As the week of our Summer Enrichment Camp concludes, I have to share a great story. One of our students, Ben, almost didn’t get to go. Ben is in a wheelchair and just two weeks ago, had another brain surgery. His stitches were removed the day before we left, but his doctors cleared him because of how excited he was to see the nation’s capital. On Wednesday morning, as we prepared to leave Greene Central, the bus company notified us that the wheelchair lift did not work. Ben was devastated. After a few minutes of frustration and tears, two of our teachers decided that they would take Ben’s family SUV with the wheelchair carrier and follow the bus to DC in hopes that there would be a solution when we arrived. Several phone calls later, we had a second bus waiting for us when we arrived. However, that bus had a wheelchair lift that only worked temporarily and we waited for over an hour on the side of the road for a solution. You could see the pain in Ben’s eyes as he felt that everyone was waiting because of him. Overnight, our driver went to Maryland and swapped the bus again for one with a working lift and arrived back at the hotel at 1:30am. The next two days were much better for everyone and we all had a great time.
Our Summer Enrichment students had opportunities to learn a lot about biodiversity, government, art and literary elements throughout the week. But I believe we all also learned how difficult life can be for a disabled person and how easy it is to take that for granted. I also have to commend our students and teachers that never once complained or made Ben feel different. They did everything they could do to be inclusive and to make sure that Ben was able to see and experience everything that they could do. We teach students a lot of things in school, but perhaps the most important thing we can ever teach them is empathy. Because of a little patience, a lot of persistence and some empathy, Ben got to take a picture next to FDR, both in their wheelchairs.
