Volume 28, No. 1
FALL 2018
Immersed in Jesus’ Love Nolan in Community The night before Tim and Laura Paauw received an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis for their three-year-old son, Nolan, they heard him say “I love you” for the first time. The Paauw’s were deeply moved by this expression from their non-verbal son. They believe the Holy Spirit was at work, equipping Nolan to express these meaningful words, especially in preparation for the doctors’ appointment the following day. When Nolan received an official diagnosis in 2013, Tim and Laura committed to ensuring that Nolan would know he was loved—by God, by his parents, and by others—regardless of the journey ahead. When the Paauw’s made that commitment, they did not realize the unique challenges they would encounter to help Nolan understand and receive that love.
The Paauw family, from left to right: Nolan, Tim, Laura, Kathr yn and Evan.
Tim and Laura desired for their twins, Nolan and Kathryn, to attend a Christian school together, but questioned whether a school could accommodate Nolan’s needs. Church participation was also difficult. Laura asked, “How does Nolan fit into a mold that maybe isn’t the most accommodating for him at all times?”
The Paauw’s prayed about schooling options for their son and knew he needed to be included in a Christian community—not only for his benefit, but for the impact he would have on others.
“Nolan’s biggest and most special need is to know Jesus Christ, and we realized we could not teach him that on our own; it would take the entire community.” “Sharing Jesus’ love was our priority, and we needed a Christian school that believed in inclusive education to make it happen,” shared Tim. Thanks to the faithful support of CLC Network donors like you, CLC Network consultants came alongside the Paauw’s, West Side Christian School (Grand Rapids, MI), and Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church (Ada, MI) to help Nolan experience God’s love within community. Tim and Laura credit CLC Network’s energy behind their church, school, and family to help them discern ways to teach Nolan that Jesus loves him. As a result of your support, Tim proudly declares, “Nolan is beginning to understand that Jesus loves him, and that is happening because he is immersed in a Circle of Friends (peers and adults) in every aspect of his life who show him he’s loved.”
Immersion in this loving community fills the Paauw’s with hope—hope for Nolan, Kathr yn, and their youngest, Evan, who was recently diagnosed with ASD. Your faithful support of CLC Network helped the Paauw’s experience Jesus’ love within community— and they could not be more grateful.
4340 Burlingame Ave. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 | 616.245.8388 | info@clcnetwork.org
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D I R E C T O R ’ S C O R N E R
Your Partnership Fuels Purposeful Growth Dear Friends: This is an exciting time of change and evolution at CLC Network. I am truly honored to be working with you on the front lines—serving individuals of all abilities in our communities. Almost a year has passed since we adopted new mission and vision statements, and I am extremely excited about the ways we are seeing God’s hand move this vision forward. Opening Regional Offices Our distance partners have been seeking ways to replicate the inclusive communities like those built by your faithful prayers and partnership in West Michigan for a long time. Thanks to the work of volunteers in Northwest Iowa and Washington, we are opening two regional office locations! These volunteers are building foundations of support in these communities to ensure that schools and churches can serve persons of all abilities. We are grateful for their work and commitment to moving the vision of inclusion forward. Clarifying Our Brand CLC Network has evolved in name and services since 1979. The need for our mission to be amplified has only increased since this time. A Summer 2017 strategic planning process with the CLC Network Board of Directors, advocates, and staff prioritized the importance of defining and clarifying the organization’s brand. Our past is meaningful to many families-—including my own—and we seek to respect that past while moving into a new future. We want to wear our faith and our inclusive vision on our sleeve, propelling quickly the work of inclusion for each person. Thanks to the generous support of anonymous donors, we conducted comprehensive brand research this fall to learn more about what this organization means to you— our community. We are working with a talented and experienced firm to build on that research to define and clarify our brand. We covet your prayers and support as we discern the next development of our brand. These changes and more bring us closer to our vision for innovative and purposeful inclusion of persons of all abilities, and I thank you for walking each step with us. Your support is not just a blessing to the students and families we serve today, but to the entire community they will bless as they grow in faith. On our communities’ behalf, thank you. Gratefully,
Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski, Executive Director
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Introducing Betsy Winkle
We are blessed in leadership by the addition of our new director of evaluation services, Betsy Winkle. Betsy has served as a school psychologist since 2001, with a focus on kids in atrisk situations. She brings her admiration for Doug Bouman’s work to the role, along with an enthusiasm for students of all abilities in our communities. Her guidance aligns our team of teacher consultants with school psychologists, ensuring students are successful in school.
Honoring Doug Bouman
Our organization has been blessed by faithful leadership, and Doug Bouman has been a key part of that leadership from the beginning in 1979. As a school psychologist and director of evaluation services, Doug has impacted thousands of kids and families. He has helped put many students on the path of understanding their gifts as children of God and building the supports that allowed their success. Doug has stepped aside as director, but remains a faithful part-time school psychologist. We are grateful for his continued service on behalf of students and families!
It is critically important for the entire community to support inclusion and ensure that kids are included. It makes life, learning, and worship more rewarding for all of us.
DONOR PROFILE
Doug & Lois Nagel Doug and Lois Nagel are proud to be able to say they have supported CLC Network since its very beginning in the early 1980s and have remained faithful in their giving for nearly forty years! “I’ve been blessed to grow up around people with disabilities as part of our family and friends,” shares Lois Nagel. Doug also had a brother who had complicated challenges, which grew his heart for people who struggle to be a part of the community. “Everyone just came around us, we did our best to support him,” remembers Doug. Today, Doug and Lois want to see more communities live out inclusion as the norm, not the exception. In addition to their support as donors, Doug served on the foundation board for CLC Network as it created its first endowment fund.
They are excited about the ways others are getting involved and carrying forward the mission—the volunteers who help run the Auction, host fundraisers, serve on regional boards, and share their testimonies. “It is critically important for the entire community to support inclusion and ensure that kids are included. It makes life, learning, and worship more rewarding for all of us,” reflects Doug.
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CLC Network Launches Regional Offices Thanks to faithful donor support, CLC Network’s West Michigan roots have served as a foundation for community-wide commitment to inclusive education for persons of all abilities. When parents and advocates from across the country call us to assist their community, we often invite them to see inclusion in action in West Michigan. Following a visit, their first question is often, “How do we get CLC Network in our area?”
By engaging schools, churches, donors, and volunteers in this vision for inclusive education, we can make more significant progress than a person or school can alone.
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As of this fall, we are working to replicate our services for other communities across Nor th America. We are proud to say that volunteers in two different regions—Iowa and Washington— have already come together to make this a reality!
Pacific Northwest Regional Office
Heartland Regional Office
Working with volunteers in the Seattle and Lynden areas, a team of volunteers have already made a big impact in the region. They have raised the conversation about inclusive education by hosting a one-day Beyond Special Education conference in August for more than eighty educators. They hosted four events in late October with our director of church services, Barbara J. Newman, to bring church leaders together. By raising the visibility and accessibility of CLC Network’s resources in churches and schools, the Advisory Board is increasing demand and buy-in from community leaders across a large geographic area.
CLC Network Member Schools in northwest Iowa have been committed to inclusive education for nearly a decade. By launching a regional office in America’s Heartland, we can intentionally connect with and support students in those communities more fully and more immediately. A teacher consultant based out of Sioux Center, IA, provides support to schools and churches, while an Advisory Board engages in fundraising and local advocacy in the community.
Our Current Regional Partners
Pacific Northwest Regional Office Advisory Board David Anderson, EdD, DBS Bill Munson Jeany Aupperlee Rhonda Rische Paul Bootsma, EdD Miley Rose Jake Breakey Sharon Ryder Gayle Doornbos Elizabeth Thorndike
Heartland Regional Office Advisory Board Josh Bowar Lauri Poppema Susan De Yager Tim Van Soelen, EdD Wanda Gerber Lori Wassenaar Laura Heitritter, EdD
“CLC Network has a proven record of helping churches understand what inclusion looks like, providing training, and being there when churches are in need of new ideas to try. I cannot wait to see how the Lord will use this office to reach other churches, schools, families, and our communities to open our hearts and doors wider so that people of all abilities may enter and find belonging.”
“The goal of inclusive education at Sioux Center Christian School is to include, support, and challenge our diverse learners to reach their potential as servants in God’s world. We desire to be a school that provides a home for each student in the general education classroom and equips all students with the necessary support for academic and social success... CLC Network has already provided much needed advice, encouragement, and expertise as we seek to design and implement unique learning plans for our students.”
– Sharon Ryder, Coordinator, Wonderfully Made Ministry, Bothell United Methodist Church
– Josh Bowar, principal, Sioux Center Christian School
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COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Your Gifts Raised $40k for Inclusive Communities! Thanks to the participation of golfers, generous sponsors, and volunteers, we raised more than $40,000 at the CLC Network Golf Outing on June 14, 2018 at Pilgrim’s Run Golf Club (Pierson, MI)! These funds will equip schools and churches to glorify God through purposeful, innovative inclusion of persons with varied abilities. Thank you!
SAVE THE DATE
Golf Outing 2019 Thursday, June 13, 2019 Pilgrim’s Run Golf Club in Pierson, MI
Anneke and Vivian Minnema delivering refreshments. Chad Hart and CLC Network board president, Doug Rottman. Curt Zondervan, Dave Zondervan, Ben Vaughn, and Dave Fedewa. Mike Foreman, Steve Huisjen, Todd Musser, and Joe Geelhoed. Golfers warm up at the driving range. Celebrating after Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski, CLC Network executive director, sunk a putt! Golf Outing 2018 winners: Tim Klunder, Joe Kuiper, Dewey Engelsma, and Emil Sabolish.
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Your Gifts Support Inclusive School Partnerships Thanks to the support of donors like you, we can come alongside six additional schools to help create inclusive communities for students of all abilities.
New Board & Staff “Since seeking out a relationship with Christ, I have been longing for an organization whose mission aligns with my ideal hope of a community: a community that sees everyone’s unique abilities and all they bring to the table. I’m eager to put my God given talents to work and bless those He has purposefully placed in my life and see how the Kingdom of God will be glorified.”
Grand Rapids, MI
Belmont, MI
Battle Creek, MI
Grand Rapids, MI
Ada, MI
Sioux Center, IA
Please join us in welcoming these new members to our team! “From my experience teaching in Catholic schools, I’ve been blessed to witness inclusion knit a school community together, teaching compassion and fortitude to all. I look forward to walking alongside schools and helping them navigate the inclusion process with the wealth of experience and resources CLC Network has to offer.”
Ashley Diekema Advancement Coordinator
Our Mission:
CLC Network equips congregations and schools to glorify God through purposeful, innovative inclusion of persons with varied abilities.
Jennifer Camota Luebke, EdD Steve Huisjen Nancy Kwasteniet Deborah Ondersma, JD Kevin Timpe, PhD
THE INCLUSIVE NEWSLETTER is published in spring and fall by the CLC Network Advancement Office.
Member Schools ‘18 -’19
Editors: Katie Barkley, Jonathan Helder
Board of Directors: Doug Rottman, President Vivian Minnema, Vice President Dan Day, Secretary Kyle Heys, Treasurer Tom Bratt
Illinois: Calvin Indiana: Illiana Iowa: Hull, Netherlands Reformed, Orange City, Rock Valley, Sioux Center, Western Maryland: Annapolis Michigan: Ada, Adams, Allendale, All Saints, AnchorPoint, Ann Arbor, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Borculo, Byron Center,
“While talking with my daughter about her friend who had a disability, I wondered aloud what the friend’s life would have been like without a disability. My daughter stopped me. “Mom, he’s perfect exactly as he is.” She didn’t view him as a kid with a disability, she viewed him as her friend. I realized then that CLC Network’s focus on inclusion strengthens entire communities; I look forward to furthering this mission.”
Melissa Meighan Teacher Consultant
Calhoun, Divine Providence, Dutton, Fr. Gabriel Richard, Fremont, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, Holland, Hudsonville, Jenison, Lamont, Legacy, Living Stones, Moline, Muskegon, New Era, Northpointe, Plymouth, The Potter’s House, Providence, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. John Vianney, St. Patrick Parnell, St. Paul the Apostle, South, Unity, West Highland, West Side, Western Michigan, Zeeland, Zion Pennsylvania: Beaver County Virginia: Fredericksburg Washington: Lynden Wisconsin: Central Wisconsin, Heritage
Deborah Ondersma, JD Board Member
Administrative Staff Katie Barkley, Director of Marketing and Communications Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski, Executive Director Jonathan Helder, Advancement Director Barbara J. Newman, Director of Church Services Becky Tubergen, Director of School Services Sharon Ward, Business/Office Manager Betsy Winkle, S.Psy.S., Director of Evaluation Services
CONTACT US: 4340 Burlingame Ave. SW, Wyoming, MI 49509 | 616.245.8388 | info@clcnetwork.org INCLUSIVE | Fall 2018 | 7
4340 Burlingame Ave. SW Wyoming, MI 49509-3770
Member: Barnabas Foundation, Christian Schools International, Council of Reformed Charities
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Your Gifts Help Students Celebrate “We are One” Thanks to donors and volunteers, students of all abilities from twelve Grand Rapids area Member Schools celebrated friendship and belonging within community on May 11, 2018 at the annual CLC Network Friendship Festival, hosted this year by Allendale Christian School (Allendale, MI). The Spirit-filled, joyous celebration included activities, worship, and games that reminded each participant “We are One” in the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4-6).