Nobody's Coming to Save Us

by Barbara Mick

When New Horizons board member, Gary Howlett, encouraged me to share my thoughts about inclusion, I kept asking myself why would you want to hear ME. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I do have a story to tell. It's the story of dedicated people struggling to make a difference. And it's the JOURNEY that's so fascinating! Someone wise once said we are defined by our stories, so let me share the story of AuSable Primary's journey.

Our district, Crawford AuSable, covers approximately 525 square miles in northern Michigan. We serve 2100 students K-12, 65% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch, with 14% labeled special education students. I tell you this only to help you understand the context of my story: we are a small, rural school district that is land rich but resource poor. I had no intention of becoming a principal . . . EVER . . . I had taught at the elementary level before having my daughters, then stayed home for six years to raise them, and had been working part time at the local community college. Then I received the phone call that changed my life. It was August and the school district to the north was frustrated in their search for a principal. They were asking me to consider applying. I took the job. And this is where the real story begins.

As our friend Snoopy might say, it was a dark and stormy night! It truly was a dark time for my building. We were terribly overcrowded, with 650 students jammed into a building built for 500. We had already tried to pass one bond issue to build a new building, and we would try six more times before we had success. Because I came to this principal thing in such a roundabout way, I had no clue about the "right" way to do things.

I DID know things didn't feel right. For example, there was total pullout for special education students, resulting in a lot of isolation. The most severely impaired students attended center programs at the Intermediate School District 18 miles away or in other districts. The regular classroom teachers didn't know how to deal with the special needs kids and no one seemed to "own" the challenges our building presented.

It felt like all I was doing was dealing with discipline. Every infraction, big or small, got sent to me to "fix". Like a fireman, I felt that all I did was put out fires. I very quickly got the idea that the total climate of our building was not well. This really hit home when a group of teachers filed a grievance to exclude the paraprofessionals from the staff lounge. Technically the contract did say the teachers were entitled to a teachers' lounge. But WOW! How could the staff even begin to think about including kids when they felt isolated and divided themselves? There had to be a solution! I just wanted to wave my magic wand and make change happen . . . but change is a slow process!

So we began . . . We formed a small study group, calling ourselves "Quality Schools" and read William Glasser's Quality Schools as a beginning focal point. Our dialogue probed deeply into why our building was having its problems, and I admit it was discouraging at first. We understood that we needed to get to the root of our beliefs, and what we saw was fear.

We began experimenting with different kinds of support. People in our small circle of Quality Schools backed each other up and planned together. We started phasing out the categorical room and convincing parents to keep their children in our building. We worked with the parents whom we had formed relationships with since their children were preschoolers.

We knew we didn't know enough so we did some visits to schools that claimed to be doing inclusion. What we found was that their definition of "inclusion" often looked like "mainstreaming" to us. We weren't satisfied with that; our definition meant a total belonging. It meant being included in all ways. We had to invent it ourselves!

One of the things I realized from the start was that key people made the difference. I looked around and counted my blessings. I was so lucky to have a very special speech therapist and a special education teacher who were 100% with me. Together we forged a bond of commitment to our beliefs.

About this time we had our first really tough "move in". This child was severely autistic with very challenging behaviors. But his parents wanted to include him, and we were willing to try. I knew we needed help. We reached out and connected with other colleagues trying to make inclusion work.

Meanwhile, the behavior problems were continuing, although the minor problems were beginning to subside. When I had a student come in and rip my office apart in a rage, I just kept thinking I hadn't asked the right person . . . surely someone should be able to help us. If only Community Mental Health, the courts, the Intermediate School District . . . I consulted with my friend, Gary Howlett. I knew he had extensive experience with severe behaviors and special education issues in his work as a school psychologist. He told us the words that rocked our world: NOBODY'S COMING! What??? Well, that was the turning point. We knew then that the burden and the solution was on our shoulders. We knew then that we had to figure this out for ourselves.

So we struggled on. We tried some things that worked, and some things that failed. We kept learning and asking questions. Many days, the questions far outweighed the answers! But mostly we became tighter and tighter as a team. We knew we had turned the corner when the first of the teachers asked if they could have special education children assigned to their class. They saw the benefit of the support teachers coming in to co-teach. We began to learn from each other, and our confidence grew.

And then . . . finally, after 7 tries, we passed our bond issue, and we were in the midst of planning for a new building. The new building would be a preschool through 2nd grade building, and Grayling Elementary would remain a 3rd - 5th grade building. Each would have its own principal, and I would be going to the new building. Our new configuration would give us a chance to focus on a developmental, nurturing atmosphere where individual differences were embraced. The first question asked was Who is Coming With Me? Several teachers transferred to a higher grade, several retired, but most threw their hat in with me.

The spring before we moved into our new building I decided we needed a Retreat. The saying goes that sometimes you have to go away to find yourself . . . so we went to a resort close by. There, we put the stress and tension of daily school life to the side and did some good thinking and problem solving. Our retreat truly was the birth of our new staff. First we spent time grieving the fact that no one was coming. Then we pulled ourselves together and began to plan for what came next.

We accomplished seven things: 1. We revisited our beliefs (lots of deep, probing dialogue); 2. We abandoned our boundaries and limits; 3. We listed the support we did have; 4. We listed our needs; 5. We developed a school improvement plan, a Title I plan, and a North Central Accreditation plan that was all one plan; 6. We created the crisis intervention team (to remove the confrontational and emotional aspects of behavior disruptions; we understood that behavior was communication); and 7. We divided the specialists up and assigned one per teacher. But mostly we came away from the weekend with the firm belief that ALL OUR KIDS BELONG TO ALL OF US.

In subsequent years, we have continued to have an annual retreat. We use this as our opportunity to tweak what we're doing and share big ideas. We've invented block planning, inclusion planning, sensory group, and Assembly. We've improved the Child Study process, and assigned case managers to every high needs child in our school. The staff now has ownership of our challenges, and works together to improve the experience that every child has in our school. Just like Don Quixote, we are on a quest! We don't think this is an impossible dream!

So here we are today. It is a place where everyone belongs. Our building is filled with light and inviting spaces where people feel welcome to gather. We use color and shapes to define areas, and there are no "pullout" rooms. In fact, all of the specialists share one office space, where they communicate and collaborate daily.

We use a balanced literacy approach in our building. All staff (teachers, specialists, and parapros) are trained in guided reading and other literacy strategies, and all assist in the instruction of language arts.

We have learned so much from each other. An example of this is that when a teacher plans a lesson to build oral language, the speech therapist whose entire training is based on speaking and listening, is right there to assist, plan, and model appropriate strategies to the whole class or to a small group. And thus, we have built capacity throughout the building.

In summary, I feel that the three essential elements for successful inclusion are flexibility, creativity, and perseverance. Without these attitude traits, you are likely to fail. You need administrative support. The building principal must believe that inclusion is worth the effort. It also helps if there is at least one other person "higher up" to support you in your endeavors.

You need teamwork within the school and beyond the school. By building a team of believers, supporting one another, and learning from one another, you create a synergy through the diversity of expertise and talents. But you must also link with community agencies to provide the support for parents and families needed. And you need planning time. Be creative, flexible and persistent when it comes to figuring out ways to allow teachers and support staff to work together to plan. It keeps the communication flowing. We use three kinds of planning time: our yearly retreat for major planning and problem solving; grade level planning for sharing concerns and brainstorming solutions with peers; and inclusion planning for meeting regularly with any specialist that comes to your classroom to plan lessons and facilitate true inclusion.

I believe that inclusion is harder, that it takes more time, and utilizes more funds and resources . . . but it's worth it! I can't imagine a school without every one of our wonderful children; each contributes to our school community in his or her unique way, and makes all of us richer for the experience. We continue to hold two guiding beliefs: All of our kids belong to all of us; and Nobody's coming to save us!

In closing, I want to emphasize that we are a work in progress. I hope we are never completely finished! We need to continue to learn and grow and to look deep in our hearts to make a difference for all children. A friend once said to me, "THE JOURNEY IS FAITH BASED". And I guess that's what it's all about.

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About the Author:

In 2000, AuSable Primary School in Grayling, Michigan was recognized by the Whole Schooling, Inclusion Project at Wayne State University as one of eight model programs in the State.

Barbara Mick is the Principal of AuSable Primary. The prekindergarten - 2nd grade school has a student population of 450 and a 60% poverty level. Barbara has been an inspirational leader in the District for the past 12 years. In addition to her dedication to Inclusion, she is a literacy expert and devotes a generous amount of her time and talent improving the literacy efforts of teachers Statewide. Barbara can be contacted at www.casdk12.net. Her school website is located at: http://www.casdk12.net/aps/default.htm

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