White Oaks Elementary School fifth-grader Lauren Boyer didn't feel a bit apprehensive introducing fellow amputees Patrick Tucker and Jesse Parker, who put on a wheelchair basketball demonstration for the fifth-graders as part of an ability-awareness program called "A Circle of Friends Showing We Care." Lauren wears a prosthesis on her left leg.
"I've never really been embarrassed because I've had this my whole life. I just learned to deal with it," she said.
Her father, Ray, stood on the sidelines with a camera. He looked at the advantage for his daughter to share with her classmates.
"I'm really proud of Lauren. It builds more acceptance. This was really good to do a public speech. Some of them [students] are getting an appreciation for how hard it is to be in a wheelchair. It's good for her self-esteem," he said.
Ten-year-old An Vu tried it out herself with some of the extra wheelchairs that were brought for the students and teachers to try.
"It's really hard," she said.
Bradley Kaufman, 10, also gave it a shot as they raced down the court.
"It was harder, but a lot of fun. Even if you are disabled, you can still do the same things," he said.
Announcer Bill Demby, a double amputee who was featured in a Dupont television commercial in the late 1980s playing basketball, addressed the students.
"Today you probably learned something new. The only thing that makes us different is the way we get around. It's what we can do, that's what we want to focus on," he said.
White Oaks counselor Jayne Mejia looked at the learning value for the students trying out the wheelchairs.
"It lets them walk in the shoes of a person with a disability. This kind of interactive lesson, they learn more from seeing it this way than just have someone talk about it," she said.
THEN PARKER and Tucker challenged the teachers to a basketball game, with the students as their cheering section. Demby went over the rules.
"Three pushes constitutes a travel. If you feel like you're going over backward, tuck your chin into your chest to avoid hitting your head," Demby said.
Delores Witcher made the one and only basket for the teachers before they were routed by the more experienced amputees. She was out of breath.
"We wanted the kids to understand that disabled people can live normal lives," she said.
The entire school went through the week-long program, kicked off on Monday with a talk from a George Mason technician about resources available. On Tuesday, an amputee talked to kindergarteners and first-graders from an electric wheelchair.
"She showed them how she operated her electric wheelchair," Witcher said.
On Wednesday, a multiple sclerosis victim talked to the second-graders, Thursday was basketball for the fifth-graders, and on Friday there was a man from the American Heart Association, who had suffered a stroke. He demonstrated what living with the use of only one arm was like. A representative from the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind also came in on Friday.
EACH MORNING began with an announcement with a script by a famous person with a disability. Tom Cruise talked about his learning disability, and Albert Einstein talked about being dyslexic.
Lessons learned, according to Parker, involve the value of education, raising a family with a disability, and focusing on what the disabled can do rather than what they can't. He's also participated in activities with the Northern Virginia Youth Detention Center. It was a different kind of group for Parker.
"We encourage them to fight the challenges and live a productive life," he said.