Gateway Education Center “Fun Day”

June 5, 2009

Gateway Education Center, located in Greensboro NC, is associated with the Volunteer Center and participates in the annual Human Race event! PTA President Jill, to come out to the center and learn about what they do for the children who go there, and the facility, invited me! They were celebrating their seniors and even had snow cones! I walked around the “pods” which were learning centers divided by age groups. I visited several classrooms geared at particular disabilities such as autism. I also visited the infant/toddler Pod, and met the amazing caregivers dedicated to giving one on one attention to these precious children. I met the 2 nurses who take care of the students, as well as the Guilford county schools maintenance team working on the school while I was there on a project I was told had been ten years in the making! So many of these students touched my heart! They each had their own unique story, and they had a beautiful soul! I loved Anna-Belle, Jill’s daughter, an inspiration to me! Jill, along with all of the other Gateway teachers, caregivers and supporters work hard to ensure that Gateway is able to take care of each student that needs to be there. These students suffer from severe physical and emotional disabilities. But they are looked at as abilities there, where intelligent teachers teach these amazing individuals how to learn a variety of skills that in a public school setting would be almost impossible. I was absolutely blown away by the impact this school had on me! I met Sean, the graduating senior, and Danny, who taught me sign language! I hope to work with Gateway in the future on several of their events at the school, as well as fundraisers to benefit the school!