For the past six years I have used my November article to share things that I am grateful for. This year, I would like to share a couple of people here in the U.S. that my local Educarte team and I are especially grateful for. I also want to share with you all a few of the many messages of thanks that we have received from parents of children supported by Educarte.
The first person we are incredibly grateful for is Victoria Clark. Victoria is a bilingual speech and language pathologist and professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. Soon after we opened the first ever multi-disciplinary therapy clinic serving young people with disabilities in Rocky Point in 2021, Victoria committed to provide ongoing training and support for our new team of therapists. Since then, she has recruited numerous colleagues and graduate students to travel to Rocky Point with her to volunteer their time sharing their skills and experience with our team. Victoria also helped establish a wonderful partnership where bilingual graduate students working in ASU’s speech and language clinic collaborate with our team members in providing speech therapy for young people attending our clinic. The commitment that Victoria has made to our clinic has made a tremendous difference in the quality of care we are able to provide for the young people with disabilities that we serve, and we are incredibly grateful for her.
The second person we are incredibly grateful for this year is Nick Schuerman, the Founder and President of Victory Schools in Arizona. Nick and his team operate five successful special education schools in Arizona that use the latest evidence-based practices to serve young people with disabilities in Arizona. For the past few years my local team and I have dreamt of opening the first-ever private special education school to serve the many children with disabilities in this community who have had no access to educational opportunities. That dream became a reality when, this past January, Nick chose Educarte as the first international partner of his recently formed U.S. non-profit, Escuela de Victoria. In addition to providing funds to establish three classrooms and an office, Nick and members of his team have been traveling to Rocky Point on a regular basis to provide extensive special education training for our local team. We were beyond thrilled to open the doors to Escuela de Victoria this past August.
It is hard for me to communicate just how much the support provided by our therapy clinic and the new private special education school means to the families of the children we serve. So, I thought I would share a few messages we have received from parents of some of the very special young people we support.
“I cannot tell you how grateful my husband and I are for this opportunity for our son. He is so happy to go to school each morning and we never would have believed this because he has not often been happy in his seven years alive. It has been extraordinary for us to see him so happy, and the truth is we are more than grateful to all of you for this amazing chance for our son to go to school and reach his potential. This is something we thought would never be possible.”
“All of us parents are so truly happy and thankful. Each day so far, our children have gone to school happy and return happy. The communication and lesson plans have been wonderful, and we are already seeing advances in our children. I know that our son will continue to advance and achieve so much in this very special school. All of this when we had almost given up hope for any kind of better future for our son. We are truly grateful to you and your team and all your supporters for your dedication to helping children who have been forgotten by this community. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this dream come true for us.”
And now, I would like to finish with my own personal and very sincere thank you to our many donors from the U.S. whose generous support over the past eight years has helped make all this possible. Although we have come so far, our work has just begun. Sadly, there are still so many young people with disabilities in this community who remain without access to the professional support they need to reach their potential and participate fully in life.
This Thanksgiving month I hope some of you will choose to help us serve a child on our waiting list by making a tax-deductible donation at www.AmigosEducarte.org.
Mil gracias and Happy Thanksgiving!
Nick Schuerman (far right) welcomed several Educarte to an intensive training session this summer.
Victoria Clark (left) with a colleague on one of her many trips to provide training for our clinic team.
