Program promotes inclusion among students
For the past several months, 13-year-old Alejandra Ortega has been learning sign language at Kennedy Middle School, but not as part of any formal class instruction.
Instead, the seventh grader has been learning sign language from her newfound friends in the Circle of Friends - The Path to Inclusion program.
The program, now in its third year at Kennedy, pairs general education students with special needs students as part of an effort to promote awareness and acceptance of students with disabilities.
“I didn’t know how special needs kids were going to feel with me,” Alejandra said. “But then I started trying to talk to them and I started to hang out with them. It’s really fun.”
Currently, the Circle of Friends program can be found at nearly a dozen campuses throughout the Valley. Since the program was implemented locally, participation amongst both students and staff has grown quickly, prompting those involved to take pride in their being able to increase awareness and understanding on their respective campuses.
Typically, the Circle of Friends club at Kennedy Middle School meets every week during lunch, but will also gather for holiday activities as well as field trips.
The club’s recent trip to the California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta during its Special Citizens Day proved to be extra fun for 14-year-old Monserrat Arroyo, who did not shy away from joining her new friends on rides that left her dizzy.
The eighth grader has been a part of the club for two years and likes the opportunities it has provided her.
“We make friends and meet others and we do activities and we go to different places and have fun,” Monserrat said.
The Circle of Friends program originated at Santa Monica High School in 1999 and has since grown to include more than 240 chapters nationwide. Its spread in the Valley is owed largely to the assistance of the county’s Special Education Local Plan Area, which has coordinated training seminars for interested local campuses.
The program was a natural fit for Kennedy Middle School, which has a sizable population of special needs students, including those enrolled with the Imperial County Office of Education’s onsite Center for Exceptional Children, said Principal Michael Castillo.
“We do a lot to include all students, not just in the Circle of Friends club,” he said. “It’s part of the culture we have.”
As a parent of a special needs student himself, Castillo also said that such campus initiatives are heartening and can go a long way toward easing the concerns of parents’ of special needs students about their children’s level of interaction with the general student body.
“As parents, we want to see them included with other children,” he said.
Getting enough general education students to join the club proved to be challenging its first year at Kennedy, said special education teacher Irinea Espinoza.
As a result, staff had to rely on a number of strategies that included using popular teachers as recruiters, as well as visiting classrooms to get recommendations from teachers about prospective students. In time, club participation proved to be an attractive option for students and staff alike.
“The second year the students were already coming and asking us when the club was going to get started,” Espinoza said.
No matter the type of activities club members engage in, the intent is to have general education students become aware about what it means to be a young student with special needs and to promote genuine friendship, a concept that is not lost on Kennedy eighth grader David Isaac Luera-Chong.
“It’s just fun meeting with people who you normally wouldn’t meet with,” David said. “It’s just one of those times when you can let go and have fun with everyone around you no matter who they are.”
The self-described highly interactive 14-year-old said he has participated in a lot of clubs in his school days, and appreciates the type of students that the Circle of Friends program appears to attract.
“In the end, social status is not that important,” David said. “What is important is that I am my own person and that I should have fun because I’m a kid, and be able to do whatever I want without other people having to judge me.”
Calexico High School freshman Nijmeh Kayed said she is planning on being a member of her campus’ Circle of Friends club until she graduates.
The 15-year-old cheerleader and basketball player said she considers herself a shy person who had generally avoided participation in school clubs until her joining the Circle of Friends.
Being a club member has proven extremely rewarding, Nijmeh said, especially knowing that her and her classmates’ participation have made the campus’ special needs students feel all the more welcome.
“I’ve seen people make fun of them, but I don’t see the point of it – they’re the same as us,” Nijmeh said. “They should be treated the same way.”
Recently, Nijmeh and a fellow club member went before the Calexico Unified School District Board of Trustees during a regular meeting to share their experiences and promote the club.
Circle of Friends – The Path to Inclusion clubs can currently be found at several elementary schools within the district, as well as at one of its junior highs and its ninth grade and high school campuses, which can create a natural transition for participating students.
Formal implementation of the program requires training for teachers as well as some general guidance for participating general education students that raises awareness of disabilities and behavioral issues, said Calexico High counselor Cami Sturdevant.
In the year that the club has been active, Sturdevant said she has observed students from both the general and special education population mature, become more social and develop true friendships.
The excitement that special needs students have expressed has also been equally matched by that of the general education students in the club.
“They have told me that they have not only learned a lot about how to interact with students with disabilities, but they have also learned a lot about themselves, and that they are not really that different” Sturdevant said.
The club’s recent efforts are also an expansion of work that the high school’s Associated Student Body has undertaken through the years to make special needs students feel welcome. Such efforts have provided a fresh sense of hope to Sturdevant’s work, she said.
“They are all kids who want to have friends and want to be accepted and participate in school events,” she said.