Peer partners help make high school memorable

Mechanicsville Local March 2006

For most students, high school was just as much about football games, dances and hanging out with friends as academics. Unfortunately, not everyone remembers high school with such nostalgia. Now a new program in Hanover County, the first of its kind in the state, will help special needs children make high school as much fun as it is for other students.

The Afterschool Integration Initiative (AII) originated through discussions between Hanover Arc and the Hanover School Board in 2004. It began as a pilot program at Hanover, Atlee and Patrick Henry high schools in January.

“No other school system in the state has this program and we’re appreciative of the School Board and the superintendent for their support,” said Robert Richardson, Director of Special Education for Hanover County public schools.

The program consists of 50 peer partners and 25 special needs students at the three high schools. Each special needs student is paired with two peer partners. When they meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., they participate in activities such as clubs, cheerleading practice and sporting events.

According to Kate Sandy, Senior teacher and overseer of the program at Hanover High School, there are 10 students, 22 peer partners, six instructional assistants and two psych coordinators involved in the program and so far, it’s going wonderfully.

“We’re seeing peer partners sitting with the special needs students at lunch and we hope that will initiate other students to become peer partners,” said Sandy.

The program was designed to help students with significant disabilities successfully engage in extracurricular activities. Peer partners are there to encourage and help build self-esteem, so that special needs kids can become a part of the social fabric of their high school.

Karen Stokes is among the many parents who have been waiting for a program like this for their children. Her 16-year-old daughter Kristie is a special needs student at Hanover High School.

“The program has given her the chance to experience different things without having to rely on me as much,” said Stokes. Kristie was paired with peer partner Lindsay Eaves. They play games and have gotten to know each other well during the two hours they spend together. Kristie hasn’t joined any clubs yet, but wants to get involved with the photography club, said Stokes. The program has given Kristie the opportunity to interact more with teens her own age and allows her more freedom to become involved in the social aspects of school.

Making a difference was one of the reasons why Lindsay Eaves, an 11th grader at Hanover High School wanted to be a peer partner.

“My friend’s brother is autistic and my mom is a special education teacher and that made me want to get more involved,” said Eaves. She was paired with Kristie Stokes. She visits Kristie at lunch, plays games with her and they tell each other about their day.

“I would see her around the halls and she always had a smile on her face. When she saw me, she’d come up to me and give me hugs and that made me feel wonderful,” Eaves said. Recently, Eaves said she and Kristie made Valentine cards together and watched the Hanover Show Choir practice. Because Eaves enjoyed being a peer partner so much, she plans to continue it next year.

Butch Price, President of the Board of Directors at Hanover Arc, said that as a parent of a ninth grader involved in the program and as a representative of Hanover Arc, he couldn’t be more pleased with the way the program is going.

“As a parent, we get to experience the joy of our child making friends and watching her blossom by meeting people who want to be her friend,” Price said about his daughter who is a special needs child in the program. The program has received an overwhelming response from students wanting to get involved and make a difference in another student’s life, said Price.

The student volunteers underwent training sessions held Dec. 12 and 20 to establish a strong volunteer team. During the training, students learned how to best serve as peer partners by learning ways to diffuse stressful situations, develop a better understanding of special needs students and ways to help them communicate effectively in social situations. The focal point is not creating new programs, but using the current programs by integrating the special needs kids.

“This program gives special needs students the same opportunities to enjoy high school and remember it fondly,” said Richardson.

Hanover students share activities

After-school program teams 47 students -- called peers with 27 disabled students
BY JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Friday, February 17, 2006

Lindsay Eaves gave Kristie Stokes a small stuffed dog for Valentine's Day.
A little more than a month ago, the two students at Hanover High School didn't know each other.
"I know her favorite color now," Eaves said Tuesday as she, Stokes and several other students sat at a table and played bingo.
The teens crossed paths when Eaves, a junior, decided to volunteer to help with an after-school activities program for the most severely disabled students at Hanover, Patrick Henry and Atlee high schools. Stokes, a freshman, was among the students invited to join the program. But she doesn't like change.
Karen Stokes, Kristie's mother, recalls her daughter's reaction to the prospect of participating in the program: "I'm not doing that."
But she gave it a try and on the program's first day, "she loved it," her mother said.
The county school system created the state-funded program in collaboration with the local parks and recreation department and Hanover ARC Inc., an organization that promotes improvement of services for people with disabilities and their families.
Eaves is among 47 students -- peers, they are called -- trained to partner with one or two special-needs students to participate in social activities after school. Kristie Stokes was one of 27 special-needs students who enrolled in the program.
Students participating in the program at Hanover High have gone to choir practice, art club, basketball games and gymnastics practice. Karen Stokes said her daughter is looking forward to a visit with the photography club.
Emily Bowers, site coordinator for the program, said sometimes students do activities as a group, but individuals can choose favorite activities and participate in them.
Since the program started, Bowers said, she has seen a growing camaraderie between peers and their partners, she said.
"They joke around," she said. "They irritate each other on purpose. [Peers] leave their friends at the cafeteria and go to sit with their new friends and eat lunch."
Eaves said the experience has changed her perception of disabled students. She has gone from being frightened, she said, to "really enjoying myself" when she is with her new friends.
On Tuesday, Karen Stokes arrived with her husband, John Stokes, and their second daughter, Ashley, to pick up Kristie as the day's activities were ending. They watched the bingo game for a while.
Kristie Stokes kept her eyes on the numbers on her pink bingo sheet. For playing pieces, the students used the traditional Valentine's heart-shaped candies imprinted with sweet phrases. Students yelling "bingo" went on to write a Valentine's letter using the words on the hearts.
The air filled with laughter, Kristie's voice rising with the others.
Her mother was pleased with what she saw. "She's happy as a clam," Karen Stokes said.
John Stokes watched his daughter interacting with the other students.
"It's fantastic," he said. "Most of the time, she'll be sitting by herself at home watching TV." The program gives her a chance to be on her own, he said.
"It gives her a chance to grow."

Contact staff writer Juan Antonio Lizama at jlizama@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6513.
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