Get involved!

Last week was an interesting and enlightening week for me. I learned some stuff I would have rather not known about.

It started the week before when my buddy Dan Arp called me to tell me about a camp for autistic children that was going to be held last week at his church – Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian on Old Clinton Pike. Dan also mentioned that he had heard that I play a little racquetball and he wanted to play at Mercy Health and Fitness sometime. I told him I played “at” racquetball – what I do on the court certainly cannot be defined as “playing” which implies a certain minimum level of skill.

But I told Dan that I would love to play sometime. Now it’s just a matter of meshing schedules.

At the camp, I learned from Cheri Howlett, the camp director from Open Doors Tennessee, that there is a real need for respite programs for folks who have autistic children. Camps like the one last week give caregivers a much needed break from the rigors of caring for an autistic child.

But Cheri said they are limited by the number of peer buddies and volunteer adult counselors they have. Thus there is always a waiting list for this camp.

This should not be. Knowing the good folks in Powell as I hope I do, there should be no shortage of volunteers. For kids, this is a great opportunity to make a new friend and get over any fears you might have about autism – you can’t “catch it” from your peer buddy and folks with autism are not superhuman monsters as is so often portrayed in popular culture. For adults – ditto – same as above.

So check out the website at www.opendoorstn.com. It tells how to volunteer and offer your services. It would be a great “father-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter, mother-son” kind of thing to do.

Also this week, I met with some parents and folks from Powell High School. While I have a personal policy of supporting the schools and while I try to find the good in them and write about it, the fact is that Powell has the same problems as most other high schools – teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol abuse – you name it. Perhaps not as bad as some but not as good as others either.

To parents of school kids of all ages here is a simple message – you can run but you can’t hide. Moving your kid to a private school or other Knox County School is not the answer.

The answer is simple – get involved. In the coming weeks you will be given the opportunity to join the PTA at your kid’s school. Do it. Fill out the volunteer sheet.

At Powell High School, the PTA has pretty much got out of the fundraising business so don’t worry about being asked for money. The Powell High PTA doesn’t want your money, they want your time and involvement.

Do it.