[il-talk] At ISVI, Budget Cuts Go Beyond Sports

[Glenn Moore]

There's no replacement for these types of school provided programs and the means to offer them, but thankfully we do have Freedom Link in the Chicago chapter.

-G. ROBERT MOORE III

On Mar 29, 2011, at 19:48, Bill Reif <billreif at ameritech.net> wrote:

Hello,

The below article appears in today's Chicago Tribune. It should be available through Newsline.

Cordially,
Bill


At school for blind, travel budget cuts have impact beyond sports
Travel teams give students experience, confidence in navigating the sighted world
Jhaliyah Anderson, left, Dalesha Richardson, center, and Breanna Carpentier are students
at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville. As the state’s
money woes continue, the school is grappling with cutbacks; the loss of the travel
budget, for example, is preventing students from competing in sports and other activities.
(
Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune
/ March 29, 2011)
By Todd Wilson, Tribune reporter
March 29, 2011
At school for blind, travel budget cuts have impact beyond sports
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Jhaliyah Anderson's favorite part of her squad's cheerleading
routine is the elevator lift. Timing and teamwork are essential. She plants a foot
into the cupped hands of a pair of teammates, who hoist her in the air above their
heads before catching her as she descends to the ground.
The basic move plays out in school gyms across the country. It's different for Jhaliyah,
though. She completely lost her sight at age 3. And the teammates lifting her are
partially blind.
The 14-year-old from south suburban
Lynwood
shakes the poms at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, a state-funded
school with about 70 students in downstate Jacksonville.
"I always wanted to be a cheerleader and now I am," she says. "I never could have
done that at public school."
Need basic training in SEO and social media? Sign up for 435 Digital seminars at Tribune Tower >>
But the chance to compete for the cheerleaders and students in five other sports
was put in jeopardy this semester when
Gov. Pat Quinn
banned out-of-state travel to save money.
The hit for the school is only $9,000, but it illustrates the far-reaching impact
of budget cuts in a state government still running billions in the red even after
a major income tax increase.
Parents, students, alumni and a local union have scrambled, collecting $1,500 in
donations and raising $2,300 at a recent chili supper. Some of the teams have traveled
— competing schools are located in other Midwestern states — but it's unclear whether
the others will get the same chance.
It's not luxury travel. The students ride on a yellow bus. They often find themselves
sleeping on mattresses laid out on gym and dormitory floors.
The hard knocks, they say, are worth it. The educational experiences the students
get from the trips go beyond the chance to play sports. They practice orientation
and mobility by navigating unfamiliar places. They work on simple things most people
take for granted, like ordering and eating at a fast food restaurant — life skills
they need to survive in a sighted world.
They're building on the more traditional math, social studies and language arts classes
they're taking at the school, which runs from elementary grades through a post-high
school transitional living program. Students, who live on campus, also learn to read
Braille, cook, do laundry and use special computer programs designed to help them
study and work on their own.
Marybeth Lauderdale, superintendent of both the School for the Visually Impaired
and its sister school, the Illinois School for the Deaf, said she argued with state
officials that the law says children with disabilities must get the same education
as peers without disabilities.
"Visually impaired and deaf kids get the same thing out of it as other kids. They
get that same sense of confidence and independence from being on a team with people
like themselves," Lauderdale said. "It's part of their education. That's what we
argued, but we didn't get any money out of it."
Parents marvel at how they've seen their kids "blossom" at the school.
Kevin Banker, a 21-year-old transitional living student from Bartlett, is part of
the cheerleading squad and a conference wrestling champion.
"Just how much they improve is remarkable," said Robert Ackerly, Banker's stepfather.
"Kevin's always been strong, but at the school he's become very strong and independent.
He's able to move out into the working world and face those challenges."
Jame Pumphrey's daughter Jada was resistant to her mobility training when she was
mainstreamed in public school, and very dependent on her family when she ventured
outside her home. After almost two years at the downstate school, Jada, an eighth-grader,
now takes on the streets of Chicago on her own, said her mother.
While the $1,500 the school got in donations allowed students to travel to the wrestling
and cheerleading championships, students are pitching in to raise money for the coming
swimming and forensics season. The swimmers and debaters are planning to host one
competition and travel to
Kentucky
, Indiana,
South Dakota
,
Wisconsin
and
Minnesota
.
Last month's chili supper was organized and run by students. They did everything
from promoting the event through radio public service announcements to preparing
and serving the food. The fundraiser, which saw the school dish out 200 gallons of
chili, earned the program $2,300.
The school's principal, Jan McGovern, said the budget cuts had a "huge silver lining"
in giving the students an additional educational opportunity.
"Our kids have just really been able to step up to the plate and realize if there's
something important that they want there's a way to work at it," she said. "No matter
what their skill level is, no matter what their disability is, they can still work
at it and they can still achieve a lot."
That can-do spirit was on display at the fundraiser. Kevin Banker emptied rapidly
filling trash cans in the school's packed dining hall, which includes a wall-long
mural featuring the Illinois Warriors' mascot and the mascots of the schools they
compete against. When he wasn't taking out the trash, Banker went from table to table
asking guests if they wanted more chili or hot dogs. Any diner who said yes sent
him scurrying to the serving table to fill the order.
After starting her evening busing trays, Jhaliyah Anderson was excited and nervous
as she prepared to act as a receptionist and field phone calls about the event.
"I've never really been a receptionist before. I've never taken orders over the phone.
I'm excited," she said. "I'm learning how to advocate for myself and ask for help
if I need it."
Jhaliyah's nervousness was unfounded. At one point she deftly gave directions to
the school to a local woman interested in coming to the event.
"Yes, you can come on Howe Street," she told the woman on the phone. "You'll be closer
to the dining hall, which is a square building in the middle of the campus, if you
come that way. Just pull into the back parking lot and you'll see it."
Ultimately for Jhaliyah, the school's middle school student body president, it's
all about learning new skills while helping to save a program she feels has given
her so much
"It makes me feel like I'm not just a poor little blind girl. I've got the capabilities
and I'm normal just like everybody else," she said.
xcxtwilson at tribune.com
Get the Chicago Tribune delivered to your home for only $1 a week >
Copyright © 2011,
Chicago Tribune


_______________________________________________
il-talk mailing list
il-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/il-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for il-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/il-talk_nfbnet.org/glennmooreiii%40yahoo.com