Gabrielle Martin is just like any other eight-year-old in several ways. When her class has to come in from playing in the gym to clean up, she'll moan and groan, and kick her feet up in protest, just like her classmates do.
Gabrielle Martin is just like any other eight-year-old in several ways. When her class has to come in from playing in the gym to clean up, she'll moan and groan, and kick her feet up in protest, just like her classmates do. When it's time for story-time, she's ready to listen with the rest, even if she can't read herself. When the school held its Christmas concert, Gabby was right up in the front, playing her recorder and singing her heart out.
And even while Gabby is included in every way in her Grade 3/4 class at Mallaig School, one thing differentiates her from her peers, in that she has Down Syndrome. And while that might seem like a challenge to some, her presence has been a gift to the school and the people around her.
“It's a privilege to have kids like Gabby in our school, because it's a learning tool for all our adults and students,&” said Michelle Leroux, the school's coordinator of student supports. She says as the school includes students of all needs and backgrounds, everyone realizes how to become more tolerant of other people's needs, recognizing each person is different and unique.
“It put a whole new perspective on looking at what's really important.&”
On April 10, staff from Ecole Mallaig School travelled to Edmonton to receive a National Inclusive Education Award, presented by the Albertan and Canadian Associations for Community Living.
The award came about through a nomination from Gabby's mom, Nicole Martin.
It takes a community to raise a child, Martin notes, and she says her school community was one that listened to her deepest wish to have her daughter truly included in the classroom, and learn from the children around her. The school's approach to inclusive education was not one where inclusion meant that her child was simply breathing the same air as the other students, while having separate lessons from an instructional assistant.
Instead Gabrielle takes part in all the lessons, and does everything the other students do, with unit exams modified to her understanding, she said.
“With Mallaig, they all care, and they want to see every child succeed, whether it's with a disability or without a disability,&” said Martin.
When deciding to nominate the school for the award, Martin noted that no school in the area had ever received the recognition.
“I just felt this was the year for Mallaig. I wanted them to tell how much I appreciated everything they have done and I thought this was the way to do it.&”
One teacher expressed her amazement at the award, as Gabby's Grade 3/4 teacher Kayla Fluker said the recognition left her “speechless.&”
“I try my best to do what's best for each and every one of my students. I feel honoured to be part of a school where inclusion is a priority and a main goal.&”
A visit to Gabby's classroom shows how Fluker juggles differentiated teaching in one classroom.
As Fluker presents the math class on measuring, the younger students learn about perimeter and the older students discuss calculating area. When she asks the class what all they measured in their last lesson, Fluker picks out Gabby to give an answer too.
“I measured my brothers and sisters,&” says the eight-year-old.
Fluker doesn't miss a beat. “Were your brothers and sisters here? Oh, I didn't see them. Tell them I say hi.&”
“Hi,&” Gabby responds.
Throughout the class, Fluker includes Gabby as she does with the other students, lightly touching her head to get her attention or calling on her to see if she's following the instructions.
As the kids are put into groups to build houses using Lego and measurements, Gabby is teamed up with her cousin, Aydan Amyotte, and Noah Corbiere, who immediately include her by asking her to grab a pencil for the project.
Once they start drawing, Noah keeps up a running stream of conversation with the smaller girl, asking each time he draws another square, “Which room is this going to be, Gabby?&”
She keeps her head down, but given a moment to answer, quietly responds.
“I love my house,&” she says, turning over the bright blocks.
Gabby's IA Michelle Brousseau quietly explains how Gabby fits in the classroom.
“The kids are really good at including her - and they've learned how,&” she says, adding they've watched how adults interact with her and have taken their cues from that. “At first they didn't know how to include her; now they just do it.&”
When she was a child, Brousseau says she herself didn't know how to interact with children with different needs, as she was never exposed to them. But with Gabby, she is part of the community and fully a part of the school.
When Gabby is asked about school, she states without hesitation, “I like school.&” She has a running list of all her friends, a list that goes on and on.
“We can walk down the halls and everyone wants to say hi to Gabby. She's like the most popular kid in this school,&” Brousseau laughs.
Martin notes her daughter has been very lucky to have an empathetic group of kids that she has grown up alongside.
In addition to her improving speech, her ability to sit through lessons and listen in class, the last few years in school has taught her daughter independence.
“They do not let her get away things,&” Martin says of the students' response to Gabby. “If she doesn't want to tie her shoes, or something, they don't let her get away with it. Those kids in that classroom say, ‘No Gabrielle, you can do it.'&”
“They're not always doing for her, they allow the chance for her to do for herself,&” she said, adding the kids cheer for her successes.
Martin recalled that when she and her husband first learned their baby had Down Syndrome, the initial information they received was daunting.
“You always hear what they can't do, even from the medical field,&” Martin said, noting she was told her daughter probably wouldn't talk, that self-feeding and potty-training would be a long, hard road, and that her daughter would have to start school when she was two to two-and-a-half years old.
As it was, Martin - and Gabby - ended up bucking all expectations.
“I never started her (in school) until she was five,&” she recalled, noting that Gabby was still involved in activities with other kids, in Sunday school, play groups, community events and recreational activities.
Her supportive family came to her side, and with the help of what Martin calls the “best of the best&” in terms of occupational therapy, speech therapy and other support, Gabby came further and further along.
“My four older children kept telling me she was going to do whatever the other kids did,&” she said, laughing, recalling that if that meant watching endless hours of Barney or listening to Mother Goose on repeat, that was what had to happen.
With time, Gabby flourished, and at school over the past three years, Martin can see how far she has come. Just as with other parents, each small step and victory of her daughter makes her heart swell with pride, even while those victories may look different from other children's.
Last week, the kids were giving presentations about bridges, about their materials and how they were made.
Martin recalled how her daughter strode up to the front, without an IA, and answered in a matter-of-fact way.
“Gabrielle went up there and said, ‘We walk on bridges,'&” recalled Martin, adding, “I just about started crying.&”
It's not only Martin that is amazed by her daughter's success, but all the other people around her, including the school staff.
Leroux notes that she teaches French to the students, and can sometimes find herself flabbergasted when Gabby comes out with a French word - one of those teaching “A-ha&” moments.
“You assumed she was never listening in the first place,&” she says, smiling.
Kids like Gabby bring “little wonders of the world&” to the staff, says Leroux, adding of Gabby, “She'll come up to you, give you a hug, and say, ‘Thanks for today,'&” a touching gift of appreciation from one with few words but a big heart.
Her mom notes, “We all are teaching Gabrielle, but most of all, she is teaching us everyday how to be truly empathetic and good people - and to take the time to appreciate all that is around us.&”
