SPECIAL STUDENT LOVES SU
MARNINA KECK JOINS PEERS AT FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE
by Maureen Nolan Staff Writer
Throughout her years at Syracuse's Henninger High School, Marnina Keck was determined to move onward and upward with the rest of her class. Keck, 18, is a special education student who has Down Syndrome. Through the Syracuse district's "inclusion" program, she was able to attend many typical classes with her peers throughout her education. That was important to Keck and her family. When Keck's class graduated last June, most of its members moved on to college or some other form of education. Keck moved along with them as part of an unusual partnership between the city school district and Syracuse University.
On Campus, which is in its third year, allows six city students with significant disabilities to attend classes on SU's campus every year.
Otherwise, the students would remain in high school, even though they're older than most of their classmates. Special needs students who do not attain a typical diploma may attend high school until they turn 21, when they "age out" of the system.
On Campus enables the students to be in college with their peers and it provides them with a part-time job, usually on campus. Keck files and does other clerical work at City Hall.
At school, she is just another kid in the lecture hall during her class on sociology of the family. She keeps her eyes on the teacher most of the time, takes notes and joined a small study group. Keck has a teaching assistant from the school district at her side. Keck says she's at SU because she's done with high school and wants to have fun. Her classes include weight training, introduction to drama and sociology of the family. Keck said she likes everything about going to school on the hill, but she misses being part of the Henninger swim team and her old friends. Keck has been trying to talk a friend at Henninger into joining her at SU.
Edward Erwin, special education director for the Syracuse district, knows of no other program like On Campus. The city students attend SU classes for free, and students from SU's School of Education get to know the city students. Each of the six city students are matched up with several SU students via e-mail and personal encounters. "SU students really get to learn about disability-related issues from peers who have disabilities. Rather than just learning the theory, they are able to develop relationships with students on campus," said Michele Paetow, district On Campus coordinator. Paetow, a certified special education teacher, has an office on campus and works with SU staff and the teaching assistants on scheduling. Part of her job is to help teaching assistants modify college-level material for the students participating in the program.
Each On Campus student has a teaching assistant who is with them throughout the school day. Many special education students in the Syracuse district qualify to have a teaching assistant assigned to them. Keck's assistant is Jeanne Johnson, who says she's seen the slightly shy student grow more confident at school.
Marnina's mother, Sandy Keck, said her daughter "really enjoys being with the typical population, and you know, it's hard to find those avenues if you're not in that structured situation."
One of the benefits of the On Campus program is the social skills that students develop, but they also enjoy classes and learn from them, although not at the level of typical college students, Erwin said.
"But we are constantly amazed by what the kids tell us through the course of the day, the week, the year, about what they are remembering of what takes place in a fairly high-level class," he said.
Johnson says Keck picks up on the broader concepts in her family sociology class. Paetow says students discover their own academic interests and what they want to learn more about.
"I think my hope for these students is the hope that we have for all kids that are in school," Paetow said. "We really hope that they become lifelong learners and that they maintain a level of curiosity about the world."
Keck wants to become a singer. Sandy Keck is trying to convince her that singing might be a more viable hobby than a career. Sandy Keck teaches first-grade at Solace Elementary School in Syracuse and her husband teaches physical education at Henninger. He also is a diving coach at SU, and both their older children went to college on the hill. Keck's sister graduated and her brother is in his senior year there, so Keck had visited SU before she joined On Campus. That helped ease any anxiety, Sandy Keck said.
Being on campus will help prepare Keck for life after school, her mom said. Keck will "age out" of the city school district at the end of her third year on campus, but her mom hopes to find a way for her daughter to finish a fourth year in college.
Sandy Keck also is working to find a way for her daughter to live her final college year in a supervised dorm or apartment setting to give her the full college experience.
Erwin hopes to expand the boundaries of On Campus. He has had preliminary conversations with LeMoyne College about creating an On Campus program there, but that's still a vision at this point.
Copyright, 2002, The Herald CompanySource: Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) |
