Angelina Shines at Elim
September 1, 2013
"What am I going to learn today?” For Angelina Scarlati and her family, that cheerful question signifies a wonderful change. When Angelina enrolled at Elim last year, she had a long history of disliking school and dreading school activities.
At Elim, Angelina’s classroom teacher, Sherry Riemersma-Luke, quickly recognized her need for physical activity and got creative. “Because Angelina needs to be active, we created an intense daily program for her that encourages movement. Typically, we work for fifteen minutes, then take a break and go for a run. Then we work for fifteen more minutes and go for a bike ride. After returning from a movement break, Angelina is better able to focus on classroom activities.”
Before coming to Elim, Angelina was very discouraged because she wasn’t able to read. The Elim team began introducing her to sight words. Now Angelina is able to read short sentences – and she is thrilled about it!, Equally important, Angelina is building friendships with other girls. She joined the cross-country team and is surrounded by similarly-abled peers throughout the day. Like any eleven-year-old girl, she is now writing notes to classmates and spending time with friends.
Elim Christian School provides educational, vocational, therapeutic, and life skill programming for 284 students with disabilities each day. Like Angelina, each student receives individual goals and programming to help each person achieve his or her highest potential.