Giving our Butterfly Wings!

Our daughter, Rebecca, just had her 21st birthday and will soon finish her last year in our public school district. Becky has been a student in the Lake Washington School District for 18 years - ever since she was three years old, and it is kind of scary to think that she won’t be going to school next year!

Just like most families who have children with special needs, we always worried that a new program wouldn’t be as good as the one that Becky was graduating from. It was hard to move from elementary school onto junior high and then onto high school. We felt differently though when Becky finished 12th grade, and a transition program was the next step.

We were pretty excited when Becky had the opportunity to be part of a new pilot program for our district: The 19-21 Transition Academy. We liked the idea that the program would be located in downtown Redmond, close to job opportunities, bus transportation, and many stores and restaurants. Becky has blossomed beautifully during these last two years, becoming more and more confident young lady and learning many skills that will be needed in her independent adulthood. Becky can now safely cross streets in downtown Redmond and walk by herself from The Academy to the bus stop, to stores, and to Curves (where she works out twice a week). She takes Metro from our house each morning, transfers to another bus and travels to her job in Kirkland every day. She then takes Metro from work back to the Academy in the afternoon.

Becky has gained many essential skills to become a more independent adult. She now has her own cell phone which she uses to check in with us while she is on the bus or at work. She also uses her phone and good phone etiquette to communicate with her teachers while she is on her own out in the community. Becky prepares her lunch on her own each evening, selects her clothes that she’ll wear the next day, and reads the weather section of the paper each morning to determine how she should dress for the weather. Becky has always had trouble understanding numbers and money, but she can now shop on her own and even helps us in our weekly family shopping.

When we began our journey with Becky 21 years ago, we had many apprehensions about her future. Now that she is on the verge of working and living independently, we feel confident that all the years of good teachers and hard work are about to pay-off. She has earned her wings!

Bill and Nancy Sherertz
Redmond, Washington