Page 6 - Soar Magazine_digital

Stop and think back over the past ten years of your life.
What has changed? What has been accomplished? Ten years can
seem like such a long time when you are in the midst of it, but in
hindsight, events that took place ten years ago can seem as though
they are recent history.
At Shepherds College, the past ten years represent our first
ten years; years spent as a pioneer in postsecondary training
for young men and women with intellectual and developmental
disabilities (IDD). Out of all of the blessings and accomplishments
of these first ten years, here are Ten Firsts from the First Ten Years.

FIRST SET OF PARENTS

As the concept of Shepherds College was developed, a start
date was established leading to the challenge of recruiting the
first group of students. But even more important than helping
prospective students embrace the idea of postsecondary
education, was the winning over of their parents. Since this was
the first school of its kind, every parent that heard of Shepherds
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College was learning of an opportunity for their son or daughter
that they never before considered. Parents had not prepared
financially or emotionally for the idea of their child with ID
heading off to college.
That first group of parents heard of the program we hoped
to assemble with virtually nothing in place to give evidence
that what we were describing would actually come to be. Some
enrolled their students never having set foot on our campus.
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Clearly the reputation of Shepherds Ministries carried a lot of
weight in the decisions of those first parents and, as Shepherds
College celebrates its ten-year anniversary, we do so with a great
deal of appreciation for that first group of parents. They put their
child’s development above their own peace of mind and took a
FIRST SCHOOL OF ITS KIND chance that Shepherds College would deliver on the promises we
were making. Without their faith in us and ultimately in God’s
The idea of Shepherds College was birthed at a retreat of care for and protection of their child, who knows what Shepherds
Shepherds board members and administrative leadership in College would be today.
2006. In this group’s efforts to identify gaps in services for people
with intellectual disabilities (ID), the most prominent void was in
services and/or programming for young adults, in particular those
who had either graduated from high school or aged out of their
school district’s transition program. Stereotypically, too many of
these young people were spending their days playing video games
when they were clearly capable of so much more.
The evidence of this gap in services, combined with a strong
belief that individuals with intellectual disabilities would benefit
from a holistic training program, set in motion the development
of the Shepherds College concept. A project team, including two
current staff members – Lori Konopasek, Dean of Students and
Owen Lackey, Lead Instructor of Horticulture, was established.
With no prototype to follow, the team put together plans for a
three-year training program developed around Shepherds’ guiding
philosophy of Appropriate Independence™. This would be the first
school of its kind, designed specifically for young adults with ID and
focused on vocational, social, life skills and spiritual development.

6 soar spring/summer 2018