A Look Inside -
Seeing What "Y Can Do"

[JAN. 28, 2000]  Cassie Munson, 14, lives in Beason and goes to school at Washington-Monroe in Lincoln. Next year she will be a freshman at Lincoln Community High School, so her parents and teachers thought it would be a good idea if she attended Lincoln Junior High School in the afternoons this year. 

The first day Cassie went across town from Washington-Monroe to the Junior High School, she was a little nervous. She was afraid she might not know any of the students. But when she entered the classroom, Cassie was happily surprised. She knew most of the students in the class. How did she know them? Because, like Cassie, they attend the Y Can Do program for special education students.

Begun in the summer of 1996, Y Can Do grew from a summer program for eight or nine youngsters to a year-round program that now includes nearly 20 children, kindergarten through eighth grade, who attend special education classes in Lincoln. And next year, a high school program will be added.

[Counselor Eric Weaver with Jeff Smith, who proudly displays the cookie he decorated.]

[Cassie Munson bobs for apples with counselor Vicki Willmert's assistance.]

Sponsored by the Lincoln Area YMCA, the program was able to grow in 1997 when the Elk’s Crippled Children’s Trust provided a grant for its support. “The Elks have been wonderful to us,” says Jane Redding, coordinator of the program since its inception. “We now offer the program one day each week during the summer and one Saturday each month during the school year.”

Sheryl Munson, Cassie’s mother, says that Cassie “can hardly wait from one Y Can Do to the next.” Cassie says Y Can Do is “fun and really, really cool.” Mrs. Munson explains that Cassie has made many friends beyond those she knows from her own class at school.

The lucky Y Can Doers have also toured downtown Lincoln, where Abe’s and Prairie Years gave them gifts. At Christmastime, they went shopping at Wal-Mart and ate at Burger King. They learned about supermarkets with a trip to Kroger’s.

When not venturing out on field trips, the Y Can Do participants meet at the Lincoln Park District’s Sports Complex. The current staff includes Mrs. Redding, Michelle Schick, Kim Skelton, Lou Ann Newman, Ron Sillings, and counselors Chrissy Schick, Eric Weaver and Sean Weaver.

[Jane Redding looks on as Cassie Munson and Jeff Smith decorate pumpkins.]

The quality of the staff is one of the program’s strengths, according to Angie Peters, executive director of the Lincoln Area YMCA. “Y Can Do is one of the most mission-driven programs we run. By that I mean, it is so close to the very purpose of the YMCA. We provide staff with expertise in teaching children with special needs, and this is one of the few programs in the county for children with special needs.”

    What goes on at Y Can Do? Everything from crafts to relays to trips to visiting an ostrich farm and touring of downtown Lincoln. “We went to Green’s ostrich farm in Atlanta last fall,” says Mrs. Redding. “We have swim parties at the Rec. We took the kids to Lazy Row Apple Orchard [rural Atlanta] where they picked out pumpkins for carving and apples to eat. We saw the peacocks and deer at the Haseley farm.”