Assistant Principal for a Day (and a little Autism Awareness too)

I must admit that when I bid on the “Pal around with A Principal” at our school’s annual SPTO dinner dance I had more than one agenda in mind. First I thought what a great way for Josh to feel important and special for a day. Second I thought what a great way for an administrator to spend an entire morning with Josh getting to know who he really is. Not that he wasn’t already known, our school is K-8 with only about 450 students in the entire school. And the cherry on top was that our Assistant Principal, Michael Pascento, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He truly does care about the well being of the students in our school. You immediately get that feeling when you meet and speak with him for the first time. I knew he’d make this a day Josh would always remember.

It was April and how appropriate as it was also Autism Awareness Month. And as Josh prepared for his special day he could barely control his excitement. I’m pretty sure this stemmed more from missing class than anything else though. We bought a new dress shirt and tie and he was ready to roll.  I have to confess I was a bit sad to be missing this very special day for him (oh to be a fly on the wall…). At this point my anxiety levels were much higher than his. Thankfully I had spies set up around the building with smart phones and cameras ready to go. And with the technology today I was able to get pictures almost immediately, thank you Facebook!

The night before Mr. Pascento had given me a heads up to just a few things he and Josh would be doing. First on the list was a Dunkin Donuts beverage. Apparently the day can’t start without it… Attending the SPTO meeting and also visiting a former, and I must say much beloved, 4^th grade teacher’s class for a classroom observation were next. And don’t worry Mrs. Jansen he’s still giving you two thumbs up! Later there would be a trip downstairs to visit the middle school. This would be a good introduction to the teachers he would be having the next year (bonus!).

When you ask Josh what his favorite part about that day was you might be surprised by his answer. No it wasn’t missing class; it was receiving a ‘Principal for the Day’ certificate. Just the day before he said, “you know mommy I don’t think I will ever get an award. I’m not really good at school and I’m not really good at sports. You have to be really good at something to get an award.” I wanted to cry. Oh wait… I did cry! How sad that he was feeling this way. But wait… during the SPTO meeting he was presented with his certificate or as Josh said “my very first award ever!!!” Mr. Pascento sent me a picture of Josh with his certificate. I could barely recognize him. I don’t think he has ever smiled so BIG before. Way to make a kid feel special! J

Now I’m going to talk about my favorite part of that day. The school was aware of an autism walk we were doing in June and they were also aware that Josh knew all about his diagnosis of Aspergers. Since it was April it was also suggested that Josh help plan our school’s first annual autism awareness day. I spoke with Josh and he was all for it! The two sat down and sent an e-mail to all the teachers. April 30^th would be “Light it up Blue” day at the Sherman School. All were encouraged to wear blue that day to help create a sea of blue through the halls of our school. Josh would even be selling blue Autism Speaks bracelets for the occasion to help raise money for our walk in June.

I was told that day, April the 30^th, you could see the pride on Josh’s face. He had helped to do something that had never been done at the school before. Although after being interviewed for the local paper about it I think it went a little to his head. I would like to share a response to a question Josh was asked with all of you though.  When asked what do you hope your fellow classmates and teachers learned from “Light it up Blue” day? He replied “I hope they learned about what autism is and that they should be aware that people with autism sometimes need special help. It’s nice for kids to know it is okay to have friends with and without autism. I’m really not that different. There’s nothing wrong with how my brain works, it just works a little different.” As a mom of a child on the spectrum I can’t tell you how important it is that he gets that!

The awareness doesn’t end there... I have been reassured that from this point on the Sherman school will continue to acknowledge autism awareness month, and "Light it up Blue" each year!!!

 

As always I thank you for giving me a moment of your time.

Ann