Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
But by the time 60 graduates parade through the Shawsville High School gym for Thursday's graduation, Alyson Whitaker and Mike Keen will lead the way in their wheelchairs.
"I earned this," said Keen. "I'm going to get on that stage."
Both students expect to enter New River Community College in the fall, after overcoming some tough times getting through high school. They leave behind many lessons for the school, including a new understanding for accommodating students who use wheelchairs.
"If everybody had as much gumption and courage as these two young people, the world would be a lot better place," said their teacher and one of their senior advisers, Deneise Altizer.
Keen, 19, has muscular dystrophy. He walked until he was 12, until the neuromuscular disease progressed to the point that he had to use a wheelchair. Whitaker, 18, was in a car accident two years ago, on her way home from the store with friends, said her mother, Cris. She is paralyzed from about the chest down because of a spinal cord injury.
Both have some use of their hands; both use computers to help them with their schoolwork.
Keen moved to Shawsville from Roanoke as a 13-year-old.
"When I first moved here, I didn't really fit in," he said.
The other students hadn't been around another teen-ager in a wheelchair, and he says it took awhile for him to make friends.
In his time at the school, Keen has also watched the school make improvements to aid his access.
Since then, the federally mandated Americans with Disabilities Act has gone into effect. And Shawsville has consulting special education teacher Elizabeth Kennedy to act as the students' advocate. "With special ed and students in wheelchairs, each situation is different."
"I feel that I can accomplish anything now," said Keen. "I've developed some more self esteem. Proving to myself if I can graduate, I can overcome just about anything." He is hoping to study computer information systems.
For Whitaker, life in a wheelchair was handed to her quickly. After her accident, she spent four months in a hospital, including time at the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center near Staunton. After she got home, she had to adjust to depending on people.
But she keeps up with lots of activities. Her mom sees her adapting and being creative with her life. Before the accident, for instance, she played volleyball. Now, she's the volleyball announcer, said Cris Whitaker.
As for finishing high school - the hardest part "was getting my grades back up after getting out of the hospital," said Whitaker.
"When I got here, I was on my medicine and I couldn't keep up," she said.
But she made the honor roll during her senior year.
Whitaker says she's thankful "for all those people who pushed me."
"I look at other people and wish I had what they had, but when I was in the hospital, there were people with higher injuries than me. I'm just glad for what I got," she said.
Keen wears a graduation present from a friend: A medallion bearing the likeness of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.
"I guess I have a will to survive, basically," he said.
Number of graduates: 60
Valedictorian: Brandy Diane Alexander
Salutatorian: Tara Kathleen Davidson
Time: 8 p.m. Thursday at the Shawsville High School.
by CNB