Marion Teen Embraces Special Needs Students: Marion Class Act

An eighth grade gym teacher asked Katie Schlegel if she could hang out with her special needs classmates, and, quite frankly, she felt uncomfortable.

She didn’t know what to do or say around them.

But she did, and, after time, she got past the misconceptions associated with special needs children. The 16-year-old was so moved by their open, loving nature and incredible individuality that she spent much of her time with them. This led to her being recently awarded the United Way of East Central Iowa's Youth Volunteer of the Year.

"The more time I spent with them it became more obvious to me how they were people too and how cool they were," Schlegel said, currently a sophomore at .

Know of a passionate, unique student? Nominate him or her for our Class Act feature by emailing me at scott.raynor@patch.com or list them in the comment section.

For example, she met a boy who could memorize every line of a television show, another with extensive knowledge of air conditioning units and another who amazed her with his ability to speak fluent Chinese.

"No one ever taught him," she said.

Best Buddies

When she went to high school, Schlegel joined the Linn-Mar High School chapter of Best Buddies, a national program aimed at providing friendship and academic guidance to special needs students.

She devotes her study hall every day to sit in on a special needs class — to help them with challenging subjects with and to be a friend.

It’s not necessarily charity work, though. She said the students' complete honesty, unquestioning acceptance of Schlegel and the excitement they show when she walks through the classroom door stands in stark contrast to the often judgmental way teens and adults act.

"I felt like I could be myself," she said.

"They are always welcoming and will always make you feel like you are the most important person in the world."

Out of the Classroom

Schlegel’s mother, Jane Schlegel, pointed out that her daughter’s kindness towards special needs students doesn’t end after the school bell rings.

Two years ago, Jane Schlegel said her daughter learned that some of the special needs students “might not have a great Christmas,” as she put it. So her daughter threw several special needs students a Christmas party, complete with gifts and cookies.

She said she feels immense pride for her daughter. She’s said her accepting, loving attitude has passed down to her younger son, now in eighth grade, who has joined the same club encouraging friendship with special needs students that Katie Schlegel had joined. 

Above all, she just loves watching her daughter interact with special needs students. 

"She’s very natural around them,” she said. "There is a common respect between both people. Katie loves the students and the students love Katie."

For now, Katie Schlegel said she's focusing on getting students to stop using the "R word," or, retarded, as she said its colloquial use to describe things that are stupid is degrading to people who are anything but.

"They have disabilities," she said. "But they probably have a lot more abilities than disabilities."