Allie Mulvihill is one of Elim's newest students, joining the Elim Christian School family on March 5, 2012.  Despite her short time here, Alli has already made huge strides!

 

Before coming to Elim, Alli attended an inclusionary program at her local public school.  As part of the program, Alli was supposed to attend art, music, and other "special" classes with her general education peers.  But, because Allie experiences some behavioral and refusal issues as part of her disability, she often missed out on large chunks of school.

 

Now at Elim, Allie attends all of her classes.  She's also made friends with other similarly-abled peers.  Her classroom teacher, Sherry Reimersma-Luke explained why Elim's distinctive educational programming benefits her saying, "At Elim, Allie is with her peers.  She is expected to participate in all activities and to keep up with her friends.  She's not being "taken care of" by others but she is an equal to her classmates.  She has a responsibility here to transition into activities and be an active participant in her classes."

 

One major breakthrough came recently in Elim's pool therapy program.  Allie has always been afraid of water activities, including swimming and showering.  Elim's staff worked with Allie to help her set personal goals like learning to wash her hair.  Before conquering hair-washing, Allie decided to wet her hair in the pool first.  While she was initially very afraid in the water, Allie eventually got her hair wet and even lowered part of her face into the water.  Now, Allie proudly moves herself all around the outside perimeter of the pool independently, smiling all the way.  What an achievement!

 

Betty Palmbos, Elim' aquatic director attributes a lot of Allie's success to the relationship she's built with her classroom staff saying, "It's very obvious that Allie trusts her teachers.  They work closely with her and have been so proud to see how far she's come in such a short time.  We're all encouraging her and she is so excited to be progressing!" 

 

Reimersma-Luke is excited to see Allie building friendship with other girls.  She is eager to see the milestones Allie hits in the water and the classroom.  "Our goal is to help Allie reach her God-given potential – both academically and socially.  She's a very academic student.  We want to see her grow in skills and happiness!"

 

Thank you for your support of Allie and other individuals at Elim!