Photos by Ralph Freso
Assistant professor Jennifer Jakobi doesn’t even have to be here on Thursdays.
Her 24 Grand Canyon University special education majors can arrive independently at Star Autism Academy a few blocks from campus for field experience – to observe and practice what they’ve learned.
“But I do because I would never miss. I would never miss,” she said of the joy she feels in the environment. “I don’t want to miss this forum either.”
The forum is when all 87 students of Star Autism Academy gather in one room in the morning, from kindergartners to 18-year-olds, sitting together to get their spirits lifted for the day before starting regular classes.
“We’re gonna dance, and we’re going to tell some ha-ha jokes, so come with me,” said the school’s program director, Michelle Sumrall.
“Welcome GCU” is written on the whiteboard with a drawing of Thunder, the mascot. The kids know it’s “GCU Day.”
After they dance, Star students of varying communication abilities go to the front of the room, take the microphone and tell a ha-ha.
What do you get when you cross a snail and a porcupine?
The audience repeats the question, very loudly.
A slow poke.
Ha-ha.
Another comes up to tell an interesting fact – not a chicken-crossing-the-road-to-get-to-the-other-side joke, but a sweet sentiment.
“Valentine is a time,” says a young girl, “when I say, ‘I love you!’”
The environment is infectious, and the school and its dedication to a language-focused model is a great lesson for GCU students.
“It’s an embedded partnership, which means we meet Tuesdays in class on the GCU campus to plan lessons for STAR students, and on Thursday, we get to see those lessons play out with real students,” Jakobi said.
It’s gone beyond that, though.
Several GCU students have had student teaching stints at the school, three graduates have been hired as full-time staff, and six teachers at the school are taking courses to further their education at GCU.
“It’s been a great partnership,” Sumrall said. “Not only does (GCU) align with my moral values personally but the school does, too. It’s been a foundation of greatness since its inception.”
She said the partnership, in its second year, has “opened up our entire thought process,” because the quality of educator that GCU has sent her way has them thinking they can expand to other parts of the Valley.
“We can hire anyone, but we choose to hire the quality of kids that come from GCU because they’re foundationally already above the grade,” she said.
GCU typically does more field experience work than many universities, and many already have up to 75 hours in a classroom by the time they finish their studies, Jakobi said of partnerships with not only Star but other autism academies, such as Victory and ACCEL.
Students watch classroom strategies and methods play out, said College of Education Associate Dean Dr. Emily Pottinger. “They see, live and in person, what it looks like with a variety of students,” she said.
And at Star, they have seen how to teach students who may be at different levels and do it with a joyous spirit.
“This school especially has so much love for their students, and it’s a happy place when you walk in here,” said junior Grace Cornett, observing on this morning. “I’ve seen the love that teachers have for other students and myself, even. That’s really inspirational. I want to be able to bring that to life.”
Sophomore Jeriann Kubacki says that’s why she wants to get into the field, working with children and loving them just for who they are, just like God loves them.
“It’s rewarding and so humbling, just getting to watch them do something and know that we believe in them. They’re gonna be seen. And just the joy on their faces knowing they accomplished something and that we believed in them so much. It showed me this is exactly what I am supposed to do.”
Once assigned to classrooms, the GCU students begin to learn each child’s personality, and the children get to know them as “our GCU teacher.”
The academy is a comprehensive program where language is embedded in every part of the curriculum. If they are learning about days of the week, for example, they sing it and repeat it.
Language is pivotal, Sumrall said, because if you have thoughts and feelings on the inside and don’t know how to express them, it can lead to undesirable behaviors. They teach them to communicate.
“For human flourishing, it’s the biggest kind of connection,” Pottinger added, “and you guys are setting the foundation.”
The vision of Star Autism Academy is for students to “thrive in every season of life,” said Sumrall. “We meet every student where they are and build a game plan” with behavior management, self-regulation strategies, positive reinforcement and other practices.
“There’s no shaming,” she said. “It’s a very joyful place.”
GCU students catch the enthusiasm from mentors like Sumrall, who grew up in the area, and when she was a child, rode her dirt bike on this land that once was a dusty, empty lot. “So this is the whole circle of my life. I’ve been on this campus forever.”
It led Alana Delarosa to want to teach at the school. When she came to Star to observe and then student teach, she didn’t want to leave at day’s end and go back to the GCU campus.
“I was confused on where I was going to go after (GCU graduation). When I came here and saw the environment and just how the kids were like family, the staff was like family, it was amazing, and I wanted to be here,” she said.
Though in her first year she has brought along what she learned in classroom management and lesson planning, and endured the challenging, unpredictable nature of some of the days, what was most rewarding was easy to identify.
“The most rewarding part is my students saying they don’t want to go home. They wish they could stay with me. I feel truly loved,” Delarosa said.
One day Santa came to class to listen to the kids’ wishes. A student said that all she wanted for Christmas is to stay in “Alana’s class.”
They also can look to other mentors on staff, such as Sonia Edwards, 61, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at GCU and is launching another master’s at GCU in educational administration.
She has seen children go from holding their ears and crying with anxiety to emerging from their shell, learning to read, and one day functioning well enough to enter a general education school, which is the goal for many.
“I like making a difference,” Edwards said. “I like building kids up.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
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