The Western Wayne School District requires students to complete a meaningful senior project that in some way enables them to give back to others. Evan Coons is an 11th grade student and he completed his senior project with the Early Intervention program this past summer at Western Wayne’s Robert D. Wilson Elementary School. Evan was an Early Intervention student in Mrs. Michelle Mistishin’s classroom at RDW when he was three years old. Evan wanted to do his senior project with EI as he wanted others to know that EI gave him the school readiness skills to be a successful student at Western Wayne. Over the summer, Evan volunteered in the RDW EI classroom where he was a part of the teaching process for eight young students, ages 3-5. Evan was instrumental by working on IEP goals and social skills through play, games, and other preschool activities. As part of his senior project and the act of “giving back” he raised $710 (through a fundraiser at his church) for EI to purchase books for all EI students (EI works with Western Wayne School District, Wallenpaupack Area School District, and Wayne Highlands School District). EI was able to purchase 720 books with the money Evan raised. From left: Evan Coons, Michelle Mistishin, EI teacher; Beth Gregory, EI supervisor; and Patricia Jennings, EI service coordinator.
