Tuesday, May 24, 2005
graduation day part 1
It's graduation day! This year my school has a class of 14 graduates. 14 kids with serious multiple cognitive and physical disabilities are about to be set free to go out into the world. Well not exactly free, none of them will ever have the skills or abilities to live independently. But their school days have drawn to a close. . .
While not as cool as this speech, I none the less have a few words to share about one student on graduation day. I will no doubt have more to share about others in the near future.
At our graduation ceremony a parent or a friend says a few words about the graduating student. It is always a very touching and moving moment. I am honored to be asked by a mother to speak on her son's behalf.
This is what I said:
_______________
Matt. Say the name and you need not say anymore. Everybody understands. Everybody knows Matt, everybody has seen and heard him. And as most of the staff can attest, sometimes you see or hear a whole lot more than you bargain for.
I have spent the better part of the last four years getting to know Matt, trying to decipher the meaning behind his every utterance and action. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. What worked on Monday may not work on Tuesday. Most days you just take your best guess and hope things work out. Matt quite clearly lets you know if you're wrong. That's just how it is. He's like Forrest Gump with a box of chocolates. This has always been the biggest challenge and greatest joy of being Matt's teacher and of being his friend. There has truly never been a dull moment; every day is a new, exciting and unpredictable adventure.
Matt loves to talk about his housemates at the State School and is most always eager to discuss his favorite modes of transportation: the bus and the van; or people: the man, the lady. Offer him one and he will undoubtedly want the other. He enjoys literature of all kinds. Whether it’s back issues of National Geographic, a section from yesterday's newspaper, or the phone book, Matt will eagerly share them with you and request that you sit with him and read together. He has periods of great artistic creativity, drawing page after page of circles and scribbles or dictating poetry about the people and things in his life. (An example: “Bus a bus all right / The lady she drive Matt / she drive Matt / Right there / Right there / How will the lady drive Matt?”)
From Matt I have learned more about the power of Gentle Teaching than could ever be taught in any staff training or professional development session. From Matt I have learned more about the virtues of patience, tolerance, understanding, and unconditional love than could be taught in a thousand church sermons. I am quite certain that Matt has taught me more about myself than I ever taught him.
Matt has left an indelible mark on the minds of all who know him, and on the bodies of a few of us who have worked with him. Thank you Matt for everything you have taught all of us. Future mornings will not be the same without opening the back door of the classroom to hear your booming voice echo from the bus across the schoolyard, “Noyz, Noyz come get Matt!” The School will be a different place without you.
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While not as cool as this speech, I none the less have a few words to share about one student on graduation day. I will no doubt have more to share about others in the near future.
At our graduation ceremony a parent or a friend says a few words about the graduating student. It is always a very touching and moving moment. I am honored to be asked by a mother to speak on her son's behalf.
This is what I said:
_______________
Matt. Say the name and you need not say anymore. Everybody understands. Everybody knows Matt, everybody has seen and heard him. And as most of the staff can attest, sometimes you see or hear a whole lot more than you bargain for.
I have spent the better part of the last four years getting to know Matt, trying to decipher the meaning behind his every utterance and action. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. What worked on Monday may not work on Tuesday. Most days you just take your best guess and hope things work out. Matt quite clearly lets you know if you're wrong. That's just how it is. He's like Forrest Gump with a box of chocolates. This has always been the biggest challenge and greatest joy of being Matt's teacher and of being his friend. There has truly never been a dull moment; every day is a new, exciting and unpredictable adventure.
Matt loves to talk about his housemates at the State School and is most always eager to discuss his favorite modes of transportation: the bus and the van; or people: the man, the lady. Offer him one and he will undoubtedly want the other. He enjoys literature of all kinds. Whether it’s back issues of National Geographic, a section from yesterday's newspaper, or the phone book, Matt will eagerly share them with you and request that you sit with him and read together. He has periods of great artistic creativity, drawing page after page of circles and scribbles or dictating poetry about the people and things in his life. (An example: “Bus a bus all right / The lady she drive Matt / she drive Matt / Right there / Right there / How will the lady drive Matt?”)
From Matt I have learned more about the power of Gentle Teaching than could ever be taught in any staff training or professional development session. From Matt I have learned more about the virtues of patience, tolerance, understanding, and unconditional love than could be taught in a thousand church sermons. I am quite certain that Matt has taught me more about myself than I ever taught him.
Matt has left an indelible mark on the minds of all who know him, and on the bodies of a few of us who have worked with him. Thank you Matt for everything you have taught all of us. Future mornings will not be the same without opening the back door of the classroom to hear your booming voice echo from the bus across the schoolyard, “Noyz, Noyz come get Matt!” The School will be a different place without you.
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