The “Cool Kids” at CCA
Heather Wrothj
July 15, 2011
Filed under Social Scene, Student Life
It’s cool to be a CCA student, but it is even cooler, if there is such a word, to be a V.E. (varying exceptionalities) CCA student! Walking through the halls with the V.E. students makes you feel like a super star. Everyone stops and greets them with a smile or a friendly hello. There is something about these four special students: Ryan, Michael, Carolyn and Josiah that adds something exceptional to CCA. Maybe it’s their consistent joy or the way they eagerly lend a helping hand despite their disabilities. Or maybe, it’s the fact that they inspire the rest of the student body to be…exceptional, to do exceedingly more of what’s expected.
In this classroom, the students vary in conditions from Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, to Autism and many other conditions. “Our young adults are here to share and love on the other students,” said Mrs. Myra Blanco, one of the V.E. teachers. You may have seen Carolyn on the sidelines of a football game. Last season, she joined the Middle School Cheerleading squad. “Some of the girls in the cheer squad even felt convicted by Carolyn being joyful and happy all of the time and always trying her very best,” said Mrs. Blanco.
Josiah and Ryan serve in Calvary Chapel once a week, helping the Facilities team with various tasks.
“We see God work in every minute of their lives,” explains Mrs. Blanco. “Every day contains a little progress and a bit of love.
The smallest progress is a celebration; it’s an awesome thing.”
Ryan is learning his multiplication tables and excelling in typing. Caroline is a part of a middle school drama class, and for the first time Michael is giving signs of communication. They have also discovered Josiah’s love of flowers; he dreams of working with flowers when he grows up.
The most amazing part of the class is that it is growing the students spiritually. Mrs. Blanco says, “We know that at least three of the students have received our Lord, Jesus Christ as their Savior and two of them have been baptized. To see their walk, and how they glorify God is really cool.”