ENCOURAGING COMMUNITY
It Takes a Village by Katie Gunzelman ’07
“It takes a village to raise a child.” When that saying first emerged, children and families quite literally lived in villages, with brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or friends assisting in the daily care and maintenance of the youngest generation. Today, our villages look much different - we are more detached from our extended families, sometimes living hundreds or thousands of miles from our “clans.” But even those of us who live down the street from relatives understand the bond created with the family or village you choose, whether that’s one of friends, a church congregation, neighbors, mentors, or teachers.
6
More than 500 families are part of the extended WCS village, doing life together day in and day out. We celebrate with and console one another; build up and dust each other off; and treat all Spartans with respect and dignity regardless of age or size. OUR SUPPORT TEAM
While some students matriculate through WCS with no interventions, others benefit greatly from additional support. This semester, about 15% of students in Early Childhood are engaged in speech-language and/or occupational therapies and enrichment courses at WCS. In the areas of speech and language, privately contracted speech language pathologists Dana Shanks and Lauren Davis Kirk ’09 work alongside families
to identify, evaluate, diagnose, and treat any of a full range of communication disorders. “Spoken language is the foundation for reading and writing development. Children with communication disorders often perform below same-aged peers, have difficulty understanding and/or expressing language, misunderstand social cues, demonstrate poor judgement, struggle with reading, and have difficulty taking tests,” Dana reports. Communication is one of life’s most important skills, so early intervention is imperative. In addition to the services offered by Dana and Lauren, pre-kindergarten teacher and occupational therapist Kristin Freed offers The Write Stuff and Wee Write Enrichment Academy classes at WCS as well as privately
