As I am writing this, my daughter is 12. It’s been a lot of years since she graduated from My Special School but the early influence and encouragement to be compassionate, accountable, curious and a good friend has paid off in so many ways. Today Seana is a good student in 7th grade and tries very hard to be on time with her school work and takes it very seriously. She has developed healthy relationships with a core group of friends so year in and year out, her friends are kids I know and like plus they share interests honed over years of knowing each other.
While Seana still has dreams of becoming a veterinarian, this last summer she did an internship at a private summer camp which has a preschool component. She spent the entire summer working with kids under 5 years old and loved every minute of it. At the end of summer she was sad not because summer was ending but because she would miss her “students”. I think we have a budding preschool teacher in our midst instead of a vet. What better way to honor your first teacher than to become one yourself?
We attribute much of who Seana is today to Alice and her way of making each child feel special while fostering an expectation of adventure and natural learning. Thanks Alice for giving our daughter such a great start in life.