'To see her now is even more amazing!'

February 11, 2013

When the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities program was enacted in 2010, state Rep. Kris Steele correctly noted that the program would honor the memory of Lindsey Nicole Henry and “let it be known for generations to come that she, and her parents, are helping to improve the lives of special-needs children across the state.”

It’s already happening.

Last week I received an email from Tara Hood, the mother of three-year-old Chloe. She wrote: “At the time we filmed the documentary last year [see the four-and-a-half-minute clip below], Chloe had already made a lot of progress, but to see her now is even more amazing!”

She still attends the Good Shepherd Catholic School at Mercy (school for children with autism spectrum disorders) in the afternoon. In the morning, Chloe is mainstreamed—without an aide!—in a pre-k classroom at King's Gate Christian School (currently a non-LNHS school, we pay for it privately because half-day tuition at GSCS uses up all of her scholarship). Next year Chloe will attend full-day kindergarten without an aide at a LNHS private school in either Edmond or OKC.

And it’s not just Chloe. Over on the LNH Scholarship Facebook page, Kay Serna writes:

My sweet granddaughter, Savannah, is the light of my life. She attends Town and Country School and is a recipient of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship. The school and the awesome teachers are such a godsend for her. … She is dealing with ADHD and a host of developmental delays, some inherited, and some from being born 3 months early. I truly believe that had she not gotten this scholarship and the opportunity to attend Town and Country, she would still be struggling to learn to read. She is in the 2nd grade and absolutely LOVES to read. We are so grateful and thankful for the opportunity this scholarship has given Savannah.

Policy changes lives. And there’s no better example than the Henry scholarship program.