Schoolchildren Focus on Their Similarities

From a distance, the 300 children mingling on the grassy slopes of Veterans Memorial Park looked like just that--300 kids playing. And that, said organizers of this interaction between students from Sylmar Elementary School and students with disabilities from Lowman Special Education Center, was the goal.

“They’re the same as us,” said Ivan Navarro, 12, one of 58 children from Sylmar Elementary to spend the day with about 250 special education students from North Hollywood. “They have the same feelings as us. They go to school and learn just like we do.”

In the first of what administrators hope will become an annual event, the children from both schools spent a day together in the park. Under hazy blue skies and a gentle breeze, the children shared games, picnic lunches and laughs.

“It’s good for kids to be exposed to something they are unfamiliar with,” said Sylmar teacher Jay Yarnell. “It’s just another aspect of experiencing real life.”

Several teachers from Lowman visited Sylmar before the outing to teach students about some of the physical and emotional disabilities that their pupils have. Steven Mark, administrative coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s division of special education, said as more special education students move onto regular campuses, the need for such interaction grows.

For the special education students, the exchange offered an opportunity to practice some of the social skills they learn in class every day. Sylmar students pushed Lowman students in their wheelchairs in a relay race.

“We want to get our kids out into the community, into a natural environment,” said Lowman Principal Helen Hartel. She said the school is making an effort to include more community-based education programs in its curriculum.

For many of the Sylmar students, the lesson was one they wouldn’t soon forget.

On one side of the park, sixth-graders Elizabeth Mendoza and Eunice Curiel took turns holding a tiny three-year-old girl who couldn’t see or hear, bouncing her softly against their shoulders.

“There’s no reason to treat them another way. We should treat them the way we want to be treated,” said 12-year-old Elizabeth. “We’re both human.”