The Council for Exceptional Children now has an Elizabethtown College chapter. The CEC is a national organization that aims to promote inclusive education for children with exceptionalities. Exceptionalities are qualities of students who have disabilities, such as being advanced or “gifted.”
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a gifted student is generally identified through a set of criteria that includes but is not limited to having an IQ above 130, showing “a year or more above-grade achievement level in one or more subjects as measured by nationally normed and validated achievement tests” and meeting certain early checkpoints in developmental stages.
The CEC is advised by assistant professor of education Dr. Shannon Haley-Mize and is waiting for final approval from Student Senate. The position of president for the CEC is split between two students, senior Emily Whiteside and sophomore Kirsten Beyer, both of whom are early childhood education majors.
On Etown’s campus, the CEC aims to involve students, both related to and outside of the department of education, in the development of programs and activities to improve support for local students with exceptionalities.
“The CEC board and membership are working to establish relationships with community organizations, schools and agencies that serve students with exceptionalities and their families in the surrounding community,” Haley-Mize said.
An upcoming activity in support of these students will be sponsored by the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA). According to Haley-Mize, NSTA’s Into the Wild day will include “disability awareness simulations” as a part of the Elizabethtown Fall Festival.
“In reality, [children with] special needs and their families require support from many different professionals,” Haley-Mize said. The organization encourages collaboration from diverse groups of students and community members. Being an education major is not a requirement for membership.
The recent Called to Collaborate program was held to foster such cross-discipline involvement in organizations and activities that provide opportunities for professional development and service.
The organization faces three main obstacles, according to Haley-Mize: the cost of full membership, the time commitment required by the organization and the logistics of being a new organization.
Haley-Mize said that full membership in the organization can be “cost-prohibitive for many college students,” but that it includes numerous advantages for those who wish to support the organization.
The CEC offers a $10 “friend of the CEC” alternative to full membership and both forms of membership are available for purchase online at www.cec.sped.org.
The Etown CEC chapter meets one Sunday every month. The next meeting is on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in Nicarry 133.