A Year of Highlights for Students with Disabilities
May 27, 2013
by Stephanie Gray
Accomplishments from coast to coast! Congratulations to all of the high school exchange students with disabilities who traveled thousands of miles from home to learn, grow, share and contribute in American host communities this year. You now join an active network of alumni of State Department-sponsored youth programs, alumni working towards positive social change every day. We are proud of each and every one of you!
Voted Student of the Month at the Tennessee School for the Blind
Went adapted surfing at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, with Life Rolls On
Rolled to the finish line in a 5K race in Union Grove, Wisconsin
Participated in Civic Education Week in Washington, DC, and featured in an award winning photograph at the FDR Memorial
Attended Better Understanding for a Better World (BUBW) youth conferences in Orlando, San Diego andBaltimore
Played basketball at the Arkansas School for the Deaf and managed a high school volleyball team in Indiana
Won 1st place in the Humorous Interpretation category in a speech competition in North Dakota
Learned American Sign Language (ASL) and perfected their English
Joined American families and made friends for life in nineteen states and the District of Columbia
Logged hundreds of hours of community service – at an elementary school, the humane society, an assisted living facility, and a food bank (see photo above), to name a few!
Click below to hear a first hand account on the YES Programs impact on students with disabilities.