In the downstairs of the main building, you can find a group of some of the most interesting and thoughtful students at FHS: the EC kids.
The Exceptional Children Classes, or better known as the EC Classes, focus on providing education to those who need their lessons taught a different way.
In these classes, they have a schedule a bit different from that of an average FHS student. Their schedule consists of a program they call “News2You,” providing daily news, weather, and more for the students to learn from.
This schedule also includes CNN10, exercise, lunch, snack, and the most favored part of the day among them all: outside time. Every day, around 3rd and 4th period, you can find the group having fun and doing all sorts of things together in the commons.
Another favorite activity is field trips. The classes always go on different field trips and go out to learn about different topics and programs, which tend to be provided by the News2You feed.
During an interview with Sherri Houston and Laura Dailey, the teachers of the EC kids, Mrs. Houston mentions, “…we’re talking about Dollywood’s Hardest Festival, and we’re actually going to take a field trip, and we’ve never been able to do that before on something based on News2You, because usually, like next week’s is in Minnesota, but we can’t go there.”
Even so, just like all people, EC kids have their own struggles. Some are harder for them than they would be for other students.
Both Mrs. Houston and Mrs. Dailey seemed to agree that handling different disabilities, personalities and behaviors in the same room can make things a bit challenging.
Mrs. Dailey mentions, “I think really helping them overcome hurdles. Like, we can’t do it for them, but finding the things that inhibit them and how to help them get over it. That’s really the magic that we do in our class.”
Along with this, she adds, “I feel like for [my students], it’s teaching them they can do more than they think they can do. It’s really in their own mind; the hurdle is inside them.”
Things like washing hands, turning on and off lights, zipping up a backpack, and more, can be harder for EC students than they might be for others.
But on the other hand, the EC classes have been actively engaging in a variety of different organizations and groups that benefit the school and the environment around them. For example, the EC kids take care of the school recycling, and have just started a new organization called Pressin’ Forward.
Pressin’ Forward is a non-profit organization, worked through and supported by the Walker Quilt Company.
“The students love doing that,” states Sherri, mentioning how there’s always something for everyone to enjoy. “Students who are in wheelchairs who can’t do anything else can pull that top paper off… And they love it. And some love the people part of it.”
Not only this, but the kids also get to have the fun of helping at the Walker Quilt Company building by mopping, sweeping, cleaning the bathrooms, and much more. They love to do any form of volunteer work that they can.
Something that tends to happen is underestimation of the EC kids. “I have learned that I’ve underestimated them. Every day they show me that they can do more than I expected. Every day.” Lauren states, “They’re always growing. They’re always showing me that they can do more than we expect. I think you have to remember that they are fully human like all of us.”
There are many things that EC kids deal with, both within themselves and outside. Thankfully, FHS is one of the most welcoming and supportive schools they could be in the hands of. Every day, not only are the EC kids, but the EC teachers too, are thankful for all of the kindness and respect they’re given.
