Friday, March 31, 2017
‘ By KELSEY HAUGEN Special to the CNA
MOUNT AYR – On a late-November day, Tessa Kniep and fellow sixth-graders paused from their social studies lesson to look out the window and marvel at snow flurries falling.
INSIDE Jody Sheriff
3A
Haylee Gardner
5A
Tanner Webb
7A
Connor Haggerty
12A
Chad Neeley
15A
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Remarkably Involved
puter program. Jillian, who stands more than a foot taller than Tessa, calls her sister an “electronic junkie.” Tessa’s favorite device is her Kindle; she adores reading.
Disability “As far as Down syndrome, we’ve never used those words with her,” Shaun said.
CNA photo by KELSEY HAUGEN
Sixth-grader Tessa Kniep, 12, center, works on a social studies activity alongside six-grader Zoey Larsen, left, and Barb Strange, substitute aide, during class Nov. 30 at Mount Ayr Community Elementary School.
A buzz of chatter filled the room before teacher Julie Shields redirected the students. Working in pairs to complete an activity, Tessa’s partner was Zoey Larsen. With Tessa’s chin pressed to her book as she read, her sharp concentration was intermixed with a few giggles and grins. After class, Tessa promptly packed her belongings and headed to Melissa Weber’s room, accompanied by Barb Strange, a substitute aide. “You did awesome today. Are you going to do awesome tomorrow?” Strange asked Tessa, while signing off on Tessa’s achievements of the day using stars. “I’m going to do awesome!” Tessa said, grinning. It was her last stop of the day visiting Weber, Mount Ayr Community Elementary School special education teacher. Tessa greeted her teacher with a hug. “You have no homework tonight! Are you so excited?” Weber asked Tessa. “Yes!” Tessa exclaimed. “And, it’s snowing!” After school, Tessa rode the bus to the middle/high school to meet up with her mother, Shaun Kniep, high school English teacher, and her fraternal twin sister, Jillian. While Jillian read from a chapter book, Tessa was engrossed in an educational com-
“She has no idea she has that kind of disability, and the reason we haven’t used those words with her is because we don’t want her to use it as a crutch, like, ‘Well, I have Down syndrome, so I can’t do that.’ She’s perfectly capable of doing everything
“SHE’S PERFECTLY CAPABLE of doing everything everybody else can do.”
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SHAUN KNIEP Tessa’s mother
everybody else can do.” When Shaun and her husband, Clint, an engineer for BNSF Railway in Creston, had the twins, Tessa was born with Down syndrome and also a heart condition. “I mean, she’s a smart kid, and I think she knows she’s special,” said Shaun, tearing up. “But, she can do anything she wants.” Test results show Tessa’s capability. Last year, the twins took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and Tessa scored just two points from proficient. “She knows and understands a lot more than people give her credit for,” Shaun said. “And, she’s a really strong reader. She doesn’t think she’s as strong of a reader as she actually is.” “Yeah, she could handle this book if she tried,” Jillian said of the chapter book she was reading. At school, Tessa has most of her instruction one-on-one with Weber, who’s in her first year teaching at Mount Ayr. Together, they work on reading, writing and math. Then, Tessa goes to classrooms to learn alongside her peers for subjects like science and social studies. She also works with a speech pathologist. “We really target the skills that she needs and the gaps that she has,” Weber said. “She has really grown in her reading skills this year. She’s very fluent, but the comprehension is where we’ve really been targeting, and she has progressed in that.” Weber said Tessa’s classmates are “amazing with her.” “Tessa is very bubbly, energetic and she’s kind. She always thinks of the other students,” Weber said. “She’s a fun girl to work with.” TESSA | 2A
Contributed photo
Pictured is a Kniep family in fall 2016. Tessa Kniep, 12, is shown above and from left are Shaun, Tessa’s mother; Jillian, her twin sister; and Clint, her father.