Page 24 - Soar Magazine_digital

10 years of firsts continued from page 7

FIRST AUTISTIC STUDENT

After the initial recruiting class for Shepherds College was
enrolled, a decision was made to set the expectation that every
prospective student was required to come to campus for a visit,
interview and assessment. In time, that expectation grew to
include an overnight stay, allowing for further evaluation as to a
prospective student’s fit for Shepherds College. During the first
year we were introduced to a prospective student, Rachel, who
would prove to teach us all so much and open the door for scores
of other young people like her. Rachel was our initial introduction
to autism. In many ways, she was so very different than any of
the students in our first class, yet, like them, she desired to have a
meaningful life. 6
Due to Rachel’s diagnosis on the autism spectrum, she posed
challenges which were new and seemingly unique. She visited
with us several times during that first year in an attempt to allow
her to get more accustomed to life at Shepherds College and the
students and staff. At the same time, her multiple visits gave FIRST CULINARY AND
our staff a chance to accept the fact that enrolling a student like
Rachel would be a new experience for all of us. Rachel’s mom HORTICULTURE CLASSES
was her strongest advocate and was a wonderful resource on all
things related to autism. After numerous visits that first year, we Per the design of our program, students primarily take general
collectively reached a level of comfortability that allowed us to courses their first year on campus and receive the majority of
accept Rachel as a student at Shepherds College. She was one of their specialty major instruction during their second year. So,
eight new students that joined our student body in August 2009. during the school’s second year, our first specialty major classes
Three years later, Rachel was part of our second graduating were offered.
5
class, earning a certificate in horticulture. It is safe to say that our Back when Shepherds College was merely a concept, a
staff learned more from Rachel and her mom during her three research study was conducted. One of the questions posed to
years as a student than she did from us. Together they blazed the parents of students with ID was related to their preferred field
trail for future students on the spectrum, so much so that in recent of study. The two fields in which there was the most interest
years 30-40% of our student body have been students on the were culinary arts and horticulture, and it just so happened that
spectrum, and we officially changed our target audience to include the Shepherds campus already had in place a large commercial
people with developmental disabilities. kitchen and a sizeable greenhouse.
As we planned for year two, we set out to find what seemed
like the impossible, a lead instructor for each of these two
fields who met the criteria in place – experience in the field,
experience with the population of students we service, and a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In this pursuit, God sent
two uniquely qualified people to our school and, for the next
few years, Leslie and Brett each created from scratch a program
specifically designed to train our students in their respective
field. They set out to push the students beyond their perceived
capabilities and realize success in their field of study.
24 soar spring/summer 2018