At the White Oak School, being an all-star means more than just a game

Gov. Robert Ehrlich (back row, third from left) joins the staff, students, and friends of White Oak School during the school’s annual Sports Banquet and Awards Ceremony in May.

Former Princeton football star Gov. Robert Ehrlich was there. So was former Colts great Tom Matte, flashing his chunky Super Bowl ring and joining Gov. Ehrlich to cheer the star football players and cheerleaders of White Oak School in east Towson.

Besides the high-profile visitors, White Oak School’s annual Sports Banquet and Awards Ceremony on May 26 might have been like any other end-of-the-school-year event to honor a school’s gridiron heroes.

Except for one thing.

White Oak School has no football team.

What the school had this year were plenty of students who “made the team” by both significantly improving their behavior and staying at a high level of improvement, according to White Oak Principal Regina Martini.

White Oak enrolls students requiring therapeutic-focused special education services in order to achieve behavioral and academic success.

“The banquet and ceremony are great ways to showcase children who showed us significant improvement,” Martini said. “The beauty of it is that the kids see their classmates being successful in a meaningful way.”

At the most recent banquet, Gov. Ehrlich brought with him state Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick. They were joined not only by Matte, who has had family members attend the school, but scores of parents, grandparents, and friends of the school. “It was truly a feel-good day,” Martini said, as each “football player” and “cheerleader” had their pictures taken with the governor and received a trophy for their accomplishments.

Improving or maintaining a high level on the school’s behavior management program ties into the school’s mission, Martini said, which includes the goal of returning all students to a less restrictive environment, preferably at a child’s home school. Improvement also earns additional privileges for students throughout the academic year, including field trips to Washington and Annapolis.

“We look for ways to approximate opportunities that our students would normally have with their non-disabled peers,” Martini said. “Of course you don’t make our team for athletic ability, but there are other ways to celebrate the successes of these children.”

Story by Charles Herndon, communications specialist for BCPS. Photos courtesy of White Oak School.