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Challenged students benefit from St. Anthony School Programs

By Harry Funk 4 min read
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Think back to your first experiences attending school, and see if Hayley Testa’s story seems familiar.

“She was very shy,” her mother, Mindy, recalled, “and if there was a large crowd around her, if it was really noisy, she would kind of huddle back and stay in the corner.”

Mindy and her husband, Kevin, Cecil Township residents, knew that coaxing their daughter out of that corner was going to be a bit more difficult than with many children, as Hayley was born with Down syndrome.

But her mom is quick to credit teacher Sandra Young at St. Thomas More School in Bethel Park for meeting the challenge.

“She just knew what to do to get her to open up,” Mindy said. “And the kids in her class were wonderful, too. They really helped her.”

As a resource room teacher with St. Anthony School Programs, a Catholic-based educational environment that has locations at several Pittsburgh-area schools, Young works with students who have special needs to fit right into the classroom.

“Really, what they’re looking for is an inclusive education, one where they’re treated like every other kid,” Jerry Gaughan, chief executive officer of the St. Anthony Charitable Foundation, said. “So we provide that opportunity.”

Given such an opportunity, Hayley Testa has made the most of it. Now 14, she has finished eighth grade at St. Thomas More and is ready for the next step of her St. Anthony-augmented education at Bishop Canevin High School.

“We’re so happy to be with this program and that we know she’s going to have a smooth transition. That’s one of the reasons we’re keeping her with St. Anthony. She’s always going to be taken care of,” her mother said.

That will continue until she is 21, as St. Anthony continues to work with students as they attend Duquesne University, to the extent of providing an apartment in Squirrel Hill with a dedicated purpose.

“The big thing we provide is that we try to get our students to become as independent as possible,” Gaughan said. “The kids have to go grocery shopping. They have to clean the apartment. They have to do their own laundry. They have to cook their own meals.”

The St. Anthony experience starts for kindergartners, as it did for Hayley. Once she adapted to her new surroundings and started to thrive, she became popular among her classmates, who made sure to invite her to their birthday parties and the like.

They also have encouraged her to put her singing talents on display, as she recently performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” to open St. Anthony’s inclusive games, which invites participation from all of the programs’ locations. She also sang “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen” for an appreciative St. Thomas More audience.

“They do a talent show in the morning and in the afternoon,” her mother reported, “and in the morning they asked her to do it, and she said, ‘No, no.’ And then in the afternoon, some of her friends said, ‘Come on, Hayley, you can do it. Just do it.'”

She finally agreed, so Young rearranged the show’s schedule a bit, then aimed her smartphone at the stage.

“She took a video of the song, and she sent it to us,” Mindy Testa said. “And the applause that you hear from the students when she’s done is unbelievable. It was fantastic.”

Along with children who have Down syndrome, St. Anthony School Programs also works with youngsters on the autism spectrum disorder and those with other intellectual disabilities. Although St. Anthony, which receives no government funding, is affiliated with the Diocese of Pittsburgh, more than one-third of the students are of other faiths.

“Our theory is, Jesus wouldn’t care, and certainly St. Anthony wouldn’t care,” Gaughan said. “We just want to help this child, no matter what his or her faith, to have a better life.”

Visit stanthonykids.org to learn more.

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