Fairview Elementary School students got a lesson in acceptance just outside their classroom doors. They lined the halls Monday to cheer on blind schoolmates in a hallway parade.
Phoebe Groves and Monroe Bogue are among five Habersham County students currently learning how to use canes to gain independence. They demonstrated their skills as they navigated the halls with other students who were being recognized for perfect attendance.
Since the parade coincided with White Cane Awareness Day, teacher Robin Skelton saw a perfect opportunity to build awareness and empathy. It also gave Phoebe and Monroe a chance to be recognized for their achievements, mastering a skill some students referred to as “cane power.”
With each “tap, tap” on the asphalt tile floor, the students heard what advocates for the blind call “the sound of independence.”
Two different students with one primary goal
Now Habersham first introduced you to Phoebe last year. She has a degenerative eye condition that, in time, will leave her completely blind. But I don’t think that has slowed her down any. She remains an independent and outgoing now- third-grader who seeks out ways to compensate for her vision impairment. Her classes at Fairview have helped tremendously.
Phoebe got her white cane a few years ago. Since then, she’s learned to safely walk the school halls with confidence. She’s now in advanced training, learning to do things many people take for granted, such as taking trips in public, walking down sidewalks, and shopping at Walmart.
Doctors diagnosed Monroe with a benign brain tumor last year. Unable to remove it all during surgery, the tumor significantly affected his vision.
Unlike Phoebe, whom Dr. Skelton has described as a “little fireball,” Monroe is a shy second-grader just beginning his journey to greater independence. He received his white cane last month and is learning the techniques that will help him become less reliant on others.
A supportive school system
Skelton says both students are “brilliant and are overcoming the challenges they face” due to a supportive family and the knowledgeable and caring staff throughout the school system.
“I cannot imagine working in a school system that is more supportive of all students than Habersham County,” says Skelton, who teaches the visually impaired and serves as the school system’s assistive technology liaison.
Currently, there are 14 students enrolled in Habersham County schools who have some degree of visual impairment. Five are now training on white canes.
Skelton credits school system administrators, as well as school-level faculty and staff, for their tireless efforts in providing students with what they need to succeed.
“My students and I are very blessed to be surrounded by everyone in our system,” Skelton says. And judging from the support Phoebe and Monroe got as they happily paraded through the halls Monday, it certainly seems that they are.
