With warm hearts and open arms, parents and teachers welcomed 18 preschool graduates from the Benton Civitan Services into a whole new educational world on Friday.
A ceremony was held at 121 Cox Street before a large crowd of family, friends and well-wishers. The teachers thanked the parents for bringing their children, and the parents thanked the teachers for helping their children grow.
“My little girl says ‘Yes ma’am’ and ‘No ma’am’ now because of this school,” Daisha Colony of Benton said. “Dakota [Colony] has been going here since she was 2 years old. She is now 5, and her speech and behavior has dramatically improved.”
Dakota, who was quickly nicknamed “little mother” because of her love of babies, is even getting along better with her three older brothers at home, Daisha said. Nicole Stonebreaker of Traskwood, said her 5-year-old son, Tegan, doesn’t like going to school, but like Colony said the Civitan is different than any other program.
“He loves going here and he loves the teachers,” she said. “They really helped him with his behavior, speech — he’s learned a lot. He has excelled in counting his math, he even colors better.”
Leigha Jones, community development director at Civitan, said the education they instill in the preschoolers — many of whom face developmental challenges that ordinarily would prevent them from attending public schools — prepares them for life in any elementary school.
“All the graduates worked very hard and will now be able to begin public school kindergarten next week,” Jones said “These children often have to overcome much more than the average preschooler. Our preschool provided them with speech, occupational and physical therapy for all that qualify. The teachers also help them learn the basic skills necessary for the kindergarten level of education.”
Jones said though most of the children attending have some type of disability, the school also integrates all children. Michelle Reed of Benton said she works with Civitan and enrolled her 5-year-old son Max Smoke in August 2007.
“He didn’t want to go at first, but now he loves it,” she said. “In fact, he wanted to come this summer. He really pushed to come to work with me so he could go to the school. I am thankful too that the teachers have helped prepare him for kindergarten, especially with his speech.”
The preschoolers, many who have attended Civitan since they were toddlers, received their diplomas in front of their families in a ceremony comparable to a high school graduation. The graduates also received a T-shirt and a portfolio of photographs and school work along with their diploma.
“The families were also treated to a slideshow of pictures highlighting the triumphs and hard work over the past year,” Jones said.
“[Tegan] was so excited to graduate today,” Stonebreaker said. “He said, ‘You get to meet all my friends now,’ and I am just as excited to meet them.”
The class of 2009 is: Emmah Been, Thomas Cannon, Katalina Chason, Dakota Colony, Hannah Daniel, Brady Edwards, Serena Engebretson, Mary Kate Eubanks, Marshall Fulkerson, Brandon Kelley, Lucy Lee, Jessica Ibarra, Jayden Nicewander, Ethan Myatt, Trinity Russell, Max Smoke, Tegan Stonebreaker and Lexie Walker. The pre-kindergarten class is taught by Denise McClain and Marilyn Jordan.
Long history of service
Civitan Services has been serving those living with developmental disabilities in Saline County for more than 50 years — serving not only children but also adults.
Since its origin in 1958, Civitan Services has evolved from a one-room school with one teacher and a few students into a multimillion-dollar nonprofit organization that serves more than 140 developmentally delayed clients in Saline County.
According to representatives of Civitan Services, in 1958 Noel Deer of Benton saw a young man picking up soda bottles in front of a service station to make money. Deer then asked the boy why he wasn’t in school and the boy replied: “They say I am not smart enough to go to school.”
This incident prompted Deer to contact the Benton Civitan Club to make a change in Saline County.
At that time, public school systems did not offer special education classes, but after speaking with Deer, the club set up the Civitan Center, now known as Civitan Services, in the basement of a local church. The center was staffed by local residents and financed with private donations. In 1970, Civitan Services moved to its current location.
Though the locations have changed and expanded, the goal remains the same — to make a positive impact in the lives of the clients.
Robert Johnson, executive director of Civitan Services, said, “nobody is turned away” if he or she qualifies, and the staff is “here to serve them.” What makes the center in Benton unique is that it offers something no other Civitan offers, Jones added.
“There is no other Civitan like this in the world,” she said. “Benton is the only service center that runs its own programs. We serve anyone from 6 weeks old to a few weeks before kindergarten, and after a school system graduates a person or they are 21 years of age.”
This means that all money raised from the center goes directly to Civitan Services, Jones said. Most important, she said the center provides its clients with a variety of programs, activities and much more to enhance their lives.
“I like knowing that what I do makes a difference in their lives,” Jones said. “I get to see people’s lives that I affect ... I see them grow and change. Whatever is the most fulfilling in life for them, we can offer. We can give them quality of life.”
Civitan Services reportedly uses the latest software technology to monitor and assess the progress of each individual client and currently offers four areas of service.
The preschool, an addition built onto the foundation in 1997, focuses on the academic and social education of children with diverse backgrounds, delays and disabilities, all with individually designed curriculums. Based on certain plans, skill development and therapies are conducted in education services, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, adaptive (self-help) skills, social skills, communication skills, cognitive (pre-academic) skills, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
Services also include transportation routes, nutritional meals and snacks, safe and age-appropriate classroom toys, modern playground equipment and low child-to-teacher ratios.
With the adult day services, clients learn to live within the community through functional life skills, including learning money value, basic math, legal papers and issues, recognition of scams and frauds, identification of trustworthy sources of help, public conduct, expressing feelings, photography, exercise, cooking, clothing care, general household upkeep and much more.
Clients also are taught how to get a job and how to keep it. One place where clients can learn job skills is the Civitan Shoppe, a nonprofit resale store at 409 S. Reynolds Road in Bryant.
Civitan employees have enjoyed much praise by city officials including Saline County Judge Lanny Fite and County Collector Chris Villines. Both said hiring these individuals turned out to be among the best decisions they ever made.
The residential program offers clients to either learn how to live independently with a Civitan apartment or semi-independently with the Civitan’s group home. Both the employment program and the independent living programs are considered community service programs.
With all the positive programs and services Civitan Services provides, the organization also faces problems and obstacles in obtaining its goals.
“The people that are served here often don’t have a voice,” Tom Morrow, president of the Civitan Services Board of Directors said, “but our staff here every day is trying to help them obtain their goals.”
Morrow said Civitan Services has not publicized its needs often, but the current environment makes it necessary to ask for funds. Referring to substantial anticipated cuts in Medicaid funding, he said fundraising is necessary to keep Civitan facilities operating.
According to Families USA, an advocate organization for health care consumers, it is believed that by 2010, Arkansas will have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funding. To combat this problem, the Noah Project was created.
“In 2004 we stared this Noah Project to try to position ourselves so that when the Medicaid cuts come — and they are coming — we could take a proactive approach in combatting those loses,” Morrow said. “Every year Congress is moving closer and closer to cutting funding and [Families USA] they’ve always stated that in 2009-2010 they’ll discontinue funding for programs like ours.”
The Noah Project is a planned commitment to develop secure financial resources through business centers, planned giving, grants, fundraising and an active volunteer base. It is through the Noah Project that Civitan Services plans to continue to serve the people of Saline County.
In addition to community donations, Civitan Services relies on contributions made during fundraising events, like the annual golf tournament and the annual Antique Appraisal Fair.
Friday’s preschool graduation ceremony was sponsored by Saline County businesses, Glover’s Plumbing, Smith-Caldwell Drug Store, Dr. Jerry Dixon, Elder Law Firm of H. Todd Whatley, Don’s Phones & Gifts and Rineco Innovative Waste Management.
For more information, call Civitan Services at 776-0691 or visit www.civitanservices.com.
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