Gus, 5, Helps Preschool Pals By Just Playing
Noise obviously doesn’t distract Gus Anchondo. He paints, plays his drum, fits together puzzles, oblivious to the constant high-pitched howl from a boy in a wheelchair.
“I’m so thankful he got this opportunity,” Gus’ mother, Jeanette, says as she watches her dark-haired boy play in Fernan Elementary’s preschool for developmentally-delayed children. “These kids are all his friends - and that’s how he sees them, as his equals.”
Gus has no developmental problems. His teachers say he’s a typical 5-year-old boy and that’s why he’s in this special class in Coeur d’Alene. He’s a peer model who shows the five other children how most kids their age act.
But if Gus is typical, he’s at the high end of the scale. He’s articulate and confident with a piano teacher’s patience. He’s a student but also a teacher, and he takes his role seriously.
“I help the kids play,” he says, his face solemn with responsibility.
His teacher, Jacque Dean, doesn’t need to repeat directions to Gus. He listens and gets to work.
“Gus is real concerned about being helpful,” Jacque says. “But this is preschool, not a job. We want him just to be another kid.”
Jeanette wanted a special experience for Gus the year before he started kindergarten. He’s her third and youngest. She teaches at a private preschool and has taken Gus with her since he was 2 weeks old.
“He’s had a lot of peer models,” she says, laughing.
A friend told her about the peer model program at Fernan. She decided he’d attend Fernan’s preschool three mornings a week and spend the afternoons at her private preschool.
“It gives him a chance to give of himself and be helpful,” Jeanette says.
Gus’ main job is to be himself. Children learn from children, the teachers say. From Gus, they learn to laugh, put away their toys, listen to their teachers and help each other.
“He’s treated so well,” Jeanette says as Gus slips into her arms for a quick kiss. “We always say Gus has the best life. We feel lucky every day that he gets to come here.”
Dining in style
Ever envision the bureaucrat you butted heads with waiting on you hand and foot? What a delicious dream …
Buy a ticket to theIdaho Child Abuse Response and Education - ICARE Celebrity Dinner that’s on Friday and that dream could come true.
Here are some of the people scheduled to wear aprons and fill water glasses: Coeur d’Alene schools superintendent Doug Cresswell, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas, Winton Elementary Principal Bridget Hill, and Kootenai Medical Center chief Joe Morris.
Tickets to the lasagna dinner cost $15, but take extra money. Organizers are encouraging servers to charge extra for clean silverware, extra napkins, second helpings of water, etc. It’ll all go toward child abuse prevention.
For tickets, call 666-2996.
Forever friends
Coeur d’Alene High’s class of 1933 enjoyed its 50th reunion so much that the group has met monthly for lunch ever since. Alumnus Margie Roth said sometimes only four of them make it, but sometimes a dozen gather. Some have been friends since the third grade. Must be nice …
Ad infinitum
Tombstones are out and urns are in. If you want your name to stay public long after you’re gone, here’s a suggestion: have it engraved on the stone monument going in at the base of Coeur d’Alene’s Tubbs Hill this summer.
It’s only $100 per name, and the money will help preserve the hill. Think of the fun you’ve had up there, then call 769-2252 and reserve your spot.
What’s your favorite Tubbs Hill story? Dig it out for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo