12-12-08 Vol. 30 No. 18

WWW.THELEAVEN.COM | NEWSPAPER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KANSAS CITY IN KANSAS | VOL. 30, NO. 17 DECEMBER 12, 2008

Jack Farnsworth’s third-grade classmates conspire to find a way to include their special friend in a spirited game of “Around the World.”

Flying high Third-grader soars with the help of his classmates Story by

KARA HANSEN

| Photos by

SUSAN MCSPADDEN

S

SHAWNEE — Jack Farnsworth might have needed a little help from his friends here at Sacred Heart School recently to make it around the world. But that’s fine with his third-grade classmates; since kindergarten, they’ve found him a boon traveling companion. Jack is a special member of Liz Brown’s third-grade class. Diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, Jack has special needs that sometimes require some quick and creative thinking on the part of his teacher. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. And when Brown announced to the class that it was time to play a review game of “Around the World,” she could tell Jack really wanted to play. Story continues on page 8

Jack is one of more than a thousand special-needs children enrolled in archdiocesan schools. Some services are provided by the schools themselves, but others are available only through the resources of the neighboring public school district.