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Katelyn Ely: This is a Trip

Katelyn Ely will participate in an American rite of passage this March: she will go to Disney World.

But Kate’s trip is not just another long-anticipated family excursion. Kate, who teaches at Valley Regional High School (VRHS), is leading a very special trip of students and adult chaperones from the Unified Buddies program at the school.

The Valley Unified Buddies program gives sports opportunities to students with a range of intellectual and physical challenges. Among the sports are basketball, baseball, volleyball, and soccer. Kate says Valley Regional physical education teacher Carolyn Creehan has played an important part in the operation of the program.

The trip, Susan Strecker, president of the Valley Unified Buddies Booster Club, points out, is not just about having fun, though it will certainly be that. It is about practicing the things learned in the Life Skills class that Kate teaches.

The students will have experience at Disney in how to manage their own time, how to budget their money, being responsible with a debit card for planning 20 meals and tips. They will have to master reading a map to get to different attractions in the parks.

There are things even more basic are a part of the experience, among them for many riding on an airplane and staying in a hotel.

Kate emphasizes that Disney has the capability to host groups like the one from VRHS, having already had an association with the Special Olympics. The trip, from March 21 to 26, will include activities beyond the usual rides and entertainment. The group will also have three workshops on teamwork, story-telling, and theme park design, tailored to fit the interests and attention span of the students.

Participants and their families are paying for the trip. The cost per person was originally estimated at $2,300. Fundraising has already reduced that amount to $1,500, but that is still a steep challenge for some of the students.

“There are still some who can’t afford the trip,” Kate says. “We don’t want anybody to miss going.”

The group has a fundraiser coming up on Thursday, Jan. 11, a bingo event at the Incarnation Center in Deep River, but it will not be your average bingo game. The bingo will be part of an entertainment package provided by Darling Divas, a drag queen group. The bingo evening is for adults only.

“You can see why,” Kate says.

Tickets are on sale at the Valley Unified Buddies website, www.valleyunifiedbuddies.com. People can also contribute to defray the costs of the trip on the site.

When the idea for a trip to Disney surfaced last spring, Kate thought that there would be only a small chance it would happen.

“Maybe 10%,” she says. “But we still have to try. Why not think big?”

The high school administration, principal Mike Barile and associate principal Carolyn Gbunblee, supported the idea, as did Superintendent Brian White and Assistant Superintendent Sarah Brzozowy. The Regional Board of Education also had to approve the proposal.

The group includes 11 Life Skills students as well as 13 mentors, student volunteers who partner with the Life Skills participants in sports and other activities.

In addition, there are five chaperones, teachers, and paraeducators from VRHS. Parents of Life Skills students are welcome to come on the trip, but not as chaperones to join in daily activities.

However, Kate points out that they can be called if there is a problem.

“Some kids have never been away from mom; if they need help or to go to the hotel for a nap and join us later, we can call,” Kate says.

Kate, who grew up in Deep River and is a 2009 graduate of Valley Regional, never planned to be a teacher.

She went to Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, majoring in accounting. When she returned to this area, she learned about an accounting job with the local school system but, at the same time, heard about a job as a paraeducator.

Kate knew something of what paraeducators did. Her mother, Debbie Campbell, had long worked as one at John Winthrop Middle School. Kate decided on the paraeducator position, and she has never regretted it. She is now getting a master’s degree in special education online through Western Governors University.

Kate describes the Life Skills program as all-encompassing, about everything from learning how to pay bills to reading a job posting and learning how to behave appropriately in different social situations.

“I see life through their eyes, and I love it,” she says of her students. “I see them getting small things, reading a whole passage after struggling to read, tying shoes when that had been so difficult. It’s all just huge,” she says.

Kate loves Disney theme parks, but this time, she is not looking forward to her own favorite rides. This trip will be about something else. “It is not about me,” Kate says.

“It is all about the kids, the kids socializing, the kids laughing.”

To contribute to defraying the costs for students of the upcoming trip or for information on the Darling Divas Bingo Night on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6 pm at Incarnation Center in Deep River, visit www.valleyunifiedbuddies.com