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8 receive diplomas at Leonard Kirtz
By SEAN BARRON
AUSTINTOWN
In three months, Sarah Klingensmith will enter an adult-rehabilitation center to learn supported-employment skills, but her first priorities are to swim as much as possible and bask in the glow of her latest accomplishment: receiving her diploma.
“She’s happy and has been surrounded by love in this facility for 22 years,” said Klingensmith’s mother, Betsy, referring to the Leonard Kirtz School, the site of Thursday’s 42nd annual graduation ceremony.
Klingensmith, of Boardman, was one of eight graduates with special needs who made up the Class of 2010 and were honored during the 45-minute commencement at the school, 4801 Woodridge Ave. Roughly 100 family members, friends and others applauded as the graduates in their bright red caps and gowns came forward to receive their diplomas.
The other seven were Joseph Best, Jeffrey Bliss, Yessenia Garcia, Amber Hacon, Michael Longo, Cindy Martin and Benjamin Welch. Longo and Best attended the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
Klingensmith, who has an undiagnosed genetic syndrome and is nonverbal, received early intervention at home starting when she was 2 months old, said her mother, vocational director at Gateway Industries, a Youngstown-based adult sheltered workshop.
The younger Klingensmith had been at Leonard Kirtz since she was enrolled in its preschool program at age 2, Betsy Klingensmith recalled.
Beginning in August, Sarah Klingensmith will go to the Ginetti Center, an adult rehabilitation facility run by Turning Point Counseling, and learn basic job tasks. Beforehand, her mother said, Klingensmith will get as much swimming in as possible and attend a summer camp that is a collaboration between Leonard Kirtz and the MCESC.
“She’s open-hearted, loving and generous,” Betsy Klingensmith said of her daughter, adding that she had nothing but praise for the school’s teachers, therapists, aides and other personnel.
That included Rosanne Morell, one of Sarah Klingensmith’s first teachers who came to see Klingensmith graduate.
Another audience member was Senna Kerr, a 27-year teacher at the school.
“The staff here goes the extra mile just to make sure the kids are successful,” said Kerr, adding that she’s attended all 27 commencements during her career.
Kerr, who has about seven students per class, said she feels gratified to see how far many of the students have progressed between when they entered and graduated.
The keynote speaker was Atty. Debra Mettee, superintendent of Springfield School District.
Citing Robert Fulghum’s famous book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” Mettee drew on recent news events to stress several tenets outlined in the book. For example, she used the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to point to the virtues of cleaning up after oneself. Others she discussed were getting enough sleep, living a balanced life, working together and being kind and fair to others.
“Parents, continue to love your children and always be their advocates,” she concluded.
Leonard Kirtz has about 67 students age 5 to 22, as well as 11 full-time teachers, all of whom have been with the school 25 years or more, noted Patricia Persohn, director of education.
The facility also has its own pavilion, greenhouse and swimming pool, where the students swim at least once a week, Persohn explained. Other services include speech, occupational and physical therapy, as well as adaptive physical education, she continued.
In addition, Persohn said, the facility serves all Mahoning County school districts and is equipped to help students with special needs throughout the county.
Before the presentation of the diplomas, the audience was treated to a photo pictorial of the eight students, starting when each was a child.
The event also featured remarks from Larry A. Duck, superintendent of the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and Craig Bianco, a teacher at the school who shared anecdotes, accomplishments, interests and humorous stories pertaining to each graduate.