Success Story from the Field
By Thelma Kastl
Avery is one of the EC (Exceptional Children) students. He has a form of autism that gives him social anxiety. When he first came to my classes he would not talk or look at anyone. He would not go with my class to lunch. He would go back to the EC room. By the middle of the semester we were working on businesses or services and he actually agreed to be in a video commercial for his teams business. The other students really encouraged him. After he saw how awesome the commercial was he started to flourish and the other kids invited him to be in their videos. The next semester was better. He taught new students how to make commercials and videos. He started giving his own ideas. He went to lunch with the students he knew from my class. One day he told us he could rap. So the other kids encouraged him to show us. He was pretty good so then he started using raps in his videos. He began coming to my room at break to work on projects and to hang out, totally different from the student who was so afraid to raise his head and talk.
I think he might well be the ultimate success. He has even got a facebook account so he can talk to the other kids about projects. He has learning disabilities and could not even log on to programs to begin with. And are you ready for this… this past spring he made a 93 on the vocats. In previous classes he only scored in the 50s and 60s. Avery has been super motivated this past year and has really stretched and grown as an individual. I know he is going to have a hard time changing to a new teacher but at least he will have the new skills and confidence to help him deal with it. I am very, very proud of him just because of his growth. His projects were average. His commercials good but his changed personality was the best.