On open house night in August we met Whit's Gen Ed homeroom teacher, this year Whitman switches classes, we walked into her room and gave her our normal speech: Welcome to the team! Here is your welcome to the team gift and a one pager for Whit. We are open books and want you to know him so ask us anything at anytime. We are always willing to try anything once because you never know if your idea could change Whitman's life for the better.
Whit's teacher hugged us and told us that this was her first year having kids with disabilities in her class and she was so excited. We thanked her for accepting the inclusion challenge.
I began to pray that the excitement would stay. I know that Gen Ed's teachers plates are full, especially when you have double the students since classes are being switched. I also understand that inclusion can be difficult when you're trying to balance a big caseload. I'm floored by the amazingness of Whit's teacher.
She is going above and beyond to be there for him and help guide him through her classes. Whitman isn't just an added case to her caseload he's a loved member of her class.
She takes the time to see him for who he is and not just his disabilities that she has to navigate. Whitman is thriving in third grade and is starting to show us his love for reading at home.
One thing to know about Whit is that he compartmentalizes everything so the skills we see at home aren't the skills that he shows someone at school. So him showing us his love for reading is something that we will not take for granted.

She celebrates him and knows that we take nothing for granted when it comes to Whitman.

Dear Mrs. Hartman, Thank you for everything that you are doing for Whitman. Thank you for showing his peers that he belongs in the classroom just as much as they do. Thank you for going above for every one of your students. When we pray for the right people to be on our team we had no idea that God would add someone so incredible. You will never know how truly grateful we are to have you.