for the top life could be very limited.

As for our daughter, she not only earned her diploma, she also played her flute and earned a letter and plaque for being a part of the Marching Patriots four years running.

Our sincerest thanks goes out to Mrs. Millspaugh, Mr. Vogler, Mr. Smeltzer, and especially to some very special teachers - Mrs. Hedges, Mrs. Mark, Mrs. Schmidt, Mrs. French and Mrs. Hodson. To these people we owe our gratitude for seeing us through and standing by our daughter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Denise Habegger

Portland



Thanks

To the editor:

We would like to thank the following organizations and businesses for their generous donations to our fundraiser. With their help, we were able to raise $1,075 to purchase equipment for a science lab at Westlawn Elementary School.

Thanks to: Westlawn PTO, Westlawn 'Just Say No' Club, Westlawn Student Council, Kiwanis of Dunkirk, Second Chance Bar, West Jay Optimist Club, D.C.S. Computer and Wal-Mart of Portland.

Sincerely,

Mr. James Roberts, teacher,

For the lifeskills class at

Westlawn Elementary[[In-content Ad]]