SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- Gabby Campbell and Treasure Lehman didn’t expect to attend Ivy Tech Community College this fall. But thanks to a new program at the Sellersburg campus, they’re college-bound.
“I jumped up and down,” Lehman said as she described her reaction when enrolled. “I hugged my mom really tight. I was like ‘I’m excited!’”
“I was excited,” Campbell added. “I was happy.”
Ivy Tech is launching a new two-year program this fall for students with Down syndrome. Lehman and Campbell will be the first graduating class from the test pilot program, called Ivy Power, at the Sellersburg campus. The students will take two classes each semester, and they’ll be required to join a club and attend two social activities.
“I make friends everywhere I go,” Campbell said.
The goal is to prepare the students for the workforce.
“Each student will have a mentor in the classroom with them,” said Kim Kruer, program coordinator of Ivy Power Program. “We know that participating in post-secondary education improves their chances of becoming employable.”
Campbell has interest in English and business classes. Lehman enjoys art, writing, animals and babies. She has hopes of landing a job at a day care or preschool, Kruer said.
Kruer also helps lead Down Syndrome of Louisville and hopes to expand the program to more students in the future, including students with other disabilities.
“I think the students here on campus will learn just as much from Gabby and Treasure as Gabby and Treasure will learn in the classroom," she said.
“I would like to be a student at Ivy Tech, like a grown up,” Lehman said.
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